Why should we care about insomnia?

If you start to lose sleep every now and then, there is nothing to worry about and there are no real social costs. But if the loss of sleep becomes more regular, you will start to find that your personal relationships begin to suffer and your productivity at work is affected. There are real social costs associated with these outcomes.

Both health professionals and those who suffer from insomnia agree that there is a boundary line between being able to live with it and needing treatment. You cross this line when you begin to feel real effects on your mood and your ability to live your life normally during the day. For example, many of the routine tasks we perform actually require us to be alert. In the kitchen, we regularly cut and slice food with sharp knives and may cook using gas. We may drive a car or operate machinery at work. Even a momentary loss of concentration can have serious consequences both to ourselves and those around us. The more chronic the sleeplessness becomes, the more likely it is that you will suffer personal, medical and psychological complications.

Research has been expanding over the last thirty years and it now appears that the problems associated with insomnia are more widespread than had previously been thought. Beginning in early childhood, many children are slow to sleep and wake several times during the night. This leads to a more general resistance to going to bed. The children are bored lying in bed when they cannot sleep. They prefer to be active until they feel tired. If good sleep habits are not developed during these formative years, the difficulty with sleep becomes a part of each individual’s learned behaviour. They develop coping strategies of catching naps whenever the opportunity arises. But as they grow into adults, there are more pressing calls on their time and it is more difficult to lie down when at college or in paid employment.

Given the range of health issues connected with sleep deprivation, it should be obvious that, untreated, insomnia becomes the cause of rising costs in the health services for each country. Insomnia is a set of symptoms that may be early signs of serious illnesses. If early treatment is sought, preventative measures represent the best value-for-money use of health service resources. But if treatment is delayed until the associated illnesses and diseases are in a mature stage, the cost of treatment will be significantly higher.

Now, we add in all the accidents around the home, on the roads and in the workplaces that are caused by poor concentration. In one sense, society might take a selfish view that individuals reap what they sow, i.e. if they do not sleep and injure themselves as a result, that is their problem. Unfortunately, traffic accidents and loss of attention when operating sometimes dangerous machinery at work may injure many others. All the costs associated with health provision are met out of tax revenues, insurance policies and personal savings. When so many of these costs are avoidable, it is a heavy price for tax payers and everyone who holds insurance policies to pay.

When people are too tired or injured, they do not go to work. This costs their employers in lost productivity, whether to produce goods or supply services. These increased costs are passed on to us as consumers. Even when people do go to work, they may be too tired to work effectively which may also mean we get a poorer standard of service at a higher cost. If work ends (whether because the employee is fired for poor attendance or work performance, or is too injured to come into work) this represents lost income for the employees and their families who may simultaneously be picking up big medical bills for treatment. In the sad event that people die, their families lose future income. All the money saved may have gone to pay for unsuccessful treatment. There may be no immediate way for the surviving spouse and dependants to make ends meet.

How does cognitive behavioural therapy help? One of the best alternatives to simple reliance on a drug like Ambien is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). CBT teaches you a new set of behaviours around the "activity" of sleep. You have to "relearn" the association between going to bed and falling sleep.

The habit of sleep Before you start taking Ambien or alongside a course of Ambien, you should change your habit patterns and practise relaxation techniques to help you get to sleep.