VIDEO: SLEEPING NEXT TO INSOMNIA

A lot of people think they have insomnia – just because they had one night where they just couldn't fall asleep. 

But having actual insomnia is SO much worse! When you have insomnia it's more than just a disorder, it's a soul-sucking, life-ruining and brain-blasting presence lying next to you in bed – making SURE you won't be able to fall sleep.

It's even worse than it sounds. Read on to see what insomnia actually is and how it affects you every day.

For many, insomnia can present you with difficulties during your daily life. A new study found that, if you are suffering from insomnia, it is a possibility that you could have trouble activating certain parts of your brain involved in short-term memory or you may have trouble turning off other parts of your brain that are active when the mind wanders.

Now, before you assume your sleep and awake systems aren’t sending out the relevant signals to help you fall asleep at night or wake up in the morning, there might be a simpler conclusion to your insomnia, such as:

• Stress
• Other medications
• Travel or work schedule
• Eating a lot of food late in the evening
• No exercise
• Poor sleep habits like irregular bed times, napping during the day, an uncomfortable sleeping environment or looking on your phone or computer right before bed – any of these could possibly be keeping you up at night.

Many people who suffer from insomnia often express how they struggle to concentrate or complete tasks throughout their day. Let's take a look at the recent study involving 25 people with insomnia or have difficulty sleeping but do not have other related conditions, such as mental health issues, and another 25 people who don’t have sleeping problems at all.

During these overnight sleep tests, it was found that people with insomnia sleep on average 6 hours while people without insomnia slept an average of 7 hours.

During the day-to-day tests, all participants completed a working memory task – your working memory is the ability to store short term memory in the brain which can be used to complete the task at hand. During the task, the participants with insomnia showed less activity in the brain regions with working memory than the participants without insomnia.

As the tasks were made more difficult, participants without insomnia started showing more brain activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, whereas the participants with insomnia showed no change at all. It is also interesting that, as these tasks proceeded, people with insomnia did not manage to 'turn off' the region of their brain where the mind wonders.

This data helps us understand that people with insomnia not only have trouble sleeping at night but their brains are not functioning as efficiently during the day.

For most people in the world with varying conditions, pharmaceuticals are becoming more and more frowned upon. I'm sure people with insomnia can relate to how a pharmaceutical sleeping aid can leave you feeling drained in the mornings and even throughout your day, making you wonder if not taking them at all would have had a slightly better outcome. This debate leaves a lot of room for organic and natural ingredient solutions. Here is a list of a few, mainly for sleeping conditions:

L-Theanine – This is a relaxing amino acid that is found exclusively in teas from Camellia sineses (a tea shrub), alongside green tea catechins (an antioxidant), and is known to promote relaxation without sedation.

Melatonin – It can be found in foods such as meats, grains, fruits and vegetables. Melatonin can help control your sleep and wake cycles.

5-HTP – This herbal supplement is found in the seeds of the Griffonia Simplicifolia, a climbing shrub native to west and central Africa.

Magnesium – It may not even be all this complicated for you as each individual is different, who knows, you might just need some magnificent magnesium! Magnesium is one of the most vital minerals for us humans and plays a huge role in the functioning of GABA receptors, which is the primary neurotransmitter that calms your central nervous system, relaxes you and can help prepare you for sleep.

It's pretty conclusive that insomnia is bad for you and definitely needs to be kept in check if you want to be a productive part of society.

Basically, insomnia is like an annoying dude lying next to you in bed – making it impossible for you to fall asleep and function like a human.

Before you know it, the sun is rising, your alarm goes off and insomnia has very conveniently snuck out of the bed – a one night stand with no benefit for you at all. Except he'll be back tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day.

Wanna know what insomnia is like? Watch the video!