Late Nights Are a "Hidden" Cause of Insomnia

OK, party girl or party boy – I
don’t want to spoil the fun, but if you’re having
trouble sleeping don’t you think it’s time to erase
a few entries on your busy social calendar?
I enjoy the bright lights, music and fun times as much as anyone, but
you really can have too much of a good thing – particularly
if you suffer from insomnia.
They used to call it “burning the candle at both
ends” – the urge to go out and whoop it up every
night of the week. It’s great if you’re a) young
and b) able to easily fall into a deep, restful sleep after a night on
the town.
But life’s not like that for many of us. The pressure of
maintaining a career and juggling children, a mortgage and other
responsibilities is reality soon after we’ve blown out 21
candles on the birthday cake. And yet, the subtle pressures are there
for us to “enjoy life” while we’re still
young enough.
That means going out, even when our aching bodies and weary brains are
telling us not to. Some young marrieds don’t want to lose
touch with their still-single friends (who they sometimes secretly
envy) so they hire a baby sitter and hit the old haunts.
And it’s not just couples. Singles looking to fill their free
time make a habit of “going out”. Often that means
one or more alcoholic drinks. Since alcohol disrupts normal sleep it
doesn’t take many such evenings to frazzle even the most
youthful brain. Fragmented sleep leads to poor concentration during the
day and actually makes you progressively more tired.
Married or single, it’s completely cool if you can manage a
busy social life and still get the sleep you need. But if
you’re beginning to notice how dog tired you are some days
it’s definitely time to take a long hard look at whether the
price of enjoying yourself is too high.
As British sleep expert Dr. Neil Stanley says:
“We live in a tired society . . . the days when we feel
really good are incredibly rare. We work and play hard and time has
become irrelevant. Sleep is seen as something you snatch when you are
finished with everything else.”
Even when we stay home we’re either glued to the TV, surfing
the Internet or e-mailing or texting our friends. There’s
precious little down time for our minds to relax.
There’s a good reason why Friday and Saturday nights are
still the best nights of the week to let your hair down – you
don’t have to go to work next day!
If you are having trouble sleeping and are honest enough to admit
you’ve been going out one too many times during the week, try
a couple of weeks in which you cut socializing to weekends only. During
the week, give yourself a night or two in which you pull the plug on
the TV and computer and read a book instead. Or go to bed early.
If you find your sleep and overall well-being improves from following
these simple steps your brain will thank you for listening.

Click here to STOP your Insomnia