Many people who find that they have trouble sleeping spend a lot of time wondering what their problems might be. The truth is that there are a lot of things that can keep a person from falling asleep. If you were wondering what causes sleep problems, then read on. Here are a few of the reasons you might be having trouble sleeping.



Stress: Oh that stress. It causes so many problems. Stress keeps our body from functioning normally in many areas, not just our brains at bedtime. The truth of the matter is, however, that stress is the number one reason that people have sleep problems. A typical scenario involves a person who has been having a bad day. Things just go wrong one after the other and before this man knows it, it is time to go to bed. He crawls under his covers, turns off his light and lays there. He is waiting to fall asleep but instead, he starts replaying the day in his head. Before he knows what is happening, he has wound himself up over a conversation that he finished six hours earlier. Suddenly his adrenaline is pumping and his brain is racing-because he couldn't let go of his stress.

Illness: Doctors always tell us to get as much rest and sleep as we can when we are ill. Unfortunately for most of us, the common cold and flu wreak havoc on our bodies and keep us from sleeping at all. For one thing, most of us can't breathe very well when we are sick and sleeping depends on the body's ability to breathe. We as a society have also become very dependent on over the counter cold medications and often these medications have ingredients that are meant to stimulate us so we can get through our days, not to relax us so that we can sleep.

Environment: Our environment can also be a source of sleep problems. When we talk about environment, however, we aren't necessarily talking about bigger issues like global warming. We are talking about small issues like the temperature of our bedroom or how much noise is filtering through the walls. It is rare to find a perfectly silent room to sleep in and not everybody can sleep in perfect silence. The key to falling asleep is to be comfortable, but most of us get too caught up in what our bedrooms should be that we forget about what they need to be.

Finding out what causes sleep problems can be a complicated process. Often it boils down to one of the three aforementioned categories, but sleep problems can really be caused by just about anything. Sleep problems are usually a symptom of something else being wrong, not the actual problem itself. If you can't fall asleep but you aren't sure what causes sleep problems, you might want to call your doctor and together the two of you can figure out what needs the most attention.

Copyright (c) 2008 Steven Magill