I'm Starting to Dread the Night | Incheon Insomnia

Hello, this is Baengnokdam Korean Medicine Clinic.

In the quiet hours when the whole world is asleep, I alone am counting the patterns on the ceiling, wide awake. My desire to sleep is desperate, but my brain's switch won't turn off; instead, it becomes even more alert with a myriad of thoughts.

“It takes me over two hours to fall asleep. Even if I finally drift off, I wake up at the slightest sound, and if I wake up once in the early morning, I can never go back to sleep. Mornings are the worst.”

Insomnia is not simply a problem of not being able to sleep. It completely robs you of the peace of night, and that fatigue and lethargy dominate every moment of the next day, slowly eroding your daily life—it's a painful war with the night.

The Malfunction of the 'Sleep Switch' and the 'Wake Switch'

In our brain, a 'sleep switch' that helps us sleep and a 'wake switch' that keeps us awake maintain a delicate balance. A healthy sleep involves a natural rhythm where the wake switch is on during the day, and the sleep switch is on at night.

However, insomnia is like a state where both of these switches malfunction simultaneously. Even when night falls, the 'wake switch' doesn't turn off on time, making it difficult to fall asleep (difficulty initiating sleep). And even if one manages to fall asleep, the 'sleep switch' is weak, easily turning off at the slightest stimulation, leading to frequent awakenings (difficulty maintaining sleep). Stress, irregular lifestyle habits, excessive thoughts, and worries are the most typical causes that disrupt these switches.

The 'Mind' Loses its Place to Rest, Wandering All Night

In Korean medicine, sleep is viewed as a process where the 'Yang (陽)' energy enters the 'Yin (陰)' realm to rest comfortably. It is a time when our active spirit (Hun 魂) returns to its resting place, the 'Liver (肝)', to take a break. Insomnia is a state where this 'mind' loses its home to return to and wanders outside all night.

The causes are broadly twofold:

1. Due to excessive stress or anger, 'fire (火) in the Heart and Liver' flares up, preventing the mind from returning home due to the heat, leaving it restless. One may experience chest tightness and frequent dreams.
2. Due to continuous overwork or excessive thinking, the body's 'nutrients (Yin-Blood 陰血)' become depleted, making the mind's dwelling itself frail and unstable. Even if one manages to fall asleep, it's not a deep sleep, and they wake up easily at the slightest sound.

Therefore, Korean medical treatment is not a forced 'power cut' through sleeping pills. Instead, it focuses on 'extinguishing the flaring fire (Clearing Heart and Draining Fire 淸心瀉火)' and 'repairing the frail dwelling (Nourishing Yin and Tonifying Blood 滋陰養血)' to restore the fundamental order of sleep, so that the mind itself can comfortably return to its home and rest.

3 Ways to Turn the Deep Sleep 'Switch' Back On

Small daily habits can restore a malfunctioning sleep switch to normal.

Method 1: Bedroom Rules

The bedroom should be a space solely for 'sleep'. Habits like using your smartphone in bed, working, or worrying make your brain associate 'bed = wakefulness'. If sleep doesn't come, try establishing a rule: go to the living room and read a quiet book, then return to the bedroom when you feel sleepy again.

Method 2: Thought Stopping

Lying in bed and replaying the day's worries and tomorrow's plans is like turning on your brain's wake switch. Instead, pour all your worries into a 'worry journal' 1-2 hours before bedtime, and practice focusing only on your breath when in bed.

Method 3: Sunlight & Movement

Getting at least 15 minutes of sunlight in the morning is the most important switch to ensure good secretion of the sleep hormone (melatonin) at night. Regular exercise also helps create healthy physical fatigue, greatly aiding in inducing deep sleep.

Before 'a day's fatigue' accumulates into 'a lifetime of illness,' many tend to neglect chronic sleep deprivation, thinking, 'the night will pass somehow.' However, sleep is not merely resting, but the most crucial 'time for healing' when all the cells in our body, damaged during the day, recover and reorganize.

Missing this healing time every night dramatically increases the risk of serious chronic diseases beyond simple fatigue, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and dementia. 'A day's debt' becomes 'a lifetime's illness.'

But now, facing your sleep problems head-on and striving to regain healthy sleep is the wisest choice you can make today to protect your overall health from potentially greater diseases in the future, beyond just the freshness of morning.

#IncheonInsomnia #Insomnia