There’s one health concern in the modern world, that is flying underneath the radar. We’re all so busy living hectic lives, we don’t seem to notice that our sleeping patterns and habits are no longer normal. Our brains are so bombarded with new information through our smartphones that we’re never deprived of anything regarding news that’s happening around the world. It’s quite amazing the level of technology we have now, to help us in our everyday lives. That being said, our brains are now easily overloaded and we find it difficult to do the most basic thing of all; switching off. Going to sleep is a very complex procedure for our body and brain to conduct. Lots of things have to happen for us to get the sleep we need to heal and recharge. It seems like there could be a few things that are voluntary and involuntary which are stopping us from having a good night’s rest.
Natural Sleep Helps
Sometimes small things can make a big difference. Our post Trouble Sleeping? Try These 15 Ideas for some unique ways to help get a good nights sleep.
You’ve heard it before
No doubt by now, you’ve been told by every health magazine to just put your phone down when it’s time to sleep. However, you may not realize why your phone does keep you awake. Apart from a movement that your eyes want to naturally track, such as when you’re watching a video, but blue light also keeps you up. Every smartphone has blue light screens. This is a light that tells our brain, that’s it’s morning or during the day. Therefore, going to sleep is naturally prohibited by our brain because during the day is when we are supposed to work and feed ourselves. However, if your phone has the ability to change the blue light to a softer orange light, you really should use this feature. It will dim the screen and stop the light from fooling your brain. However, smartphones are also just addictive because you can watch videos, read news articles and use social media. Therefore it’s best to turn your phone off or simply turn off the WiFi and leave it on your drawer when it’s time to sleep.
It might not be you
Very often, the fact that you can’t get to sleep as naturally as possible maybe because of something out of your hands. In these cases, biological concerns might be playing a factor in why you have trouble shutting down. It could be a number of things. It could well be something to do with your brain, your digestive system or your respiratory system. It could even be a mild epilepsy condition. So many factors from our modern world can play into our overall health that often first show up in our sleep patterns. Along with these many factors, new services and diagnostic tools are also on the rise.
That’s why an ambulatory eeg service is something you should possibly look into. If you feel that your sleep issues have something to do with a non-seizure condition, this kind of machine and service will track your brain’s behavior during the night. The service will provide its own eeg machine which will monitor brain wave activity and pinpoint what system is either not being activated or is not running properly. They also provide a fully qualified technologist that will perform the in-home setting up of the machine.
Not enough activity
If you’re just not tired enough, how do you expect your body to shut down? If most of our energy is not used up when bedtime rolls around, our body and mind will keep taking over. So, you need to assess your lifestyle. If you’re not active and living a sedentary lifestyle, this could be the reason why your brain refuses to slow down. If it’s been in a slow mode all day long, you haven’t expended enough energy for your brain to shut down effectively. Logically, exercise will challenge your mind and will not only make you healthier but it will support your brain when it comes to sleeping time.
Go for an evening walk after dinner, play a puzzle game, or do a little more work at home before you go to bed. Anything that will get you mentally tired is going to support your brain and help you transition to a slower mental status when you get into bed. Sleep deprivation is caused by many things, but simply not living an active lifestyle is one of the most overlooked factors.
To summarize, the reason why you can’t get to sleep might be because of your brain activity. Sleeping disorders and cardiovascular conditions can be tracked and monitored by new services like an eeg machine. But your health is still your responsibility, so make a decision to live a more active and challenging lifestyle, both physically and mentally, to literally tire your body and mind. Switch your phone off or at least set it to a softer screen light setting so your eyes and brain are not fooled into thinking it’s daytime. Be proactive in your quest for a good night’s sleep. Your efforts will be well worth the time spent.
