Why Can't You Sleep? 3 Common Causes Of Insomnia

A consistent sleep routine is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, but it’s a part that is missing for a lot of people. So many of us struggle to get our 8 hours every night and, unfortunately, it’s becoming more normalized. Most people just put it down to having a busy lifestyle and try to ignore it, but that’s not good. Lack of sleep can have so many negative effects on your physical and mental health so if you aren’t sleeping properly, you need to do something about it. If you’re going to improve your sleep patterns, you need to work out why you are struggling to sleep in the first place. These are some of the most common reasons that people cannot sleep properly at night.

This is a collaborative post. See my Privacy Policy for full disclosure and more.

Pexels CCO License

Stress And Anxiety

This is such a common cause of sleep problems and it’s something that we will all struggle with at some point in our lives. When you’re feeling stressed or anxious about something, it’s hard to sleep. If it happens every now and again, that’s natural, but what if it is happening every single night. A lack of sleep can be an indication that you have a problem with anxiety or depression, caused by excess stress. The difficult thing is that lack of sleep can make the symptoms of anxiety and depression worse, so you get trapped in a vicious cycle. If you find that you are kept awake at night because you are anxious and stressed about things, you should consider speaking with somebody about your mental health. 

In particular, managing and dealing with mental health issues like anxiety or depression can be achieved in many ways, and you will need to decide what kind of professional you are going to see in order to see those improvements happen as quickly as possible. One method that a lot more people are turning to right now is neurofeedback treatment, which can be incredibly beneficial and powerful when it comes to anxiety and depression. But ultimately, it’s up to you to find the right solution for your needs.

Sleep Disorders

Some people think that they just have trouble sleeping but they don’t realize that they actually have a more serious sleep disorder. It may be the case that your restless sleep is caused by something like sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome. People that work varied shifts often find that they have circadian rhythm disturbances because they do not have a consistent sleeping pattern. It may be worth visiting a facility like the Nova Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Associates to get yourself checked for a sleep disorder. People live with them for years and never realize so if your sleep patterns are a problem, you should try to rule sleep disorders out early on.


Medication

This is one that people forget about, but some medications can interrupt your sleep patterns and make it hard to get to sleep at night. Antidepressants are one that a lot of people have trouble with so if you have recently started taking them, you should speak with your doctor and see if they have alternatives that might be better for you. High blood pressure can cause lack of sleep too. If you are struggling to sleep, think back to when the problem started and see if it coincides with you starting some new medication. In a lot of cases, you will be able to switch to an alternative that doesn’t affect your sleep so much.
These are the most common reasons that you’re struggling to sleep and once you identify the problem, you can start to do something about it.