Thanks to the fast-paced stressful lives that we lead, most of us suffer from some form of sleep disorder. A very large segment of the population suffers from insomnia. You know that proper sleep is essential to lead a healthy life. Sleep also helps cope with daily stress and increases your overall efficiency. In the year 2006 alone, about $4.5 billion worth of sleeping aid drugs were sold. Don’t you think that this is way too much money to spend on drugs, which can have side effects in the long run?

When you suffer from insomnia, you might have to turn to prescription drugs. But the problem arises when you get addicted to these sleeping aids. Benzodiazepines (used in panic/anxiety treatment) are highly addictive, and the next in this list are sleeping pills. You need to remember that sleeping pills are prescribed as a short term remedy for sleep loss. But getting addicted to these pills and then dealing with its ill-effects has become too common, in case of many insomniacs.

‘Sleep hypnosis’ is a safe, natural, non-addictive method to treat insomnia. Studies have been carried out on sleep hypnosis for a very long time. If you were to look at its history, you will learn that it was popularized by Mesmer, a German physician. It is from Mesmer that we get the term ‘mesmerize’. A French neurologist, Charcot, also played an important role in popularizing sleep hypnosis. It is said that Mesmer would travel the countryside to use hypnosis on ‘hysterics’. On the other hand, Charcot helped his patients in the Salpetriere Hospital. He would make use of sleep hypnosis to produce a state of hysteria in his patients and then, he would study and document results. The methodology and understanding of hypnosis has changed quite a bit, from the days of Mesmer and Charcot.

When we talk about sleep hypnosis today, it is based on sophisticated sound technology. A technology which generates bi-aural beats inside the brain is used. This then helps increase the desired brain wave activity level. You might be wondering, what bi-aural beat is. It is the third sound that is generated, when your brain listens to sounds that are produced by stereo headphones. These specific signals help the brain go into a sleep-like state, and you no longer have to depend on any prescription drugs. If you practice sleep hypnosis regularly, it will help improve the quality of your sleep for sure.

If you are into the habit of popping sleeping pills, remember that apart from addiction there is a bigger risk. Once you stop taking these sleeping pills, your insomnia might return and this time it might be even worse! The primary advantage of sleep hypnosis is that it is non-addictive. You can stop these hypnosis sessions, once your sleep pattern regularizes.