Insomnia. Sleeplessness. Restlessness. The younger generation might even call it Vampirism to quiet its intensity. These are the words that float in my mind each and every night when I lay my head down to attempt to sleep. The world is beginning to recognize this growing health concern that results in sleep deprivation. Turns out I am not alone. Statistics state that 48-51% of Americans are experiencing Insomnia three to four times a week on average. That means one out of every four people experience some form of this disease. Although there are many sleep study clinics, specialized physicians and Homeopathic shops trying to treat this epidemic there are others that are obviously gaining from this.
The pharmaceutical companies have become fat cats off ever-increasing numbers of Americans that cannot find sleep due to racing thoughts, sleep apnea or night terrors, to name a few. They push their drugs onto the doctors, who then convince us that this pill will fix us. Web Md reports that over 10million Americans are on one drug or more for their sleeping problems. Also, it is reported that millions of dollars are lost due to absences in work and lower productivity because we are sleeping less and less each year.
Welcome to my world, nightly. Maybe I should say daily. Frankly, I lose track of what exact time it is and sometimes what day it is due to my insomnia. While researching this phenomenon they generally cite either two causes; One, being a psychological issue, such as racing thoughts, Obsessive Control Disorder (ocd), etc. The other is due to a physical condition such as Diabetes, rapid weight loss or gain, etc. I wonder if there are a few people that are just born this way. My plight with sleep began when I was very young.
I remember being a preteen thinking,"When I become an adult I'm going to stay up as late as I want and sleep only when I'm tired". That was my biggest incentive to adulthood. Well my parents didn't agree with this choice of course so a bedtime was strictly enforced. I couldn't sleep! I'd sneak down the hall and sit behind my father's big recliner and watch television with him. It was some of our best bonding moments he never knew about. However, when I did get busted there was hell to pay with little sympathy for my "condition". It got so bad that I began taking Dymatap, a candy-coated cold medicine, to induce sleep. I was popping cold medicine so i wouldn't get in trouble for not sleeping!
Now here I am working a third shift job for about three years now in hopes that this lifestyle choice would better suit my disorder. Sadly, it has not. I lose time, I lose days and I lose lots of opportunities with family and friends. Everyone that knows me is not in the least surprised to find me asleep while they are talking to me or my head thrown back in the car snoring when I'm supposed to be helping navigate. My friends and family have adapted but I am always left feeling guilty that I cannot meet their expectations of a fully functioning daytime person.
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