Sleep. A critical activity, vital in ensuring both physical and mental wellness. It’s no secret that we’ll spend around a third of our lives sleeping, allowing our bodies and minds to recover and to rest. More than half of adult Australians are reported to suffer from some form of sleep disorder, with almost 15% of all adults possibly experiencing insomnia in their lifetimes. Without this much-needed rest, our ability to enjoy functional lives is severely impaired, while a litany of short and long-term risks will inevitably damage our wellbeing. With so many people facing these sleep-related challenges, it is important to consider useful treatments like hypnotherapy which are available to us in taking on insomnia.

A World of Sleep Disorders

Many adults don’t actually realise that they even have a sleep disorder. With over 70 defined types of sleep dysfunctions, many people have simply become used to experiencing reduced sleep quality and quantity every night, often going untreated. From mild issues like snoring and restless leg syndrome to more acute concerns like parasomnias (sleepwalking) and sleep apnea, these problems can often go unnoticed.

What is Insomnia?

Insomnia, however, is one of the most disruptive and damaging of these disorders. Defined as a ‘habitual inability to sleep’, sufferers are almost always aware of this problem. Insomnia can either mean that you find it extremely difficult to fall asleep, or have trouble staying asleep. Either way, this condition can lead to a variety of issues, including chronic fatigue, depression, and a list of physical problems like high blood pressure and a compromised immune system.

Insomnia can be divided into three distinct categories:

• Transient Insomnia – Can occur for a couple of nights only over a week or so. This sleeplessness is often the symptom of another disorder such as depression or stress.
• Acute Insomnia – a mid-term case, usually lasting for less than a month. Caused by situational stress, the condition generally resolves itself once the pressure is removed.
• Chronic Insomnia – The most severe and persistent of the categories. Chronic insomnia can be extremely damaging to your wellness and can often last indefinitely if not treated.

Getting Help in Getting to Sleep

Insomnia can be treated through a variety of methods. Pharmacological interventions involving medications are often the last resort and are recommended only if alternative, therapeutic strategies do not work. Non-pharmacological treatments like behavioural, sleep restriction and light therapies have also proven to be effective. Relaxation therapies, – such as hypnotherapy – however, have been shown to be an effective, and manageable treatment for insomnia for many years.

Hypnotherapy as Useful First Step in Addressing Insomnia

Hypnosis works as an effective relaxation therapy in that it addresses the potential causes of the insomnia, rather than the direct sleep disorder itself. By working to treat the root cause of the problem, hypnotherapy treatments can often alleviate insomnia whilst simultaneously dealing with other issues that contribute to the client’s inability to fall into a healthy, restful sleep.

With many of the causes of insomnia identified as chronic stress, anxiety, depression and bad habits, hypnotherapy can be the perfect tool in not only treating, but also diagnosing the challenges faced by insomnia sufferers. Clinical hypnotherapists will work to instil positive feelings and beneficial affirmations that allow the client to address the underlying issues associated with their insomnia. During the treatment, the therapist will access the subconscious to uncover the inherent problem, before developing a specialised treatment, tailored around the nature of the issue causing insomnia.

These progressive techniques may involve muscle relaxation to ease pain and tension, affirmations that address stress and depression, or guided imagery to encourage the onset of sleep itself. Sometimes, the clinical hypnotherapist will teach their client self-hypnosis as a long-term treatment that clients are able to use themselves at home.

Hypnocare Hypnosis clinic is Here to Help

Quality, proper sleep is critical to ensuring wellness. Without the rest that we need, almost every other aspect of our lives is negatively affected. Hypnotherapy is an effective, non-invasive treatment that not only has the potential to alleviate insomnia but also addresses other issues at the same time. Hypnocare’s clinical hypnotherapists are well versed in administering a variety of therapeutic treatments that can assist the client is the pursuit of sound sleep, safely and comfortably.