Insomnia

Insomnia, according to American psychiatric association (APA), is the disorder in which people have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. It is the most common sleeping disorder. The conditions of insomnia can be short term and long term. The short term insomnia, also called acute insomnia, is most probably caused due to stress upsetting automatic events changes in sleeping habits. It lasts for one night to a few weeks. Whereas, Chronic insomnia lasts for at least three months. It is mainly caused due to medical conditions (arthritis, heartburn, cancer, back pain), psychological issues (anxiety, depression), and substance abuse.

Insomnia is most common in people who have high level of stress, lower income, emotional disorders, changes in working hours, night shifts, or are struggling with cardiovascular disorders and obesity. Insomnia affects women and older people more than men and young individuals.

SYMPTOMS OF INSOMNIA :

Waking up too early in the morning
Unrefreshing sleep
Trouble falling or staying asleep
Irritability
Fatigue
Mood changes
Difficulty concentrating on tasks
Daytime tiredness and sleepiness

There are two types of insomnia:

Primary insomnia : sleeping problem not linked with any other health condition or problems.
Secondary insomnia : sleeping troubles because of other health issues.

Causes of primary insomnia :

Stress related to significant life events (concerns about work, school, finance, family relationships, death of a loved one, shifting to a new place, divorce, job loss, etc)
Surroundings (light, noise, temperature)
Changes in sleep schedule (jetlag, night shift)

Causes of secondary insomnia :

Mental health issues like depression, anxiety or post traumatic stress disorder.
Pain or discomfort at night
Medications (certain antidepressants aur medications for asthma, blood pressure, pain, allergy or cold)
Sleep related disorders like sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome.

ANXIETY AND INSOMNIA

According to Australia’s sleep health foundation, anxiety and working are the leading cause of insomnia. Short term anxiety can be caused due to worrying frequently about the same specific events, work, relationships, etc. This anxiety usually goes away when the issue is resolved and are sleep returns back to normal.

WHAT CAN WE DO ?

Acute insomnia may not need treatment. Lifestyle changes and good sleeping habits helps us fight and prevent it.

If it’s caused due to stressful events, it is better to share them with someone. Sharing our feelings always helps us feel less stressful and light. Infact, when we share, we tend to find solutions which we were not able to think of. The person might help us find our way back. Talk to someone you trust and rely on. If you don’t want to talk to them, you can also talk to people on some apps like WeHeal. It is an app available on Android, where you can share whatever you are feeling, anonymously. You can share your issues through open letters or talk privately on personal chats. You will always be anonymous. The app has many healers, who are basically the users. The healers will read your open letters and reply to them with possible solutions. You can vent or even confess anything. You can discuss any issue related to work, studies, career, relationships, family, disease. You can also help someone with any advice related to their issues. You can download the WeHeal app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.weheal.weheal

Good sleeping habits like : going to bed at the same time daily, no use of phone or laptop for at least an hour before sleeping. Follow relaxing routine before bed like reading a book, listening to soft music or taking a bath before going to sleep. Drink warm milk or herbal tea before sleeping. Don’t drink caffeinated drinks before going to sleep.
Exercise daily. Never exercise just before going to bed. You can exercise either in the morning or at least 3-4 hours before sleep.
Meditation is also one of the most helpful way. It calms our mind and relaxes our body. You can find meditation commentary or music online and even on the WeHeal app, along with more features of happiness quiz, mini patience game and inspirational stories and quotes.

Know more about WeHeal here – https://youtu.be/Ei3ooL2nblg

https://youtu.be/ybLLVFma2Gg

Insomnia is not just a small thing. It is a real sleeping disorder and is totally treatable. The above given methods are helpful in preventing insomnia. It’s important to take professional help if you are dealing with chronic insomnia, or if the above mentioned methods are not becoming helpful to cope with even the acute insomnia.

