Maybe it's a new thing, or maybe we're just starting to see it, but insomnia in teenagers is being reported with increasing frequency. Doctors acknowledge that it's a real problem for some teenagers these days, just being unable to sleep at night.
What causes insomnia in teenagers?
There's certainly the lifestyle that teenagers adopt, which is probably the same as it always used to be. They stay up late at night, especially on the weekend, and then are unable to get up early during the week. It's not uncommon for them to sleep at lunchtime or immediately after school, which makes the problem of not being able to sleep at night worse. They also end up sleeping most of the weekend to try and make up for all the sleep they lost during the week. It's a bit of a vicious circle.
The danger is that this can become a pattern, almost like jet lag, where your cycle of sleep adjusts itself completely out of context and your body tries to tell you it's time to go to sleep, when in fact it's not at all. It can take weeks for a teenager to get back into the right sleep habits and recover from insomnia. The problem is that there is never enough time in between weekends for a proper sleep pattern to be formed.
Other common causes of insomnia in teenagers are anxiety and depression. It's a fact that many teenagers are having a struggle, with just about everything! It can be one of most difficult times of our lives, our adolescent years. Whether it's friends, family, school or acne, there's almost an unlimited number of reasons why a teenager could be anxious or depressed. Unavoidably, this is going to lead to sleep problems.
What can be done about insomnia in teenagers?
The answer is almost always the same, teenagers need to get into a regular routine with their sleep, in the same way that anyone else does. If we can establish a habit, most of the sleep problems will disappear.
Of course it may be that your teenager is suffering from other anxiety related conditions, in which case medical help should be sought. If the insomnia interferes with the ability of your teenager to function properly for more than a few days, take them along to see your doctor as soon as you can. if it's simply a matter getting to bed on time, insomnia in teenagers can be resolved fairly quickly and easily.
Peter Coughlin writes on health related issues for various ezines, websites and publications. For more information and articles on insomnia and other sleep related disorders visit http://DealingWithInsomnia.com
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