Pilot Study

Insomnia Questionnare

Insomnia is: the difficulty one experiences in initiating or maintaining sleep.

Causes:

Pathophysiology

This study aims to prove that HOST is of great benefit in the treatment of insomnia and sleep related problems. Better quality sleep also had an impact on the memory and concentration of the Test group. Refer to Chapter 6 of the Pilot Study PDF document to read more about the quantitative research results concerning short-term memory.

What is the impact of sleep on your work?

"People who think they perform well on less than seven hours’ sleep a night might in point of fact be more stressed, exhausted, distracted and accident-prone. If you are frequently irritable, absent-minded or unfocused, or experience sudden waves of sleepiness during the day, there is a good chance you’re not getting enough sleep at night" (Get a Good Night’s Sleep, 2007).

If you sleep less than 5 hours per night on average your chance of suffering a heart attack nearly doubles. The sympathetic nervous system is repressed longer when you sleep more. This is a good thing since the "fight or flight" hormones are reduced. If these hormones stay active in the system they cause a disruption in the glucose metabolism contributing to diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases (Drozd, 2004:1-3).

When we advocate lifestyle changes for employees who suffer from heart disease, diabetes, or stress-related illness, we encourage them to take some of their waking time to exercise, or pursue relaxing activities such as new hobbies in order to create a healthy balance in their lives. This is all very well, but the "chunk of cheese" which is representative of an employee’s waking free time can only be divided in so many ways.

Do we then sleep less in order to increase waking time to fit in all the activities we need to do on a daily basis? Research shows that there are a high percentage of people who do just that: "Those who work more sleep less" (Brodersen, 2001). We can also decide to retain the needed 8 hours sleep and spend less time at work, but for most people this is not even an option.

It makes a lot of sense for an employer to facilitate a Holistic Occupational Stress Therapy Program (HOST) on site in order to keep the workforce functioning at an optimal level. Employees are not able to fit the necessary therapy into their time schedules away from work. Taking half days off from work once a week is not viable either. If therapy is brought to them on site, they can be absent from their workstations for half an hour, twice a week and reap the benefits while the cost to the company is still minimal in relation to the benefits in increased productivity, decreased turn over of staff, decreased sick leave and decreased absenteeism. This strategy is becoming a necessity since there is an excessive loss in revenue because of these factors.

In the following results we will be able to examine why massage and aromatherapy are of great assistance in cases of insomnia induced by psychological factors such as anxiety, depression, stress, emotional upsets as well as muscular pain.

For the interpretation of the following graphs, please see the interpretation guide on the screening results page.

Insomnia Question "i"
Graph 21

Question: It is difficult to switch off my brain and go to sleep.
Control group: Further improvement
Test group: Enormous improvement
Results rating: Improvement

This result was evaluated in combination with questions Zung 4, Insomnia "a", "b" and "e" since they signify various manifestations of sleep disturbances.

This question has a result rating of "Improvement" because the Test group found it 25% less difficult to switch their brains off and go to sleep than the Control group.

Insomnia question "e" has a result rating of "Absolutely Outstanding Improvement" since the Test group suffered from broken sleep 60% less in contrast with the Control group who suffered from broken sleep -20% more.

Insomnia question "a" concludes that the Test group was 18.3% less tired with difficulty in going to sleep than the Control group.

Insomnia question "b" has a result rating of "Improvement" since the Test group suffered from restless sleep 15% less while the Control group suffered from restless sleep -6.7% more.

Zung question 4 has a result rating of "Outstanding Improvement" since the Test group had 50% less trouble going to sleep while the Control group registered no change.

Insomnia Question "e"
Graph 17

Question: I suffer from broken sleep - wake up at intervals and then going back to sleep.
Control group: Further declined
Test group: Enormous improvment
Results rating: Absolute outstanding improvement

There is an enormous improvement of 60% in the symptoms of broken sleep manifest in the Test group. The Control group participants demonstrate a -20% increase in symptoms of bro-ken sleep. Therapy had an astounding influence on sleep disturbances.

"It is not clear exactly why the body requires sleep, although inadequate sleep can have severe detrimental effects on health. Studies have shown that sleep is essential for normal immune system function and to maintain the ability to fight disease and sickness. Sleep also is essential for normal nervous system function and the ability to function both physically and mentally. In addition, sleep is essential for learning and for normal, healthy cell growth" (Sleep Disorders, 2007).

Continue reading: Zung Depression Questionnare

Extracts from pilot study report

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