Do you dream of a good night’s sleep? Insomnia is a form of torture for very good reason. It sends us all a bit bonkers. Lack of sleep has many and varied causes and it’s no good just telling yourself to go to sleep, it happens spontaneously when you’re not paying any attention.
The good news is that hypnosis is a route to destination sleep and hypnotherapy is a safe, easy, drug-free solution to this common, debilitating condition. Statistics reveal that more than a third of the population have trouble sleeping on a weekly basis and one in five of us struggle to sleep every night.
For some, the mere thought of not being able to get a good nights sleep gives them insomnia. For others, sleeplessness is a debilitating symptom of wider conditions like depression, stress, anxiety, chronic pain or menopause. As any new mum with a hungry or colicky baby will tell you, lack of sleep makes you crabby, forgetful and miserable. Simple things can seem difficult as both brain and body become overwhelmed with exhaustion.
We know that there are different levels of sleep and that REM sleep, or the ‘rapid eye movement’ state in which we dream, is important for our mental health. Insomnia is both the cause and effect of many common maladies of modern life. Lack of sleep can be a trigger for an emotional breakdown as well as causing accidents and impairing performance. As a symptom, it exacerbates the associated condition, perpetuating the downward spiral of, for example, depression or anxiety.
Sometimes, insomnia is simply the result of a broken routine. Jet lag, night shifts, traffic noise, a snoring partner, a cold or a fever are common factors. There are as many cures as there are causes of insomnia and it can often be overcome without resorting to medication. But it is still important to see a doctor to ensure there are no underlying health issues to be dealt with.
Hypnotherapy is often seen as a last resort after all else fails when, in fact, just going through the process of learning self-hypnosis is a big step in the right direction. As we fall asleep and wake up we enter ‘hypnogogic’ and ‘hypnopompic’ states of hypnosis quite naturally. These are brief phases where brain function changes during the transition into deeper sleep states.
Once in hypnosis, subconscious patterns of disrupted or disturbed sleep behaviour can be adjusted to suit the lifestyle and expectations of the most long-suffering insomniac. It is important to bear in mind that, even after putting up with the misery of sleep loss for years, it’s never too late to do something about it.
