Hi Steemit friends,

My Sleeping cycle has been abnormal and is causes some affects to my body system like how i feel during the day, cravings and extend needs for sleep. Previously, My routine was tend to jump in to bed fairly early, 10-11 PM. Now i cant fall asleep until 3 AM and mild insomnia a few times a week. My body has been experiencing sudden changes, urging to nap daytime more so. Sleep is a natural repetitive state of the mind and body and it causes altered consciousness and reduced sensory activity.

What causes lack of sleep?

So, A person might be experiencing insomnia and wondering the
cause, here are some reasons why one may lack sleep.

Lifestyle

one's lifestyle plays an enormous role in determining how you sleep. It can be the working shifts; the human body is programmed in a certain way and altering this may cause a problem or take time before the body adapts. In my case, The past month i was staying up to festivals or my ideas to write would stumble upon me late so i pushed myself to stay up longer.

I am trying to eliminate my naps so i can reverse to the old schedule , naps are helpful to some people, but it making it difficult for me to sleep at night, disrupting my sleeping patterns.

Medical conditions

some health conditions can lead to disrupted sleeping, medical conditions like asthma, chronic pain, arthritis just to mention a few can cause lack of sleep.

Food

The diets also contribute to causing lack of sleep, intake of caffeine and nicotine may lead to sleep deficiency, these substances act as stimulants making the body active and thus causing absence of sleep. Other diet behaviors that may cause lack of sleep is heavy eating before sleep, overeating before rest may cause discomfort making sleeping uncomfortable and insufficient.

Other factors that may cause insomnia are anxiety and
depression.

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Body clock.

It is normal to experience sleepiness during the day, but have you ever wondered what causes this urge to just sleep?

Sleep is determined by two body classifications; sleep or wake homeostasis and the biological clock. Sleep/wake Homeostasis is the system that tells the body you need to sleep when you have denied yourself sleep; this system also helps one to get sufficient sleep through-out the night.

The biological clock, on the other hand, controls the wakefulness or sleepiness of a person during the day, normally among adults, strong sleep drive can occur between 2-4 am or 1-3 pm, and this depends on whether one is a "morning person" or "evening person."This system is also responsible for causing one to be alert at a specific time of the day.

Sleep can also be determined by darkness or light; the body produces a hormone called Melatonin, the production of this hormone differs with the time of the day, at night the body produces more melatonin, and this causes people to sleep. During the day, the body produces less melatonin, and this reduces the urge to sleep during the day.

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The stages of sleep.

When we sleep the body typically undergoes different sleep cycles; there are two main stages of sleep, the non-REM sleep, and the REM sleep. REM stands for rapid eye movement.

The non-REM stage.

Awake

Transition to sleep stage; this stage lasts about 1-10 minutes, and this is where the body starts to relax, and the body muscle activity begins to slow down, this step can be termed as dozing off.

·
In this stage, one can easily be woken up.

·
The eyes roll a bit and may even open your
eyelids.

·
The brain temperature and blood pressure
decrease.

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Light sleep

can also be said to be the first stage of actual sleep, this stage lasts about 15-25 minutes. During power naps, this is what people experience.

·
In this stage, people are not easily woken up
like the first stage.

·
The heartbeat slows down.

·
The brain starts to release larger waves.

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Deep sleep

Also known as "delta-sleep," this stage starts 35-40 minutes after falling asleep, because of the heaviness of sleep in this stage, if you wake up at this point one is likely to feel disoriented for a few minutes.

·
Disturbances like noise do not affect your sleep
at this stage.

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Intense deep sleep

This is the most profound stage of sleep. In this stage, the blood flows from the brain to the body muscles to restore physical energy.

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The REM stage.

This stage lasts 10 minutes and happens after 90 minutes of sleep. It is during REM stage that dreams occur, sleepwalking or bedwetting, this stage can last up to one hour.

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The health benefits of sleep.

Having a good night sleep significantly determines how productive your day will be, there are many benefits associated with a good night sleep.

Enables clearer thinking, better sleep improves your thinking and decision making.

Helps in weight control, when you lack sleep your energy levels will reduce, to maintain the energy needed you are likely to indulge in foods that will provide the required energy, and this will lead to poor eating behaviors.

Boosts your mood, getting enough sleep improves your mood since the body is revitalized.

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The dangers of not sleeping.

Depriving yourself sleep not only causes health problems but it puts one at a higher risk of causing harm to others around you.

By not having enough sleep one is likely to experience health problems like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart failure. It is estimated that 90% of people with insomnia have a health condition.

Lack of sleep also ages your skin, with no sleep the body produces little human growth hormone. The absence of sleep also causes production of the stress hormone cortisol, and excess cortisol causes the break-down of skin collagen, the protein that retains the smoothness of the skin.

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Tips on how to sleep better.

Have a routine

By sticking to a routine the body becomes well-tuned on what time to sleep and the time to be awake; this will help in achieving rest.

Exercise often

This will help to improve the quality of your sleep. A light exercise like walking 10 minutes a day will aid significantly in improving your sleep.

Watch your diet

Avoid heavy meals before sleep and reduce on caffeine and nicotine intake, avoid taking alcohol just before bed and reduce on sugary foods. This will help to keep your body in shape and assistance in making you sleep better.

This may seem obvious but improving your sleep environment helps significantly in ensuring you achieve better sleep. Improving your sleep environment simply means, having a comfortable bed, by using a suitable mattress and pillows. You can also adjust your sleep environment by keeping the room cool and reserving the bed for sleep, avoid working or watching in the bed as this will help your brain to relate the bed with sleep.

So the next time you are struggling with lack of sleep, try and use the tips and it might achieve your desired sleep. Do do have any suggestions on ways to get back to the best sleeping habits that went out of order?.

I hope this post gives you a little something to enjoy.....

I always deeply appreciate your comments, upvotes and share.

Much Love, Suzana