Insomnia

Insomnia is a condition where you have problem falling or keeping yourself to sleep. It affects 15% and 30% of the adult population. Half of the people complaining of insomnia consider their problem serious enough to seek professional help. Insomnia is perhaps the second most prevalent health complaint after pain. It is twice as frequent in women as in men and its incidence increases with age.

I never knew I had insomnia until my friend pointed that I was suffering from insomnia. At one stage I wasn’t sleeping for two straight weeks. Believe me, not even a nap. I had a personal problem at that time which I termed as my annus horribilis (after HM Queen Elizabteh II). But I have a number of bad years so I guess it must be my annuses horribilis.

Anyway, at that time I didn’t make myself to stay wide awake at night when everyone in my time zone was in their slumber land. I went to see my doctor about it and he prescribed me, of course sleeping pills but those pills caused anxiety and palpitations to me so I stop taking those. I didn’t want to die young just yet.

So the doctor, knowing my problems, advised me to relax, do meditation and prayers (he gave me surah or verses to practise) and asked me to forget my problems. The prayers and meditation were very good but not that part to forget my problems. They wouldn’t disappear overnight.

As weeks turned to months and months to years, I found myself to be very active in health and fitness that some of my friends said that my home is the gym as I was practically at the gym most of the time.

Without me realising it, my insomnia was gone. I guess it was all due to the physical activities that I did and still do until now which helped me overcome insomnia. It wasn’t easy I know because I have read and heard far worse cases than mine, like those suffering from chronic insomnia.

This site – from the e-Medicine Health – gives more explanations and information on insomnia.

Pregnancy rate in Brunei gradually decreasing

‘One of the possible reasons why this is happening could be that women these days are more educated and aware of birth spacing practice.’ – Dr Hajah Roslin. Read more from the Borneo Bulletin here.

I wonder why Brunei have not made any research on this? Would this mean that the population of Brunei would be decreasing as a result? Would Brunei become like Singapore in 15 years time as the population rate is shrinking? Singapore has issues on its population at the moment. 20 years ago, its Government introduced the one child per couple policy. Now its population is shrinking and so the Government is encouraging more babies to be born so the population rate will be increasing.

So, during my generation, it was normal to have large families; I myself have fourteen siblings of which twelve survive. Now, I have four already and most of my siblings have around five. However, things were not the same as they used to be. My mom, for a start, is a full-time housewife. It’s the wife’s duty to look after the family but now, like me, I am a career woman with a family. I agree that birth spacing is my own personal reason but it’s because that I wanted to make sure that all my children would have that quality time with me when they were small.

Other mothers or women would have different reasons on why they delay their pregnancy. I think it may be due to health or financial reasons. I know one who didn’t need a baby at all but this is just like one in a thousand.

My girl, whom we called the family’s futurist, said she would only have one child and that’s it and her first cousins supported this somewhat disturbing statement.

When I asked her why one, she said that she had heard and imagine how my own family had grown up with those lots. She thought that it was unhealthy in terms of psychology and that there were bound to be siblings’ rivalry. She asked if it was difficult for those many of us then to grab our parents’ attention, to which I replied yes.

I later explained to her that there were many advantages to having a large family actually, like, we helped each other in health and sickness; it thought us to be strong, united, be patience, thoughtful and tolerate others and best of all it taught us how to become a good teamwork. I miss my really large family when we were little and living under the same roof; yes, 14 of us plus my grandmother and my auntie with her two children – my cousins… Life was simple back then….

Ok, I am dragging away from the topic. Read this interesting report on Brunei population which I found on the net.