Sleep is a precious gift, one that is important to revitalise the mind and body. People who have experienced sleepless nights, even for a short time, know how much distress it can cause and practically make working at office impossible. Sadly, urban stress, odd working hours and internet addiction are all leading to increased cases of sleeplessness.Most youngsters will tell you that they don’t sleep before 12. “I don’t have a particular time when I go to sleep but I won’t be in bed before 12. I read a book, watch TV or am on the phone,” says Varsha (23), a management trainee. “Till three in the morning I am on social networking sites. Then I sleep and wake up by eight to go to college,” says Anand, final year graduate student. “If a person does not get adequate hours of sleep, it could lead to many mental and physical problems,” says C J John, consultant psychiatrist, Medical Trust. “They are meddling with the normal sleep architecture which could lead to problems that may not be seen immediately. People who don’t get enough sleep tend to get irritated fast, get angry about trivial issues, and are vulnerable to negative emotions,” he says.Short and long term insomnia (sleep deprivation) are also seen in people due to anxiety, depression, fear and other psychological reasons. “Whenever a day-to-day crisis happens, sleep and appetite are the first to be hit,” says Nishad, consulting psychologist, KG Hospital. People always tend to brood over things when they go to bed and that causes sleep loss. There are three types of insomnia seen: early, middle and late. Early insomnia is the most famous because it happens when we try to fall asleep, but can’t and end up tossing and turning in our beds instead. Usually the daily stress is the reason for it. In case of middle or late insomnia, it happens when the person starts bothering about the next day and loses sleep and wakes up too early.“If the sleeplessness is seen for more than three weeks one should consult a doctor immediately,” says John. Taking even the smallest dose of medicine without doctors prescription is not good, he adds. People working in BPO also suffer from the same problem. The whole biological clock is reversed which badly affects their health. “Even if I want to sleep at night on my off days, I can’t. Another problem is that I tend to put on and lose weight at random,” says Shilpam A, employee in IBM’s BPO. The best way to overcome all sleep related problems is to maintain sleep hygiene. The practice is necessary to have normal, quality night-time sleep and full daytime alertness.
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