Sleep problems

When difficulties sleeping begin to have an impact on your day-to-day life, it is generally considered that you have a sleeping problem. People tend to suffer from the following sleeping problems:

• Insomnia – this usually means a difficulty falling asleep, but you could also have insomnia if you don’t find sleep refreshing, or find yourself waking up very early
• Oversleeping – this is when you sleep more than your body needs
• Nightmares – these are regular and intense frightening dreams that cause you to wake and can leave you feeling scared or not wishing to go back to sleep
• Sleep paralysis – usually lasting for a couple of seconds or a few minutes, this condition causes you to wake up in the night without the ability to move or speak because sleep hormones are still in your muscles
• Sleepwalking – this is when you get up, walk around and sometimes carry out activities in the middle of the night

Sleep problems can be caused by a myriad of factors that don’t just relate to your sleep routine. Common causes of sleep difficulties are:

• Going to bed too early or too late
• A bad sleeping environment
• Continual changes to sleeping patterns
• Stress or worry
• Psychological associations with sleep
• Physical or mental illness
• Medication
• Traumatic events

Therapy For You can offer you a range of interventions to help manage this type of problem, beginning with our Psychoeducational therapy, which can help you recognise the causes of your issues and think about ways to develop positive patterns and habits that can eventually lead to a good night’s sleep.