Showing posts with label Millie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Millie. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Insomniacs

Have you ever been trying to sleep while tornadoes of thoughts crash through your head? oh no! I forgot to hand that assignment in, I don’t even know why she would say that, I really need to study for the science test, I wish I had done that too, maybe later, he’s just so annoying, what does that even mean? Whenever you are about to drift off to sleep a new thought pops into your head, demanding attention. So you try to sleep but you have so much going on in your head it’s almost impossible. Sound familiar?

If this does sound familiar you shouldn't be surprised, roughly one out of four people are affected by sleeping issues sometimes too. Insomnia can affect anyone and over any amount of time, you could have it for one night, one week or for over a month. If you have recurring Insomnia for over three weeks it is referred to as chronic insomnia but if you only get it occasionally its called acute insomnia.

He yawned and taped the silver alarm clock sitting on his bedside table. The clock lit up, neon green light piercing the darkness and illuminating his bedroom, telling him that the time was 2:40 AM, just three hours and twenty minutes before he had to get up for school. He groaned remembering that he had gone to bed at 11 because he was studying for a math exam that he had the next day. Rolling over, he closed his eyes and tried to get back to sleep again.

Waking up several times during sleep is one symptom of Insomnia. Other symptoms include not feeling refreshed when you wake up - no matter how many hours of sleep you get, feeling tired and falling asleep during the day and one of the most common symptoms is having trouble falling asleep at night.

Lots of things can cause and affect the amount of insomnia you suffer from, one of the biggest reasons that teens have insomnia is due to the amount of pressure they receive socially, mentally, through school work and from their parents. This pressure can lead to stress, anxiety and depression which in turn affects Insomnia.

Another reason some people suffer from Insomnia more than others is due to pain and disease. Disease (whether mental or physical) can help to create bad sleeping habits, also some medications can keep you awake and alert so its harder to get to sleep. Pain can also affect your sleeping habits as obviously it makes it harder to relax and sleep. The sleeping habits and patterns that you have are very important because if they are insufficient they can lead to Insomnia, other sleeping disorders and sickness. So what exactly are bad sleeping habits?

Lots of things can turn good sleeping habits bad into bad ones, some more surprising than others. For example, would you expect that not getting enough exercise or using a TV, Computer or mobile device in bed could lead to a sleeping disorder ? Well they can and so does going to bed at different times each night, napping in the day, spending lots of time in bed while awake, working evening or night shifts and finally having a poor sleeping environment (too hot, cold, bright etc.).

Overall having poor sleeping habits can be very harmful in the long and short run, getting enough good sleep without being affected by Insomnia or being disturbed is extremely important and beneficial. Studies have shown that not only can a lack of sleep slow down your responses and concentration, putting yourself in potential danger or at a disadvantage, it can also lower your athletic ability and your ability to solve problems creatively. Lack of sleep can also affect your moods and grades negatively. So next time you have a test or sports match, make sure you get enough Inssleep the night before!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Staying Healthy

Austin Bennett threw up, again. This time all over the kitchen floor. The remains of his last few few meals splattered across the red tiled floor, in a disgusting arrangement of colours. It was the seventh of september almost three weeks after school had started again for Mr. Bennett, who goes to UWCSEA East. And it’s no coincidence that he was sick at the start of the new school year, right after the summer holidays. During the first few weeks back at school colds, viruses and other bugs spread through the school like wildfire. It gets almost impossible to walk around the school without hearing someone cough, sniff or sneeze. But why is it that so many people get sick during the first few weeks of school compared to the rest of the year?

A source working as a nurse in the UWCSEA East campus helped to clarify why. “At the start of the year there are unequivocally more illnesses that get passed around than the rest of the year. We also find that lots of students get sick at the end of the year because everyone is rundown and exhausted after the busy school year.” She explained, when asked why people would be sick after having a long holiday, she went on to describe that “It’s because over the summer everyone goes to lots of different countries, they eat different foods, meet and interact with lots of new people and go on airplanes and trains, which are all perfect opportunities for bugs and viruses to spread. When all the students come back to school and are around each other for over seven hours a day, everything they may have picked up over the summer is spread to the other students around them.”

According to a health website called www.webmd.com airaplanes, trains and other forms of public transport are one of the most common places that infections and virases are spread. This explains why so many students get sick from traveling lots during their holidays.