Sleep can often be a measurement of one’s wellbeing. When one is in good health, in most cases they tend to have a good night’s sleep whereas those with a hunch in their health sometimes end up tossing and turning in bed all night long.

Sleeping well is essential to one’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. According to experts therefore even a small dose of sleep lost can take a toll on one’s mood. But what would lead to someone failing to sleep at night?

Dr Rachna Pande, a specialist in internal medicine at RuhengeriHospital, attributes some cases to medical reasons.

"Use of brain stimulants like caffeine products, amphetamine or alcohol at sleep time can deprive one of sleep. Heart burn, heart failure, bronchial asthma, restless leg syndrome, obstructive sleep, apnoea, joints pain as in arthritis or trauma are some medical conditions which hamper sound sleep,” she adds.

Dr Pande explains that failure to sleep can be termed as Insomnia, a condition where one consistently fails to fall asleep or stay asleep. It may be consistently present for more than a week or so.

She points out other causes to the condition such as metabolic disorders like hypothyroidism, an abnormally low activity of the thyroid gland, mental stress and / or physical exhaustion can manifest as insomnia.

"Minor factors such as wearing tight, uncomfortable night clothes, noise and bright lights are other conditions that can cause insomnia. People who work in night shifts tend to have their sleep or wake cycle disturbed and even when off from work, fail to fall asleep in normal time,” Dr Pande explains.

Insomnia has deleterious effects on health. For instance one does not feel fresh or energetic for work the next day if they fail to sleep. Insomnia can also make one prone to high blood pressure and heart problems. Moreover they may feel somnolent the next day which further reduces work ability and generates anxiety.

Sleeping pills are used to induce sleep but they tend to cause habituation. Then the doze being taken becomes ineffective and one has to take higher doses for effect.

Dr Pande advises that if insomnia is due to some medical condition that needs to be diagnosed and treated, one should seek medical advice and avoid things like alcohol or coffee in evenings.

"Evening meals should be taken earlier and very heavy meals should be avoided to avoid heart burn. Watching television or movies till late in the night tends to excite the mind and disturb sleep, hence should be avoided.

Ideally the bedroom needs to be quiet and dark, bedding used and bed clothes worn should be comfortable. A person can set his body clock by trying to sleep at the same time. Prayers or reading something soothing also helps to induce good sleep,” Pande advises.

Stanly Ngarukiye, a public consultant at Mount Kenya, says lack of sleep can be caused by stress or specific illnesses.

"Stress causes insomnia. When a person has a lot on their mind, it becomes hard to rest. This affects the quality of sleep,” Ngarukiye says.

He adds that medical conditions such as allergies, asthma, hyperthyroidism, acid reflux, kidney disease, cancer or chronic pain can lead to insomnia.

Studies show that insomnia negatively affects work performance, impairs decision-making and can damage relationships. In most cases, people with insomnia report a worse overall quality of life.

Some of the signs and symptoms of such a situation include waking up frequently during the night, finding it difficult to go back to sleep when one wakes up, trouble finding sleep despite being tired, waking up too early in the morning, daytime drowsiness, fatigue, or irritability during the day.

Research shows that anxiety and depression are two of the most common causes of chronic insomnia.

Most people suffering from an anxiety disorder or depression have trouble sleeping. To make matters worse lack of sleep can make the symptoms of anxiety or depression worse therefore treating the underlying psychological cause is the key to curing insomnia.

Solution

According to research by Madlen Davies banishing anger and frustration from the bedroom can cure insomnia.

She explained that a one-hour therapy session could ease symptoms of the sleep disorder for the majority of people. The treatment aim is to help a person associate their bedroom only with sleep - rather than the sadness and misery of sleeplessness.

If the disorder is treated before it becomes chronic, there is a possibility of getting better within three months.