Among the most common causes of insomnia, the most prolific may have to be bad sleep habits. The reason for this is that bad sleep can cause a cycle of behaviors that escalates the situation.
Your Loved One Isn’t Sleeping Well
It starts out innocently enough. Your elderly loved one starts to have a few nights in a row that aren’t giving her what she need in terms of sleep quality or quantity. One or two nights of bad sleep isn’t usually enough to cause your loved one to develop some bad sleep habits, but when the bad sleep starts to become more common, that’s when the bad habits creep in.
Your Loved One Feels Sleepy All Day
After a few days of lackluster sleep, your loved one is feeling sleepy all day long, every day. That’s never a fun feeling and her energy levels are probably pretty low. That usually means that she’s not as active as usual and she might even find that she’s eating more or skipping social engagements.
Your Loved One Turns to Crutches to Get Through the Day
Eventually, your loved one is going to get a little fed up with feeling so sleepy all day long. So that might lead to a cup or two of extra coffees. And one or more of those might extend into the late afternoon one or two days. Or she might find herself taking a nap that winds up longer than she expects. At first, these crutches are going to help her quite a bit. She’s going to feel less tired and a little more like herself.
Your Loved One Can’t Sleep Well
Except that some of those crutches are going to make it really difficult for your elderly loved one to get to sleep. So she might start staying up a little bit later than usual until she starts to feel tired. Or she might find herself tossing and turning trying to chase that elusive sleep down.
Hiring elder care providers can help your loved one to develop a daytime and a nighttime schedule that gives her some structure and support to get back into good sleep habits.