In today’s world most humans neglect the most important factor of our life i.e., sleep. Most of us take a "good night of sleep" for granted. Just like food and water, sleep is also a very essential aspect of the human body. But due to our disturbed and unorganised life, our sleep cycle also gets disturbed. As a result, most of us have a hard time falling asleep. So, in this article I am going to talk about the major factors that contribute to not being able to fall asleep.
1. Afternoon Siesta
Most people nowadays take afternoon siestas. What is a siesta? Siesta is the short 1-2 hours nap that you take after having your lunch in the afternoon. People who take afternoon siestas can experience the problem of not being able to easily fall asleep at night. So, it is advisable for those people, not to take those sweet siestas anymore and try to stay awake in the afternoon, despite feeling a little drowsy.
2. Too Much Caffeine
Indians are always known for their love with tea or as we say in Hindi “Chai”. But according to a survey, after the American Sitcom FRIENDS started to air on Indian television, many Indians shifted to taking coffee instead of tea. Because the Sitcom’s plot was based on 6 friends who regularly meet at a cafe to hang out. Seeing the popularity of the show, many coffee shops started opening in India. One them is now a multi-million dollar company, which is Cafe Coffee Day. This Sitcom revolutionized Indians’ intake of caffeine. When the only source of caffeine intake was tea. Because of the trend of this show, a lot of people mostly from the urban areas, started shifting to coffee. Now here comes the twist! Tea and coffee both contain a drug called caffeine. Which helps to reduce sleep. But in case of tea the amount of caffeine present in it is very low. So, drinking tea regularly doesn’t affect the sleep cycle that much. But drinking coffee does! Coffee contains more caffeine that can be found in tea. Too much caffeine intake, whether through tea or coffee can alter sleep seriously. So, if you want to sleep peacefully you might try placing your favourite coffee mug in the showcase and give up drinking coffee or tea.
3. Smartphones
Smartphones contribute hugely to your wakefulness. All smartphone screens emit a light called "Blue light". "Blue light" is the same light, that is present in natural sunlight. When our eyes are exposed to blue light for a longer period of time, it gives signals to the brain that it is day. So, the brain doesn’t make you fall asleep. So, when you scroll through those hilarious and entertaining reels and feeds at night, your eyes are being constantly being exposed to the Blue light. As a result, your brain thinks it is still day outside. So you face problem while falling asleep.
4. Insomnia
But there are some people who don’t drink coffee or tea, or even scroll their smartphones at night and don’t even take siestas, but still, they suffer to fall asleep and keep awake till at least 3:00AM. Their case is different. They are suffering from a mental disorder called insomnia. Insomnia is a sleep disturbing disorder. People with insomnia have brains, which do not produce enough amount of serotonin. Serotonin is known as the sleep hormone. It is basically a neurotransmitter, which, when is secreted, we start feeling drowsy. But if the brain fails to produce or secrete serotonin, we become insomniac.
5. Depression and Anxiety
Depression is also a major reason of wakefulness at night. People who suffer from depression and anxiety experience a tough time to fall asleep. Because when someone gets depressed or anxious, what happens is that, their serotonin levels drop as well. And since serotonin is the sleep hormone, if it is not secreted at the right time we can't fall asleep no matter how hard we try.
For more such informative articles related to health, money, news, science, technology, home decoration, movie review, follow www.unbiasedalphabets.blogspot.com
Written by © Abhinaba Dutta
Abhinaba Dutta, hails from Howrah, West Bengal, India, is a student of English Honours at Calcutta University. He is a trilingual writer. He has co-authored in many anthologies and magazines. Abhinaba Dutta is the compiler-author of the anthologies- "Love Lust Licentiousness” and “But the Heart Still Wants”. Till now he has co-authored in more than 50 anthologies. He is the founder of Purple Cloud Productions. Dutta has won many poetry competitions and recitation competitions. He along with his fellow poets was featured in national newspaper Prabhat Khabar. He is also a budding film director, actor, blogger, script writer and a photographer. His blogging website is www.unbiasedalphabets.blogspot.com
His Instagram ID: @abhinaba_the_writer







