They are our strongest symbol of stability, our leader and servant, our doctor and nurse, our teacher and tutor, our cook and dietician, an interior designer while being our housekeeper. She is our confidant, our guide, source of strength and love — she takes all of these responsibilities with no questions asked but does her job with no hesitation, they take on these roles in our family with a position of “mother”. No job can match what mothers have been doing since the birth of their child. It is a job with no resignation and a lifetime commitment. How often do we see our mothers attend to our needs from dusk till dawn? They dedicate their time and effort in keeping the family on the right track.
Motherhood is a job both gratifying and intoxicating at the same time. Due to the insurmountable amount of tasks they perform, they aren’t exempted with stress and social pressure. In fact, a working and/or single mom have a higher risk of health ailments due to heightened stress in keeping up with the family affair.
Sleepless in Stressville
Stress can cause many health problems in any individual. A mother who passes bedtime frequently can develop a sleep illness called, insomnia. Insomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty of sleeping and staying asleep. It can be differentiated into two classes, the primary and secondary groups.
- Primary – person suffering insomnia in this classification suffers from the difficulty of sleeping, disturbance of sleep and inability to sleep prior awakening that is not caused by external factors like medication and psychological or environmental factors
- Secondary – also called comorbid, is caused by another disorder affecting sleep disorder.
Insomnia can be divided according to its term of occurrence, like: the transient insomnia, acute insomnia and chronic insomnia.
- Transient Insomnia – similar to those of sleep deprivation, transient insomnia are caused by external factors like medication that usually takes less than a week
- Acute Insomnia – Inconsistency of sleep that occurs in less than a month.
- Chronic Insomnia – takes more than a month. It can be caused by a primary disorder or a comorbid disorder.
Who You Gonna Call? Stressbusters!
Stress is one of the many causes of insomnia. Stress is our body’s reaction to a stressing stimulant. Too much stress can drive people to overthink too much or depression. This can lead to many sleepless nights and disrupted slumber. The problem with being stressed is that the body tends to be uptight and actively running. It is not in it’s relaxed state to induce sleep. People who are stressed does not necessarily suffers from insomnia but frequent disruption of sleep can lead to one.
Here are a few simple steps to help mothers battle sleepless nights.
- Pamper yourself before going to sleep – take preparations before jumping into bed. Taking a shower or sponge bath washes off accumulated dust, germs and bacteria in our skin. It also lowers our body temperature making it easier to invoke sleep. Our body also works its best in regulating body temperature, aiding our body to do its functions while we sleep.
- Sleep like a majesty – sleep on clean bed sheets; this will prevent dust on entering our skin that may cause allergic reaction. Allergies can disrupt us from our sleep. Maintain cleanliness in your bedroom, foul odor in the bedroom can make it hard for us to summon our sleep. Create that relaxing ambience you would want to slumber into.
- Have the proper bed – In choosing a bed take note that is should support your whole body frame. Proper bed size and mattresses should support our body muscles preventing it from cramping up and distorting our blood flow. Standard bed sizes are single, double and queen size bed. Take the bed that can hold your body weight and have enough space for you to move around.
- Seek consultation – when upon doing the above suggestions you still experience difficulty in sleeping, seek for a professional consultation with your doctor. With proper examination they can address the cause of your sleeping disorder and find out if you are suffering from other severe illness that causes such.
As much as our mother put a lot of effort for our well being, let us do the same by assisting her to have a good night’s sleep. A good sleeping habit promotes a longer life span, a better lifestyle and a healthier well being. Isn’t our mom the greatest heroes of our lives? If so then start caring and sharing these thoughts. Good night!