Insomnia and sleeping problems are increasingly common. Some people have trouble falling asleep and end up lying awake for hours every night. Some people have trouble staying asleep and end up waking up repeatedly for no apparent reason. Others get to sleep and stay asleep just fine, but they wake up feeling tired as if they hadn’t gone to bed at all. These are all types of sleep apnea problems, and they are all serious, yet curable.

Those who struggle with sleep deprivation commonly use medications and over-the-counter otc sleep aids to help them.

Create your Healthy Sleeping Habits

• Different people need different amounts of sleep. Some feel fine on 6 hours a night, while others are hurting if they get less than 10. The “8 hours a night” rule is really just a guideline that doesn’t apply to everyone. Decide how much sleep you need each night, then try to get it.
• Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. This will help your body get into the habit of sleeping and waking when it needs to. Wake up even when you haven’t felt rested; this will help you to go to bed at the correct time the following night. When you set up your sleeping schedule, make sure you take step one into consideration.
• Don’t nap. This will interrupt the schedule you are trying to create for yourself.
• Many of us resort to unhealthy substances like caffeine and sugar to replace the benefits of good sleep. While these things might make you feel more awake, they are not good substitutes and can make it more difficult to sleep later on. Do not consume any caffeine and only consume limited sugar after mid-afternoon.
• Give yourself time to relax before going to sleep. Try reading, taking a bath, or listening to soothing music. Not only are stress and worry common causes of sleep deprivation, but calming down will also send a signal to your body that it’s okay to shut down and sleep.
• Don’t sleep if you’re not tired. If you try to sleep and are unsuccessful, either because of tenseness or racing thoughts, get up and do something calm and relaxing. You need to teach your body that when you get into bed, it’s time to sleep, not do something else.
• Keep up with this schedule on weekends and holidays. This is the healthy amount of sleep for you, so it should feel good. Besides, if you’re getting enough sleep during the week, you shouldn’t need to “catch up.”

Sometimes doing these things will not fix insomnia problems. In that case, you should speak to a doctor to see if something more serious is keeping you awake, like sleep apnea. Keep in mind that you should give yourself a good week of perfect healthy sleeping habits before deciding that you need more assistance.