Almost a quarter of people suffer from various forms of insomnia. It is impossible to ignore this problem. Sleep disturbances, its insufficient quality and quantity negatively affect working capacity, concentration of attention and speed of reactions. In a dream, cell regeneration occurs, so the expected result with a lack of rest is a poor appearance and an earthy complexion. Subsequently, more serious disorders may occur: depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, vegetovascular dystonia, malfunctioning of various organs and systems.
What should be a normal dream?
The average sleep norm is 8-9 hours a day. Theoretical ones can sleep systematically for 5-6 hours a day, but in this case, fatigue will gradually accumulate, discontent and irritability will increase. Over time, performance, concentration, memory will deteriorate, signs of depression and functional disorders of the body may appear. Chronic lack of sleep can compensate for a full sleep at least one to two days a week. The duration of sleep in this case should be almost two times longer than usual, that is, 9-10 hours.
Normal sleep is also considered that corresponds to the needs of the body and natural rhythms. Owls and larks are types programmed by nature. Scientists conducted an experiment: a person who is deprived of the opportunity to observe solar activity and does not have time recognition means begins to go to bed and wake up in his natural mode. In some people, the daily rhythm is shorter than 24 hours, in others it is longer. People with a long rhythm often tend to go to bed later.
Excessive sleep is considered more than 10-15 hours a day. For the human body, both prolonged and inadequate sleep are equally dangerous. This is due to a disorder of human biological rhythms. As with chronic lack of sleep, and with too long a dream, the concentration of attention and working capacity decreases, apathy begins to be felt. With regard to physical health, excessive sleep can lead to stagnation of blood in the vessels, increased pressure, swelling, or migraine.
At the same time, all norms of time are considered conditional, because each person has his own time frame of rest. Some also have six hours of full sleep, others get enough sleep only in 8-9. Get enough sleep to restore emotional and physical strength. Sleep is the cure for illness and malaise. But a conscious change of regime in the direction of lack of sleep or pouring does not lead to anything good.
Norms of sleep depending on age
The rate of sleep varies with age. The newborn sleeps 16-19 hours a day in total. At night, the baby can oversleep for 5-6 hours without a break, and daytime sleep is 1-3 hours through small intervals of wakefulness. At the age of one to three months, the baby sleeps continuously for 8-11 hours at night. During the day, rest lasts 5-7 hours at intervals. At three to five months the baby sleeps the same 14-17 hours a day as before, but the duration of continuous night sleep increases. It is already 10-12 hours. In the afternoon, the baby sleeps three to four times for 4-6 hours.
From six to eight months, the child continues to sleep for 10-11 hours at night. Slightly reduced daytime sleep. During the day, rest is required two or three times for 2-4 hours. In the future, the daily norm of sleep is gradually reduced due to a decrease in daytime rest. At two years, the baby enough to sleep during the day 1-3 hours, and at night - 10-11. From four to seven years, many children can do without daytime sleep, but in this case the nighttime one should be equal to the daily norm, that is, 10-13 hours. From seven to ten years, a child suffices 10-11 hours of night sleep, from ten to twelve - 9-11 hours. At twelve to fourteen years old, it is enough for a teenager to sleep 9-10 hours a day. By the age of 17, the norm of sleep is approaching an adult.
For older people, a little less time for sleep is enough to fully get enough sleep. As a rule, 7-8 hours of night sleep are enough, but many feel the need to relax a bit during the day. It is not worth resisting this desire. A person can sleep less and feel sufficiently rested under emotional stress, when all the forces of the body are thrown to maintain working capacity. With illness or malaise, on the contrary, a little more sleep is required. Pregnant women can often complain of insomnia, and sleep much longer than usual - this is also the norm in this situation.
What causes sleep problems?
Why is insomnia tormenting? The causes of sleep disturbance are many. In childhood, it can be an overexcitation of the nervous system or physiological disturbances, for example, colic or teething pain. The most common factors affecting the depth and duration of a good rest at different ages are the following:
- Unusual or uncomfortable sleeping conditions. Excess light or noise, heat or cold, not enough oxygen in the air, smoke impurities, pungent odors, uncomfortable mattress, pillow and so on.
- Eating foods that stimulate nervous activity both during the day and just before bedtime. These are coffee, chocolate, green tea, energy drinks, drugs, and so on. Nicotine negatively affects sleep, even with second-hand smoke.
- Lifestyle change. Short trips and business trips, change of work, marital status, place of residence, sleeping at a party and so on.
- Stressful situations, especially in people who are characterized by excessive emotionality. Separately isolated people suffering from chronic sleep disorders. Many of them are afraid of the very approach of night time and disturbing thoughts that interfere with the onset of sleep.
- Various diseases that are accompanied by sleep disturbance as a symptom or causing pain. Difficulty breathing, frequent urination, heartburn, cramps, coughing and other pains make it difficult to sleep. Hormonal changes can cause short-term insomnia. Often, women have difficulty falling asleep on critical days or with PMS. The period of such a hormonal imbalance, which is due to physiological processes, is approximately 3-4 days. Such conditions do not require treatment.
- Taking certain medications. Psychostimulants, nootropics, antipsychotics, corticosteroids, sympathomimetics, thyroid and other drugs can cause sleep disturbances.
- Violations of the circadian rhythm. This includes changing time zones, shift work day and night, morning and evening, outdoor activities and entertainment at night and the habit of long sleep on weekends.
- Depression of varying severity.
The causes of insomnia in women should be considered separately, because it is the ladies who are more likely to encounter such a disorder. The fair sex is usually more emotional and sharper react to what is happening in life. This includes monthly hormonal fluctuations, malfunctions, the period of pregnancy and lactation. The causes of insomnia in men are usually more difficult to identify. Most often it is stress or depression, strong personal experiences. