After retirement, enjoying your rest and siestas during the day may lessen your hours of night sleep. This can be normal as long as it isn’t affecting your health and moods negatively. When it’s difficult for you to sleep at night and impacts the way you live your life you may be experiencing more than the occasional sleepless night. These symptoms can be serious and may indicate insomnia. 

Insomnia usually involves difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep. This sleep disorder is experienced by many older adults. A study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) showed that it is important that older adults are “getting a good night’s sleep every night or almost every night…” It was concluded that though aging can “make certain aspects of sleep more difficult, many older adults said they still feel good during the day.”

Everyone needs enough sleep to feel rested. If sleep continues to elude you, you may benefit from seeing a qualified therapist.

Aging Naturally Changes Sleep

Your doctor may tell you that sleep could be more difficult as you get older. This is because certain biological processes will change with age, triggering a shift in your circadian rhythm. Studies show that older adults tend to sleep for shorter spans and more lightly than when they were younger. For some seniors, it is a natural effect of aging as their REM sleep becomes shorter and lighter. 

Healthy, quality sleep involves entering into all the four stages of non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep and ending in the fifth stage of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The latter is the time when dreaming occurs. The whole cycle takes between 90 and110 minutes to complete. A healthy sleep pattern has about four to five NREM-REM cycles. For older adults, sleep may not progress into deeper stages, thus cutting the cycle span short.

This explains why it is common for older adults to experience an insomnia pattern that is described as waking up during the “late, terminal or advanced sleep-phase.” This means that one can fall asleep without much difficulty, but they usually wake up just before the crack of dawn and are not able to go back to sleep. This is consistent with the symptom of chronic insomnia.

Your personal habits affect the quality of your sleep. For instance, taking naps during the day, drinking coffee, or staying indoors most of the time may change your circadian rhythm. Don’t be surprised if you have become a “morning person” when you used to love sleeping in when you were younger.

Why is Sleep Elusive

There are many other possible causes of geriatric insomnia. Age related medical conditions may contribute to your sleep problems. For example, incontinence, prostate enlargement and diabetes may cause your sleep to be disrupted because of frequent urination at night. Neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and Lou Gehrig’s disease, may also have insomnia as a symptom.

If you are taking medications, they can have side effects affecting your sleep. Aside from the adverse effects, taking multiple medications or “polypharmacy” may bring increased risk for drug interactions. Taking medications before bedtime may likewise trigger insomnia.

In addition, insomnia may similarly be related to a mental health condition, such as depression and anxiety, which have high incidences among seniors.

Sleeping Like a Babe: It is Possible

Your sleep pattern will most likely change throughout your life. In your later years, you may experience biological changes leading to an earlier “sleep-wake cycle,” but make no mistake that you will still need about seven to nine hours of sleep. Sleep is important, regardless of age. You need it to boost your immunity and to feel at your best. When this sleep requirement is not met, you can suffer from the effects of sleeplessness such as health complications, inability to focus, irritability, etc.

An independent therapist contracted with Carolina Counseling Services – Southern Pines, NC can help in the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia. You can start getting the sleep you need and deserve. 

Sleep is vital in supporting your health as an older adult. If you are bothered by the symptoms of insomnia, know that help is available. Counseling can be effective in treating insomnia, particularly Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Call CCS today to schedule your first appointment.