While noticeable changes in physical, behavioral and mental health can induce sleep difficulty, it becomes highly important to understand if there’s any underlying disease that needs immediate attention. From the perspective of certain doctors, chronic disease and pain can develop sleeping problems for several reasons. Therefore, ensure to discuss with the doctor if there lays any unseen disease that required to be treated. However, conditions or ailments that may disturb your sound sleep subsume chronic lung disease, sleep apnea, alcohol or drug abuse, relationship stressors, gastric ulcer, arthritis, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, diabetes and others.

Everyday activities and habits can disturb your sleeping pattern and thus cause stress – eventually leading to insomnia. Make sure that your schedule of activities for the day does not include anything interrupting or taxing. Stay away from catching a nap during the day and eating a heavy meal within two hours or just before the bedtime. Indulging in physical exercise sessions close to bedtime and following an unbalanced morning and nighttime schedule are other factors that could be perturbing the situation. Besides these aspects, ascertain that you are stressing your mind or thinking too much right before or after going into bed.

If you thought your medicines for some other ailment has nothing to do with being unable to sleep soundly, then you might need to reconsider. As a side effect, some medicines can persuade sleeping difficulties and thus result into insomnia. Try and avoid consuming over the counter medicines if they are disturbing your sleep. However, ensure that you have discussed the condition with your doctor before calling off any prescription medicine.

According to most sleep experts, stress and anxiety are considered as the most significant cause for short term insomnia. Therefore, it’s extremely important to eliminate stress from everyday life – irrespective of what is causing the nervous tension. Concentrate on things that help you relieve stress and indulge in activities that keep your mind relaxed and happy. Nonetheless, do not exercise just before the bedtime as it may interrupt your sleep. You can also consider deep breathing exercises and meditation to trim down your stress levels.

Another major factor that triggers insomnia is the consumption of caffeine and alcohol. Although you may feel energized and active after having them, these substances do a big harm to the body as well as the mind. So, avoid such substances that keep you from falling asleep, depress the nervous system and cause restlessness and uneasy sleeping patterns.

Also, ensure that you follow a regular, uninterrupted routine to loosen up and wind down before sleep. You can either take a warm bath to relax your muscles and stressful mind, listen to some soothing music to feel better, or read your favorite book. At the same time, if you are worrying over certain things while lying awake, simply make a to-do list before embracing your bed – this will enable you to wipe away those concerns overnight.

Besides being termed as a good sleep habit, following a regular bedtime routine can help you combat your insomnia condition. Try to sleep at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning. This won’t only help you form a good sleeping habit, but will also induce sleep. Concurrently, avoid taking naps during the day since it can make you less sleepy during the night.

Jet lag can potently bring interruptions to your biological rhythms and take away your sound sleep. Thus, make sure that you get a good amount of sleep before starting your journey, avoid alcohol during the traveling and drink plenty of water. You can also drink warm milk about half an hour before sleeping as this helps soothe the nervous system and makes one feel thoroughly relaxed.

Lastly, try to create a comfortable sleeping environment. Ensure that your sleeping room is quiet and dark for utmost comfort but not too cold or too warm. Thus, create an environment which is free from noise, light and sound disturbances.