LONELINESS DURING LOCKDOWN

Stuck in your home alone? Feeling lonely while social distancing? Missing your family and friends? Well, you are not alone. Millions of us are experiencing this during the coronavirus pandemic. Being apart from family and friends for such a long time has become difficult for all of us. When the lockdown was ordered, I myself didn’t get the chance to get back to my family and stay with them. I tried to, but all the interstate transportation was cancelled. It’s been more than a month now that I have been living in my flat all by myself. I am really grateful for the technology in our times that is helping us to stay connected with our loved ones. Zoom calls, skyping, WhatsApp calling etc. have greatly helped us to go through this daily. But it’s not the same. Explain difficult to adapt to this “new normal”. I always loved the “me time” as it helped me to clear my head, explore myself and love myself more, but this much amount of me time is doing no good. Well, excess of everything is bad. I’m now realising how free I was.

Missing those get togethers, chit chats while eating together and outing with friends and family is something we all are experiencing. These feelings are completely normal but can immensely affect our mental health. This feeling of loneliness can increase stress and anxiety and can be worse for someone who is dealing with depression. Loneliness can give way to further more feelings like helplessness, sadness, hopelessness,etc. Yes, the circumstances have affected our loneliness, but the thoughts prevailing in our minds and how we are handling it, affects it more than the circumstances itself. These thoughts determine our loneliness. These negative thoughts increases our insecurity and make us feel unlovable and unwanted. These thoughts makes it more difficult for us to reach out and call others for help, increasing the feeling of loneliness. We can reduce our loneliness to great extent if we deal with these negative thoughts. We can do this by making ourselves believe that we will get over these hard times and that things will get better.

SO, WHAT CAN WE DO?

Communicate regularly with your friends and family through calls, video calls, and sms.
If you are feeling anxious, helpless and suffocated , talk about it with your friend or a family member you trust. If you feel that you may make them worried about you, then you can also take help of apps like WeHeal.

http://tinyurl.com/weheal

WeHeal is an Android app which aims to heal people just as the names suggests. The services provided by the app justifies the name. This app allows you to anonymously share your problems through open letters. The healers (who are the users) provide solutions to your problems. You can even have one to one personal chats with the healers where you can talk about your problems with them. You will be kept anonymous. No one can even take screenshots or do screen recording, which makes it safer to have your chat. It becomes easier to deal with problems when you have someone who understands them. Whether you need to confess something or you need some emotional support or if you need help to deal with a heartbreak or are having issues in studies, career, relationships or are burdened by problems, need someone to listen and care, and make you feel light and happy, you can take help from this app. If you’re dealing with overwhelming feelings of loneliness, stress or anxiety, it’s important for you to know that help is available to you. The app also has three inbuilt modes which provide you with meditation sessions, happiness quiz that will detect your mood, and a mini game to improve your patience level. There are also 6 inspirational stories, quotes and experiences written by the users which may encourage you.

Stay away from stress: Don’t make yourself indulge in activities that will give you more stress. Limit watching news and reading about the pandemic as you may feel overwhelmed.
Practice yoga, exercise and basic workout routines. Our mind and body are connected and that is why physical health will contribute a lot to our mental health. Go for little walks either on your roof or around your neighbourhood.
If you are feeling useless, like you have lost your purpose, find a new hobby (painting, dancing, writing, etc) , online courses, or apply for any internship. This may provide you with a sense of purpose.
Play online games with friends and family or even strangers.
Do something that makes you happy. Staying away from things and people that irritates you and make you feel bad is the best option, not just during the pandemic but in every stage of your life.
Distract distract yourself from the negativity. Start reading a new book, watch movies of the genre you love or start a new series. Binge watch friends or the office if you want to feel stressfree. If you if you haven’t watched any of this, then now is the best time to start. Watch TED talks or other interesting videos on YouTube.
Practice gratitude : even in midst of great difficulties, we can always find things for which we are truly grateful. Appreciate and thank every person who are helping you through this situation, your family, friends and the doctors and nurses and every other person who are risking their lives just to save ours. Give gratitude for every little thing that you are blessed to have. Studies have proved that when you thank others you love yourself more, you feel happy and contented with yourself.
Take at least 8 hours of sleep.
Help others : you may know other people who’s mental health is affected negatively during this pandemic. Talk to them and provide your support to them. Through WeHeal app, you can even help other people by replying to them and helping them get through their tough situations through your experience. It is proved that we feel more positive when we help someone. We feel happy about what we are doing and that we are making a difference in someone’s life.

