With open eyes: What to do if you can not sleep
Scientists still do not know why sleep is necessary from the point of view of evolution - but its physiological importance is obvious. If we sleep badly or a little, our life becomes less pleasant, and in the most severe cases, insomnia is a clinical problem that does not have to be tolerated. Sleep disorders deal with the whole science - somnology. We understand what insomnia is, where it comes from and how to learn to sleep soundly.
Why do we sleep?
It may seem that sleep is just a period of rest when the body does nothing. In fact, at this time, our brain is actively working. In a dream, growth hormone is released, which is responsible for carbohydrate metabolism, growth and fat burning; That is why integrated fitness programs recommend a good sleep. During sleep, replenished stocks of proteins and acids involved in the construction of body cells. The phase of slow sleep is most likely needed for recovery, and fast sleep is responsible for processing the information received during the day: at this time, brain cells are extremely active, despite the fact that they do not receive signals from the senses.
Insomnia, or insomnia (from the Latin in - "without" and somnus - "sleep"), seriously affects the quality of life. After a sleepless night - everyone knows this from their own experience - their working capacity and ability to focus and remember information decreases. But there are some nuances: if you sleep for less than six hours, you risk earning hypertension and diabetes, as well as increase the chances of catching a cold four times. In addition, prolonged sleep disorders can lead to headaches, memory loss and impaired sexual function. Lack of strength after waking up, drowsiness in the afternoon, inability to concentrate and bad reaction, constant fatigue and anxiety are characteristic signs of sleep disturbances.
It happens that sleep problems last several days or weeks; such insomnia is considered short-term, and its main cause is stress. Once he leaves, sleep is getting better. But there is also chronic insomnia that lasts longer than a month. It is important that sleep disorders are considered only disorders that occur when there is enough time and a comfortable place to sleep. If you can not sleep, because the pillow is stuffy, and the blanket is biting, then it is not insomnia - try to create pleasant conditions for rest first.
Where does insomnia come from?
Insomnia is most often caused by stress - even the smallest. A conflict situation or a situation change activates the nervous system, and so-called adaptive insomnia occurs, during which it is difficult to fall asleep and it is very easy to wake up in the middle of the night from the slightest rustle. Adaptive insomnia usually lasts no longer than three months and goes away after eliminating stress or getting used to new conditions. Longer disturbances gradually overgrow with other disorders, turning into chronic insomnia. The nervous system can get used to increased activity closer to the night; this is called psychophysiological insomnia.
Depression and anxiety disorders often go hand in hand with sleep disorders. In almost all patients with depression (from 80 to 100%) sleep is disturbed, and often insomnia becomes the main complaint, as if to mask depression. In this case, a person wakes up too early and experiences apathy and depression in the morning. With increased anxiety, it is impossible to fall asleep, obsessive thoughts and fears appear. In addition, anxiety makes sleep shallow and restless. In anxiety and depressive disorders, hypnotic drugs are not enough, and it is very important to treat the cause, and not just the effect.
If you use stimulants such as caffeine, nicotine, or illicit substances, you most likely will have a disturbed sleep pattern. True, there are people who have constantly increased brain activity. During the day, this is more a winning deviation, allowing it to be more active and respond faster, but at night such a lack of brakes can be a serious problem for falling asleep.
Insomnia may also be associated with other diseases, including the nervous system, respiratory system, heart, hormonal disorders, or poisoning with drugs or harmful substances. In case of sleep disorders, it is important to exclude somatic causes, examine the heart and thyroid gland, and visit a neuropathologist. Sometimes insomnia is caused by disorders of the hypothalamus or congenital features of the brain, such as the lack of timely inhibition of the amygdala, the department that reacts to stress and danger.
And what if insomnia is "unreal"?
