CASE HISTORY 20
NAME: Yamuna
Date of Birth: 1955
SEX: Female
COMPLAINTS & DURATION
Insomnia for years.
PREVIOUS TREATMENT:
Different types of medication, traditional and herbal.
PROGNOSIS: POOR
DISCUSSION
The salient feature of this case is:
Severe and Chronic Insomnia.
Insomnia is a symptom, not a disease. It is trouble falling asleep or staying asleep through the night. Most adults have experienced insomnia or sleeplessness at one time or another. Around 30%-50% of the general population is affected by insomnia, and 10% have chronic insomnia.
Since individuals vary widely in their sleep needs, insomnia is not defined by a specific number of hours of sleep that one gets. Episodes may come and go in episodic insomnia, last up to 3 weeks in short-term insomnia, or be long-lasting or chronic.
Insomnia affects all age groups. Among adults, insomnia affects women more often than men. The incidence tends to increase with age. Stress most commonly triggers short-term or acute insomnia. People who have insomnia sometimes keep thinking about getting enough sleep. The more they try, the more frustrated they get, and the harder sleep becomes.
A lack of restful sleep can affect the ability to do daily activities because of tiredness or trouble concentrating. Stress caused by insomnia makes it even harder to fall asleep. Daytime sleepiness is the most common complication of insomnia. Lack of sleep may lower the immune system’s ability to fight infections. A lack of sleep is also a common cause of auto accidents.
Treatment
The main focus of treatment for insomnia should be directed towards finding the cause. Once the cause is identified, it is important to manage and control the underlying problem. Generally, treatment of insomnia entails both non-medical and medical aspects. Studies have shown that combining medical and non-medical treatments is more successful than either one alone.
Effects of Meditation
Yamuna had been subject to severe insomnia. Over the years it had become chronic. She tried various therapies to no avail. Her condition was gradually getting worse. She had become desperate of ever finding a solution to her “clawing insomnia”.
“At night I would suffer from insomnia. It was becoming a chronic habit.”*
Insomnia was causing many problems in her daily life. She was always feeling the imbalance and given to tiredness and moods of depression. Meditation proved a boon to her. When she told about her problems she was told to meditate at night, before going to bed. This helped her a lot. Now she could slowly drift from her meditation smoothly into sleep.
“Meditation before sleep is a new experience to me and has proved most rewarding. It helps me to drift into deep sound sleep very fast. I am no more in the grip of that clawing insomnia that used to haunt my nights.”*
Her whole system was changed with meditation. She regained her normal rhythm and all her other problems were automatically solved.
“Now I can enjoy peaceful, sound sleep. A little meditation daily has brought me new hope and a broader outlook on things in general. I am at peace with myself, doing my best…”*
(*Excerpts from article, Yamuna Magazine 2 P103)
CONCLUSION
Yamuna had been suffering from chronic insomnia. She had tried different therapies, to no avail. Her homeostasis was completely overwhelmed by the chronicity of her severe insomnia. All the drugs she had been taking were having adverse effects on her system. In fact they were creating further imbalance in her already disturbed homeostasis.
The inflow of prana from meditation and deep breathing could break the vicious cycle she had been trapped into. It went to balance her system and re-establish her homeostasis. After years of insomnia, she could finally enjoy sound sleep again.