It can be extremely difficult to stay positive with so much going around you, but it’s not impossible to do so. This coronavirus pandemic is filled with challenges and uncertainty. We have no idea when all of this will get over. All we can do is deal courageously with it. It’s a great time to explore ourself more and learn some new things. This time period has also made us realise the importance of our family, friends and our freedom, which we take for granted. This will get over soon. Just remember that a dark night can never defeat a sunrise.

ANXIETY

Remember how our heart starts beating fast, worries and tensions conquers mind, nervousness starts terrorizing us before or during a difficult situation? THAT’S ANXIETY. The American Psychological Association (APA) defines anxiety as, “an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, worried thoughts and physical changes like increased blood pressure”. Experiencing anxiety can be normal in stressful situations like performing before an audience, first day of school or college, giving interview, or giving exams. It’s a feeling of fear and uneasiness about what’s going to happen next. The causes and symptoms of anxiety are subjective to everyone. My anxiety symptoms might be different from yours. The situations triggering my anxiety might be different from your situations. Some common symptoms of anxiety are increased heart rate, rapid breathing, trouble concentrating, restlessness, sleeplessness, nervousness, and feeling of worry and fear. It’s not unusual to experience anxiety before any big event or an important decisions. It is an expected and a common response to situations which might be stressful to an individual. The feeling of anxiousness usually passes away once the stressful situation is over. But when this anxious feelings happen without any reason and don’t go away for months, interfering and causing problems in our daily life, then it might be the sign of anxiety disorder.

I too experience anxiety in many situations, usually before giving an exam, giving an interview and before making stage appearances. I get anxious even before taking some important decisions that will bring a specific change in my life. I found out a few strategies to help me find relief from this anxious feeling. These are:

• Following some relaxing techniques like deep breathing and meditating. They help to calm our mind and make us feel less anxious. Deep breathing minimises the symptoms.

• Doing something that brings us comfort and divert our mind from the feeling of anxiety. It can be anything like watching a favorite movie or a favorite TV show or reading a book flipping through magazines.

• Scribbling your feelings and emotions in your diary.

• Channelizing your energy into exercise and working out.

• Eating a balanced and healthy diet. A healthy diet helps in lifting the mood and provide more energy.

• Reach out to someone you are comfortable talking to and talk whatever you feel like, weather the feelings that you are experiencing right now or something you did or saw. Good relationships are one of the best ways to feel better. Talking to a friend or a family member will help to boost your mood. Finding a reliable source of support and encouragement is always helpful during anxiety. People dealing with anxiety want to be heard and understood. They want someone to treat them with understanding and compassion.

If you don’t have someone reliable to talk to, then you can rely on the WeHeal App. It is an application that seeks to tackle mental health problems. It is an anonymous chat platform where we can share our current feelings and problems. Dealing with anxiety is not easy but if we have someone to listen and understand us, then it becomes way more easier.

Through this app people can share their current feelings and concerns anonymously either in a personal chat or publically. The solution to the problems will be given by the healers of this app who are currently the users and have dealt with or experienced the same situations. They will provide a non judgement zone where you can share what’s going on in your mind. The healers will give you possible solutions to your problems. If you just want to be heard and understood, then this app might be helpful. Mental issues are not paid much attention nowadays. It still considered a taboo in our country. People facing mental health issues are not able to express themselves which is causing most of the trouble. With the help of WeHeal App, people going through such issues can share their problems, talk to the healers and feel light, understood and happy. The healers will provide moral support to boost your confidence. Privacy is respected the most in this app, since you will be kept anonymous. Anonymous chat feature will help you to talk personally about your situation. There are also three inbuilt features which provide you with meditation sessions, psychological quiz that will detect your mood, and a mini game to improve your patience level. There are also short inspirational stories, quotes and experiences written by the users which may encourage you.
But if you are experiencing symptoms like constant worrying, sleeplessness, unexplained emotional changes, losing interest in everything and feeling of worthlessness or helplessness, for 3 weeks or more, you should make an appointment to see a counselor or a psychologist. Anxiety disorders are amongst the most common mental health issues but are treatable . Stay Happy, stay stressfree and follow WeHeal.

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Facebook –http://facebook.com/weheal

Download the app –http://tinyurl.com/weheal