Sometimes a person complains of insomnia, but during the examination it turns out that the sleep lasts six to seven hours. The reason for such a "false" insomnia is a sleep perception disorder. Normally, we wake up to ten times a night, but do not remember it. When the perception of sleep is disturbed, the person, on the contrary, remembers just the awakenings, and the moments of sleep fall out of his consciousness, therefore the morning the feeling of an absolutely sleepless night remains. Such problems often arise for those who are concerned about health and are fixed on problems with sleep.
It happens that a person can himself cause insomnia. Because of the fresh memories of insomnia and the belief that it will not be possible to fall asleep, there is fear and unwillingness to go to bed; while the activity of the nervous system increases even more. Excessive stress when trying to fall asleep "willpower" also activates the brain and reduces the chances of sleep. The desire to control sleep and passion for trackers can lead to hypercontrol attempts, for which the term has already come up, consonant with orthorexia - orthosomalia.
How to help yourself fall asleep?
The mechanisms of sleep disorder have not yet been fully studied, and scientists hope that the body can successfully regulate this process on its own. Treatment with hypnotics eliminates insomnia itself, not its cause, has side effects and should be prescribed only by a doctor. Therefore, it is considered that it is better to start not with medicines, but with creating the right conditions, the so-called sleep hygiene.
Too bright room, noise, uncomfortable bed, pain or taking stimulating medications are possible causes of insomnia that are easy to get rid of. It is important to monitor the use of caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and other stimulants. It is better not to drink alcohol later than six hours before sleep: at first it relaxes, but it can make sleep intermittent and superficial. Compliance with the mode helps to set up the "internal clock" and get used to falling asleep at the same time; at the same time, the organism needs a day to rebuild the biorhythm for one hour, so the mode shifts at the weekend for five hours due to parties will have to be canceled. Sometimes it is not possible to fall asleep at night because of the habit of sleeping during the day. Physical activity can also help: exercise, completed before ten o'clock in the evening, accelerate sleep.
White light, which emit screens of computers and various gadgets, is perceived by the eyes as daylight, which slows down the production of melatonin by about 20%. If you have difficulty falling asleep, it is better not to use the luminous screens for two to three hours before bedtime. And strong hunger and heavy food are not the best helpers; at night it is best to eat something easily digested in small quantities. For example, milk with honey and cookies will not give a direct hypnotic effect, but they will calm, satisfy hunger and help tune in to sleep.
Jetlag after changing the time zone is the discrepancy between the biorhythms of the body and the actual time on the clock. After flights sleep can be corrected by taking melatonin. It is important to remember that this is not a sleeping pill, but a substance that regulates circadian (that is, daily) rhythms. Melatonin should be taken correctly, in conditions that maximally imitate the night; silence and darkness are the main conditions for the adjustment of biorhythms. After taking melatonin, you do not need to read or check the Facebook tape in the hope that you simply turn off, as if under the influence of a sleeping pill; It is a drug that works exactly in the right conditions.
How can doctors help?
If all this did not work, you can diagnose sleep - polysomnography. During sleep in the laboratory with the help of special equipment, various indicators are recorded and a curve is formed - a hypnogram. It reflects the structure of sleep, the quality and quantity of its stages and phases. According to this schedule, the somnologist can determine exactly what the problem is.
Psychotherapy and cognitive therapy allow you to find the psychological causes of insomnia and learn how to manage your condition. In many ways, sleep disorders can be corrected by "self-tuning"; Studies have shown that placebo shows high efficacy instead of sleeping pills.
There are more unusual methods. For example, phototherapy is the management of daily rhythms with the help of bright light. Phototherapy is used, for example, before night duty, in order to prolong wakefulness. Brain music (encephalophone) is a method where the data on the electrical activity of the brain is converted into music that needs to be listened to in a specific mode.
Particular attention should be paid to snoring. Very often it is a symptom of sleep apnea, that is, respiratory arrest in a dream. A person suffering from apnea does not get enough sleep and feels constantly tired, and he also has a sharply increased risk of heart disease. For the treatment of apnea, there are methods of training the respiratory tract; important and normalization of weight. You can make a special night mouth guard for the teeth, which will keep the airway open.
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