You may have heard of adjustment insomnia before, or this may be the first time you see the phrase. Having sleepless nights happens to all of us sometimes, but around 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders, while a whole 10% of US citizens suffer from chronic sleep deprivation. If you doubt this health issue affects you, here you can read about potential causes, symptoms, and treatment for more information.
Insomnia is a disorder that results in chronic deprivation of sleep or trouble staying asleep. There can be acute, or short-term, cases and chronic, or long-term, ones. Acute sleeping disorders can become chronic if they’re not treated properly and on time. This is why the first major and long-lasting signs of discomfort, such as problems with falling or staying asleep, should be treated by a professional. Typically, you should reach out for help if the health problem persists for several weeks at a time.
We mentioned that there are acute and chronic types of sleeping deprivation, but what is adjustment insomnia? And why is the word “adjustment” so important in defining it? Well, we all have trouble adjusting sometimes, whether at work, school, or in a new environment, and at those times, the stress and anxiety related to the troubles can reflect poorly on our mental and physical state. That’s where the adjustment disorder comes from. The good news is that it can be short-term and typically ends when a stressful event gets resolved.
Statistically, adjustment issues that cause long-lasting sleep deprivation are more common in women than men, especially during pregnancy. However, both women and men get hit with stress and depression, which are some of the biggest causes of sleeping disorders. Other issues such as relocating across the country or another big one, like preparing for a move, can cause it, too. Some research even suggests that people with other recurring conditions can develop sleeplessness disorders, so it’s essential to take care of our mental health as much as possible.
When it comes to acute insomnia causes, they’re common issues that arise with some sort of stress, depression, or anxiety currently taking over a person’s life. In that case, sleeplessness is caused by a traumatic or stressful event. Depending on how long the event is, sleeping disturbances could last as long or a bit longer. Suppose you’re making certain changes in your life, such as moving in with an older parent or perhaps relocating away from family. Even something that seems minor, like moving to a smaller home, could cause adjustment problems and, in turn, sleepless nights.
While some short-lasting sleeplessness doesn’t leave a huge mark on a person’s body and mind, the story becomes different when it persists for weeks at a time. There are several common effects of sleeping disturbances that occur in daily life, such as:
Most of these effects can be recognized at least once in a while in a person’s performance, but with sleeping deprivation, all of them could occur at once. Imagine how difficult it is for a chronically rest-deprived person to function daily. Experiencing all of these effects increases the levels of anxiety and depression, too, because once someone starts feeling incapable of doing basic, everyday things, they may fall into a rabbit hole of depressing thoughts.
How do you know you have insomnia? If you recognize at least half of these effects in yourself, it might be time to visit a doctor who could give you a proper diagnosis and information on treatment for various conditions. Our article is only informative and doesn’t provide specific ways in which you could get rid of sleeping issues, but we’re here to assist you in recognizing the first signs, nonetheless. For everything else, you should book an appointment with a general practitioner or therapist.
How do you fix severe insomnia? You can search for common information and materials that contain advice on how to fix severe rest deprivation, but most of the time, seeing a therapist or doctor that’ll give you an accurate diagnosis is the best option. Lots of self-help books, apps, and blogs can help you deal with sleeping problems, but be wary of listening to non-professionals – while some medicine, practices, and techniques work for them, it doesn’t mean they’ll work for you, too.
You can speak to a medical specialist who works only with people that have a diagnosis of disordered sleeping patterns, a neurologist, or a psychiatrist. One typical way professionals treat this issue is by introducing sleeping limitations, believing that rest restrictions could cause a person to feel more tired at the end of the day. This, of course, depends on the severity of the issue and the therapist providing help.
We know of an effective medical treatment called cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT, for short, helps with many issues, including sleeplessness. It was developed as a form of therapy for anxiety, stress, and depression, but there’s also CBT-I – the I at the end standing for insomnia. Most therapists are skilled in teaching CBT, but some specialize in it, too.
What CBT does for an anxious or depressed person that’s going through it is developing more knowledge about the cause and effect of their mental illness, analyzing the thoughts and actions that occur in specific situations, and learning to include relief and solutions for those very thoughts and actions. It requires the patient to actively do the work in understanding why they sometimes feel the way they do.
When it comes to sleeplessness, CBT-I does the same thing, so it isn’t very different from the “classic” CBT, but it specifically analyzes actions and thoughts which cause a person to develop a diagnosis of a disordered sleeping pattern. This medical treatment is six to eight sessions long, depending on the severity of the issue, and it combines analyses of actions and thoughts to see how well they promote or hinder sleeping patterns.
You can watch the video below for more information on CBT-I.
Believe it or not, but moving can cause disordered sleeping, as well as relocation stress, and in some cases, relocation depression. And, how wouldn’t it? If your move becomes a last-minute relocation and you don’t have enough time to prepare the moving essentials, you’re bound to feel immense stress. Even in other cases, when you’ve decided on the best time to move, wrote an elaborate relocation to-do list, and finally picked the perfect city to live in, you can still feel depressed and overwhelmed, and end up developing a disordered sleeping pattern.
It’s no wonder that many people end up becoming insomniacs right after moving to another city or state. For example, one of the biggest reasons for moving stress is coast-to-coast relocation. However, relocating to the West Coast causes jet lag in the same way relocation to the East Coast does. Jet lag is the body’s difficulty to adapt to a different time zone, and this is why sometimes people have difficulties with traveling long distances. Whether it’s relocating to the West or the East Coast, different time zones exist in both, and adapting to either can be very difficult.
A few more reasons why people feel stressed out could be moving for love for the first time. Perhaps someone else is trying to cope with moving away from family. Maybe this is the first time they’ve decided to be independent, and it hasn’t been as easy as they thought it would. In addition, someone might be finishing college and facing that dreaded after-college relocation. It could mean they’re not sure what to do with their life or simply believe that the last few years have been the best of their lives. All of these reasons can cause anxiety, depression, and in turn, sleep deprivation.
Whatever you do, we recommend you don’t attempt to move on your own. Ask your friends, family, and relatives for help, or call some professional long-distance movers to help you with the dreaded relocation process. We ask you not to try moving alone if you feel that it’s causing you lots of stress and anxiety. If those go unaddressed and untreated, they could lead to recurring issues, and in turn, you could be spending lots of money and time on therapy.
While there are so many tips and tricks on unpacking after a move or writing a first apartment list, there aren’t many tips on fully eliminating or avoiding relocation stress because we can’t always know how much it will affect us. Do your best to understand that asking for help is not a bad thing and that it may even bond you with certain people in your life. If you’re worried about moving costs when hiring cross-country movers, we can assure you that you’ll get a good deal.
Whether you’re moving in winter or summer, if you have one or many reasons to move, you can always rely on a long-distance moving company to assist you during relocation. Long-distance moving services include professional packing service, additional moving insurance, and free use of storage for full 30 days. Isn’t that great? In case you’ve been feeling sleep-deprived even before you started your move, it would be very wise to book some assistance and use the services that long-distance moving companies can offer.
In addition to getting professional help when it comes to moving, you can focus on yourself and reduce the stress you’re feeling. In that case, you can worry more about how you’re going to cope with the next few weeks of being in another place while you allow cross-country movers to do all the hard physical work for you. This is why we believe that hiring a cross-country moving company is the best option when you’re trying to move. We hope you understand the importance of good mental health and coping mechanisms and that your adjustment sleeplessness subsides before you start a great, new life.
