What causes insomnia? 5 Reasons you can't sleep at night

In order to successfully treat the symptoms of sleep disorders is necessary to understand the reason behind any inability of individuals to sleep. This article lists the 5 most common causes of insomnia and outlines the appropriate resolution for each cause.



Case # 1-food and drink



Food and drinks, especially during the evening hours, can have a profound effect on the ability of an individual falling asleep during the night. Common reasons include eating foods with high amounts of both proteins (e.g. meat) or processed sugars (cakes, candy bar) in the day. Conversely, carbohydrate-rich foods in moderation at night can often help healthy sleep. These often contain ' tryptophan ' a substance which triggers the brain to produce sleep-inducing chemicals. Caffeinated beverages like coffee and some sodas can have a profound effect on your ability to fall asleep, these should be avoided at the end of the day, if possible.



Case # 2-exercise and lifestyle choices



Choices of healthy lifestyle and regular exercise are great methods ensuring you a successful nights of rest. However, it is possible that the exercise may have the opposite effect-if this is too close to your bed time. Exercise actually releases stimulating brain chemicals that may prevent the onset of sleep. Ensuring that you complete any exercise 3 hours before bed will avoid any problems.



Cause # 3-sleep environment



This is a complex area and potentially involves several interacting factors such as temperature, noise and the comfort of your bed. A common cause of symptoms of insomnia is not having enough space to twist and turn in the night. Blocks or objects in your bed can cause disturbance to natural sleep cycle that can have lasting effects in the next day. The ideal environment for sleep is cool, dark, quiet and comfortable beds and pillows.



Cause # 4-the opposite effects of alcohol



Alcohol is actually a sedative, it will loosen and is considered an aid to sleep during the night. However, this substance has an overall negative effect and can actually be a common cause of sleep disturbances reported. The reason is that the sleep you get after drinking alcohol is of lower quality than without. This can leave you tired the next day, which leads to compensatory behaviors including greater intake of caffeine and sleepy. Both of these then lead to sleep problems – from a "vicious circle" of behavior that is harmful to the quality of sleep.



Anxiety, Stress and anxiety cause # 5-



Financial concerns, and working families can often lead to sleep problems. The effects of this can work in various ways, which leads to symptoms of stress that change the chemistry of the brain or just lead to a ' busy ' mind at night that stops you falling asleep. The main treatment of these induced insomnia symptoms psychologically is to tackle the root causes. Where this is not immediately possible then keeping a Notepad by your side of the bed and jotting down those concerns can go a long way towards helping.