I remember when I was younger I could sleep anywhere at anytime. Heck, when I was living in Florida I even slept through a hurricane, but as the years go by I have found it harder to get to sleep. I also tend to wake up in the middle of the night and find myself tossing and turning a lot. In doing some research I realized I am not alone in this.
Many people find that their sleep gets worse over time, either in terms of the amount of time spent sleeping or the depth of the sleep. If you have found this to be the case, then it might well have started affecting numerous other parts of your life. With less sleep, it is harder to concentrate and your emotions are more likely to be all over the place. You will also find you are less able to think straight, and a number of other problems too. So what is the cause? As it turns out there are actually a number of issues that might lead to your sleep getting worse over time.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
Aging and Decreased need
One of the most common reasons is simply that you are getting a little older. As we age, our need for hours of sleep actually decreases quite a bit over time, with the result being that you probably don’t need anywhere near as much as you did in your twenties. This is a normal part of aging, and not something that you have to worry about as such. But being aware of it could help you to pinpoint any other issues which might be causing your sleep problems in turn.
Sleep Apnea
There is a condition known as sleep apnea which can be quite distressing for a lot of people. One of the main results of this condition is that you can’t sleep properly for the simple fact that your airways are not fully open as you sleep. You therefore start to snore a lot, and basically wake yourself up repeatedly throughout the night. If you fear you might have sleep apnea, you should aim to get some medical help for it. It might need some intervention to help improve it.
Other Disorders
Sleep apnea is one kind of problem that can occur with sleep, but there are a lot of other disorders that you might have too. One which is becoming more common is known as REM sleep behaviour disorder, and it is characterized by unusual behaviour happening during sleep, such as shouting or screaming or flailing about. The sleeper might not even be aware of these behaviours, but they will certainly wake up feeling tired the next day. If your partner has warned you that you are exhibiting these behaviours, be sure to see your doctor.
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
Poor Diet
The thing about eating badly is that you might not notice the effects right away. But over time, you will almost certainly find that having a poor diet leads to a number of bad things, one of the most common results being that you might not sleep quite as well. If you think you might be eating a lot of heavy, processed foods, or you know that you could probably cut down on alcohol and caffeine, you should certainly consider doing those things. That could be all that you really need to do in order to improve your sleep.
If you are feeling like me, unable to get a good night’s sleep, I hope that this might help you a little,
sweet dreams my friends
xo
Mia
