Before you spend money on something you think will fix your sleep problems, talk to your physician. If you are snoring, a referral to a sleep clinic may be necessary. If you are not snoring, a referral to a Behavioral specialist may be advisable.Every year commissions a study on some aspect of sleep. This year the study examined market data on sleep products and services. The total industry was estimated to be $23.7 billion a year. There are obviously a lot of people looking for better sleep and they are looking at many different avenues for a fix. This includes everything from pillows and mattresses to medications.
There is no one magic fix, however. The only way to know what will help you sleep better is to know what is causing your sleep problem. As logical as this may seem, most people never look beyond the symptoms of poor sleep - not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep and not feeling rested. Many people do not view sleep problems as health problems and so they never raise the issue with their physicians. As a result, they are perpetually looking for a fix for a problem they do not fully understand.
Those people who do talk to their physicians will often be prescribed a medication. For many of them, the medication will work. For many others, it won't, and others do not wish to be dependent on medication if there are other alternatives. Unfortunately, these people are on their own, searching the internet and talking to friends, about other products practitioner. This is useful to determine if one has a sleep disorder or restless legs syndrome. Knowing this is the root of the sleep problem can then lead to an appropriate strategy for improving sleep and well-being. Unfortunately, many sleep clinics are not equipped to address insomnia and disorders. These people are therefore often the most likely to be seeking 'fixes' for their poor sleep.
Though most shiftworkers are focused on getting sleep, time and resources are being expended on how to keep people awake and perhaps even forgo sleep completely.Obviously, being alert at work and while driving is critical. Fatigue and lapses in alertness greatly increase the risk of errors and accidents and these exact a huge cost in accidents. Workers, therefore, are encouraged to get quality sleep in sufficient quantities to ensure that they remain alert and safe.
There is no one magic fix, however. The only way to know what will help you sleep better is to know what is causing your sleep problem. As logical as this may seem, most people never look beyond the symptoms of poor sleep - not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep and not feeling rested. Many people do not view sleep problems as health problems and so they never raise the issue with their physicians. As a result, they are perpetually looking for a fix for a problem they do not fully understand.
Those people who do talk to their physicians will often be prescribed a medication. For many of them, the medication will work. For many others, it won't, and others do not wish to be dependent on medication if there are other alternatives. Unfortunately, these people are on their own, searching the internet and talking to friends, about other products practitioner. This is useful to determine if one has a sleep disorder or restless legs syndrome. Knowing this is the root of the sleep problem can then lead to an appropriate strategy for improving sleep and well-being. Unfortunately, many sleep clinics are not equipped to address insomnia and disorders. These people are therefore often the most likely to be seeking 'fixes' for their poor sleep.
Though most shiftworkers are focused on getting sleep, time and resources are being expended on how to keep people awake and perhaps even forgo sleep completely.Obviously, being alert at work and while driving is critical. Fatigue and lapses in alertness greatly increase the risk of errors and accidents and these exact a huge cost in accidents. Workers, therefore, are encouraged to get quality sleep in sufficient quantities to ensure that they remain alert and safe.
In some occupations, however, the need to be alert extends beyond the usual 8 or 12 hours of a shift. International and military pilots fall into this category.
Unusual efforts are made in these instances to ensure that they maintain alertness and in the case of US military pilots, amphetamine use has been endorsed. Currently, the US military is also experimenting with the possibility of staying awake for a week at a time. This is an effort to entirely overcome the body's need for sleep and the restorative effects it offers.
Is it possible that shiftworkers in more ordinary circumstances will be required to undertake the same extraordinary measures to maintain alertness? Perhaps not yet. We have not yet been able to overcome our need for sleep, as was shown by the soldiers in the Iraqi war who were subjected to long periods of sleep deprivation and who resorted to random napping to compensate. However, for the first time a drug has been approved in the United States for use in overcoming sleepiness associated with shift work sleep disorder.
Unusual efforts are made in these instances to ensure that they maintain alertness and in the case of US military pilots, amphetamine use has been endorsed. Currently, the US military is also experimenting with the possibility of staying awake for a week at a time. This is an effort to entirely overcome the body's need for sleep and the restorative effects it offers.
Is it possible that shiftworkers in more ordinary circumstances will be required to undertake the same extraordinary measures to maintain alertness? Perhaps not yet. We have not yet been able to overcome our need for sleep, as was shown by the soldiers in the Iraqi war who were subjected to long periods of sleep deprivation and who resorted to random napping to compensate. However, for the first time a drug has been approved in the United States for use in overcoming sleepiness associated with shift work sleep disorder.
Though most shiftworkers are focused on getting sleep, time and resources are being expended on how to keep people awake and perhaps even forgo sleep completely.Obviously, being alert at work and while driving is critical. Fatigue and lapses in alertness greatly increase the risk of errors and accidents and these exact a huge cost in accidents. Workers, therefore, are encouraged to get quality sleep in sufficient quantities to ensure that they remain alert and safe.
In some occupations, however, the need to be alert extends beyond the usual 8 or 12 hours of a shift. International and military pilots fall into this category. Unusual efforts are made in these instances to ensure that they maintain alertness and in the case of US military pilots, amphetamine use has been endorsed. Currently, the US military is also experimenting with the possibility of staying awake for a week at a time. This is an effort to entirely overcome the body's need for sleep and the restorative effects it offers.
This measure indicates that we are focusing our interventions away from finding the sources of the sleepiness and providing strategies to promote sleep. Instead, we are implementing strategies that simply overcome the sleepiness. Most shift workers are familiar with strategies for maintaining short term alertness, but is it advisable, in the long term, to maintain alertness through these methods? Or should getting enough sleep still be the best answer for ensuring alertness?
In some occupations, however, the need to be alert extends beyond the usual 8 or 12 hours of a shift. International and military pilots fall into this category. Unusual efforts are made in these instances to ensure that they maintain alertness and in the case of US military pilots, amphetamine use has been endorsed. Currently, the US military is also experimenting with the possibility of staying awake for a week at a time. This is an effort to entirely overcome the body's need for sleep and the restorative effects it offers.
This measure indicates that we are focusing our interventions away from finding the sources of the sleepiness and providing strategies to promote sleep. Instead, we are implementing strategies that simply overcome the sleepiness. Most shift workers are familiar with strategies for maintaining short term alertness, but is it advisable, in the long term, to maintain alertness through these methods? Or should getting enough sleep still be the best answer for ensuring alertness?
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