Archive for 'Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid'

DIFFICULTY FALLING OR STAYING ASLEEP: RESTLESS LEGS

Posted on February 24, 2011, under Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid.

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Another way your sleep can be disturbed is through pain, discomfort, or twitching in the legs. One form of this condition bears the nontechnical name “restless legs syndrome.” If you are a victim of the syndrome, you experience a disagreeable sensation in the calves and feet. Some patients describe twitching or a feeling of “creepy crawling” in the skin, which causes an almost uncontrollable urge to move the legs by walking or shaking or massaging them. This feeling tends to occur during the process of falling asleep, and thus delaying sleep onset; in some cases, however, it can start later and awaken you, forcing you to leave your bed and walk around. Restless legs can be an inherited condition; it may also arise as a complication of pregnancy.
There are drugs that may help the problem: for years doctors in England have treated leg cramps (which they aptly call “the fidgets”) with quinine sulfate. Some physicians detect improvement after administering preparations containing all of the B vitamins. Others report success using temazepam (Restoril) or a drug called carbamazepine (sold as Tegretol).
timated one out of three people over the age of sixty-five are thought to suffer from the problem. The drug temazepam may provide relief; if after a few weeks the problem persists, some physicians may decide to prescribe a drug called clonazepam (marketed as Klonopin). No one is certain if clonazepam works because it relaxes leg muscles or because it possesses anticonvulsive properties.
*123\226\8*

DIFFICULTY FALLING OR STAYING ASLEEP: RESTLESS LEGSAnother way your sleep can be disturbed is through pain, discomfort, or twitching in the legs. One form of this condition bears the nontechnical name “restless legs syndrome.” If you are a victim of the syndrome, you experience a disagreeable sensation in the calves and feet. Some patients describe twitching or a feeling of “creepy crawling” in the skin, which causes an almost uncontrollable urge to move the legs by walking or shaking or massaging them. This feeling tends to occur during the process of falling asleep, and thus delaying sleep onset; in some cases, however, it can start later and awaken you, forcing you to leave your bed and walk around. Restless legs can be an inherited condition; it may also arise as a complication of pregnancy.There are drugs that may help the problem: for years doctors in England have treated leg cramps (which they aptly call “the fidgets”) with quinine sulfate. Some physicians detect improvement after administering preparations containing all of the B vitamins. Others report success using temazepam (Restoril) or a drug called carbamazepine (sold as Tegretol).timated one out of three people over the age of sixty-five are thought to suffer from the problem. The drug temazepam may provide relief; if after a few weeks the problem persists, some physicians may decide to prescribe a drug called clonazepam (marketed as Klonopin). No one is certain if clonazepam works because it relaxes leg muscles or because it possesses anticonvulsive properties.*123\226\8*

DIFFICULTY FALLING OR STAYING ASLEEP

Posted on December 22, 2010, under Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid.

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Insomnia takes many forms, each as different from another as—well, as night and day. In my years of clinical practice I’ve seen thousands of patients with sleep disorders, and no two of them have ever had exactly the same symptoms or responded to exactly the same therapeutic approach.
As new data from sleep research continue to pour in, the medical world must continually revise its concept of what constitutes a sleep disorder. Predictably, much confusion exists over definitions, terms, and classifications. Small wonder, then, that some physicians, inundated by the growing flood of information about all aspects of medicine, may have a difficult time keeping up with developments in this particular field and may thus be unaware of the newest techniques for identifying a particular sleep disturbance and the latest approach to designing an effective treatment strategy.
Many forms of insomnia combine elements of psychological, organic, and emotional disturbance, elements that are further exacerbated by styles of living, patterns of behavior, and environmental factors over which the patient may have little control. Thus a physician must assemble an array of information about your condition before correct assessment can be made. For example, questions about your sleeping patterns in childhood may shed a surprising amount of light on your current problem. In addition to sleep and family histories, your sleep diary will help to illustrate current nocturnal patterns. Other pertinent details will be gleaned from a history of drug use, prescription and otherwise. A medical history and physical exam not only will serve to establish whether an organic condition exists that may be contributing to your problem but will in most cases reassure you that your health is not currently suffering due to lack of sleep. A detailed psychiatric history is perhaps the single most important component of the patient profile. While confusion exists about many aspects of insomnia management, there is virtually unanimous agreement that the majority of insomnia cases—as many as 80 percent—have a psychological component that must be addressed if therapy is to be effective.
Even with complete medical and psychological information it is possible to misinterpret the findings. Reports indicate that a physician may miss clues suggesting a physiologic cause of insomnia in as many as three out often patients. What’s more, the doctor who relies solely on the patient’s description of the problem may overestimate the degree of sleeplessness in one or two out of ten cases. As we’ve seen, insomnia victims often remark that they “didn’t sleep at all” when laboratory findings indicate otherwise.
*104\226\8*

DIFFICULTY FALLING OR STAYING ASLEEPInsomnia takes many forms, each as different from another as—well, as night and day. In my years of clinical practice I’ve seen thousands of patients with sleep disorders, and no two of them have ever had exactly the same symptoms or responded to exactly the same therapeutic approach.As new data from sleep research continue to pour in, the medical world must continually revise its concept of what constitutes a sleep disorder. Predictably, much confusion exists over definitions, terms, and classifications. Small wonder, then, that some physicians, inundated by the growing flood of information about all aspects of medicine, may have a difficult time keeping up with developments in this particular field and may thus be unaware of the newest techniques for identifying a particular sleep disturbance and the latest approach to designing an effective treatment strategy.Many forms of insomnia combine elements of psychological, organic, and emotional disturbance, elements that are further exacerbated by styles of living, patterns of behavior, and environmental factors over which the patient may have little control. Thus a physician must assemble an array of information about your condition before correct assessment can be made. For example, questions about your sleeping patterns in childhood may shed a surprising amount of light on your current problem. In addition to sleep and family histories, your sleep diary will help to illustrate current nocturnal patterns. Other pertinent details will be gleaned from a history of drug use, prescription and otherwise. A medical history and physical exam not only will serve to establish whether an organic condition exists that may be contributing to your problem but will in most cases reassure you that your health is not currently suffering due to lack of sleep. A detailed psychiatric history is perhaps the single most important component of the patient profile. While confusion exists about many aspects of insomnia management, there is virtually unanimous agreement that the majority of insomnia cases—as many as 80 percent—have a psychological component that must be addressed if therapy is to be effective.Even with complete medical and psychological information it is possible to misinterpret the findings. Reports indicate that a physician may miss clues suggesting a physiologic cause of insomnia in as many as three out often patients. What’s more, the doctor who relies solely on the patient’s description of the problem may overestimate the degree of sleeplessness in one or two out of ten cases. As we’ve seen, insomnia victims often remark that they “didn’t sleep at all” when laboratory findings indicate otherwise.*104\226\8*

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO PAIN OF ORGANIC ORIGIN: RELIEF OF PAIN BY DISSOCIATION

Posted on April 29, 2009, under Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid.

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Under normal circumstances there is a wholeness about the individual. The body and the mind work as a whole. The different parts of our body and the different aspects of our mind all function in harmony. But in certain conditions this harmony in the working of the different parts of the body may become disrupted. This is what we call dissociation. One part or one function may become dissociated from the rest of the body. Dissociation occurs particularly in hysteria and in hypnosis.

Dissociation can be used in the control of pain. A person may be hypnotized and his arm may be made quite numb so that there is no feeling in it whatsoever. In these circumstances sensation in the arm has become dissociated from the rest of the body. The individual can tolerate any degree of injury to his arm without feeling the slightest discomfort. For practical purposes his arm does not belong to him. Some people can learn to do this themselves by first inducing an autohypnotic state. Others can produce a similar effect by consciously dissociating themselves from the pain or the painful part. If it is a leg that is injured, we hold ourselves apart from it as it were, and we develop the feeling that the painful leg really does not belong to us.

It is easy to see how this works for an arm or a leg, but it can also be used for pain in the abdomen, or the chest, or even the head. We develop the feeling that this pain does not really belong to us. We are dissociated from it. It has nothing to do with us. We can stand off as it were, and think about the pain as if in fact it were some other person who were suffering.

People vary a great deal in their ability to use dissociation to control pain. It is much easier to use in the relaxed state of mind that we attain in our relaxing mental exercises. For those who can do it, it is a very good way for the self-management of excessive pain. But it would be wise to confine the use of dissociation to this purpose. It is just possible that unwise experiments in dissociation could lead a very susceptible person into a state in which he might dissociate inadvertently, from having developed a too great facility in the technique, and so produce other symptoms either of his body or mind.

*130\57\2*

STRESS AS A FACTOR IN PSYCHONEUROSIS: AGORAPHOBIA

Posted on April 23, 2009, under Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid.

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“I am housebound. Simply can’t go out. I am perfectly well. Except I can’t go out. Get to the gate and feel tense. Down the street a little and I am shaking like mad. Buy something in the corner shop. Rush home. Exhausted for the rest of the day. It’s the going out that does it. Spoiling my life. Not so bad if my husband is with me. But even then it is not right. Have to get him to take me home. He gets cross. I don’t know what will happen to me.”

Agoraphobia occurs in both men and women, but is more common in women.

Various psychological mechanisms may operate to cause it. Sometimes there may be some incident of the person feeling suddenly ill when out by herself. This may result from any acute infection. She may be frightened that she may faint. She gets home, but next time she goes out she may have the fear of a recurrence. To overcome this she seeks the company of her husband. This may easily develop into an unconscious way of keeping her husband with her.

Sometimes agoraphobia has a sexual background to it. We all have sexual desires and fantasies. When first travelling alone, girl or young man, in a strange town, the feeling comes that this is different from home. Nobody knows me. Do what I like. A pick-up, why not? Fun. Then a panic and retreat off the streets. She might have done something that she would have been sorry for. And we have the genesis of a case of agoraphobia.

As with the other phobias, agoraphobics often gain great help by reducing their level of stress by meditation.

*60/98/5*

SOME PROBLEMS OF OUR OWN PERSONALITY CAUSING STRESS: PERFECTIONISM AND MATERIALISM

Posted on April 23, 2009, under Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid.

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Perfectionism

“I am neat and tidy. I know that. I like things in order. But people say I am too fussy. It seems that my simple desire to have things just right irritates people with less orderly minds. They say, “Leave it until the morning.” But that is not my way of life, and tension comes between us.”

Perfectionism is a psychological defence against anxiety. Unconsciously we feel that if we can have everything just right there will not be anything to worry about. Unfortunately such behaviour brings us into conflict with those who have a freer approach to life. Tensions develop, forming a background for the development of stress.

If we reduce our level of anxiety by five or ten minutes effective meditation each morning, the motivating forces to have everything just right is so much the less. We become a little freer in ourselves, and these problems are alleviated.

Materialism

“They say I am tough. But you have to be tough to get on. That’s what business is all about. No loafing around. It is a good day’s work, or out. What of his wife and children? They are not my business. It is as simple as that. That’s life, and I don’t see what’s wrong with it. But some of the softies see it differently. There’s tension with them. Feel it everywhere I go, even at home.”

On the one hand he is tough, and can stand up to it. But on the other hand this same tough materialism alienates him from his fellows, and so provides a background for stress. The answer, of course, lies in our basic values. If ever we find ourselves drifting in this direction, let us take a good long quiet look at things. And let us remember that we cannot really cope with stress unless we are prepared to take into account the moral significance of some issues.

*24/98/5*