5 Reasons Why You Can’t Stay Asleep l Insomnia l Why Do I Keep Waking Up at Night?

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We were designed to get sleep and need enough of it to function. However, you are not alone if restorative sleep is non-existent. An estimated 60 million people have issues with sleeping and or have some kind of insomnia. Women over the age of 65 are especially affected with the disorder every year. Not sleeping through the night can impact your overall happiness, health, and social life. There are many reasons for you not being able to stay asleep. Drinking alcohol, caffeine, and stress will interrupt sleep patterns. Additionally, if there is too much light, or if it is too noisy, this will also hinder your sleep. Health problems can play a role in a disruption of sleep. Heartburn, leg cramps, and having restless leg syndrome could keep you up. Regardless, take the lack of sleep seriously and find out the reasons you can’t stay asleep. Here are 5 insights to consider.

Too Much Artificial Light

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You may be getting too much artificial lighting and it affects sleep. It can mess up our melatonin levels. Humans just can’t adapt to it. This means iPhones, clocks, lamps, and the hallway light that you leave on at night are all culprits. Using artificial light disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm, Sleep.org shared. Artificial lighting will impact more than sleep patterns. It can disrupt cell regulation, hormone production, has been linked to breast cancer, and could cause depression. Decrease artificial light when you sleep. Place phones or any electronics away from you during bed time. If there is a hallway light on, close your door.

Stress

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Turning the emotions and the brain off is hard for many people. Stress usually accompanies wild thoughts. It is also linked to our difficulty to sleep and remain asleep. The Sleep Foundation found that stress “causes hyperarousal, which can upset the balance between sleep and wakefulness.” Hyperarousal is when there is an increase state of psychological and physiological tension that can result in insomnia, fatigue, depression and anxiety. Find out how it started, and work on eliminating the stress factors. If not, start a mood journal where you can write out all your anxieties before bed. This can help you release stress and tension instead of mulling it over all night in your head.