The term comes from a recent CNN piece on women and health.
Here are some statistics:
80 million Americans suffer from some form of insomnia or sleeplessness.
60% of American women suffer from some form of sleeplessness, which would suggest this first 80 million figure might be a bit low.
The CNN contributors seemed to suggest that many women use sleeping aids of some kind. Using these aids for the long term may cause dependency and ultimately cause unwanted problems.
What causes insomnia?
In a word, stress. Our reticular activitating system (RAS) in the brain can get overstimulated due to continuously high demand periods and ongoing emergencies. Like a switch that gets stuck in the ‘on’ position, this continuously high demand flight or flight part of our brain continues to be stimulated 24/7, making if difficult to transition to a restful, recuperative sleep which helps repair the stress and strain of the day.
Sleeping pills and the like may work for a while, but typically their effect is lessened over time, not to mention other side effects they may introduce. As a bonus, this ongoing overstimulation of our nervous system may lead to or encourage the creation of long-term inflammatory processes which may hasten the aging process. Take a look at my blogs on my Geriatric classes and Anti Aging suggestions for more input on this.
A solution:
CranioSacral Therapy (CST) creates balance in our autonomic nervous system, bringing more balance and synergy between our sympathetic (more active) nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system. A regular addition and application of CranioSacral Therapy can help retrain and ‘reset’ our reticular activitating system and turn off the stress switch which interferes with the normal sleep cycle, and lessen our dependence on sleeping pills and other artificial aids.
Hence, a Sleeping Pill Exit Strategy.
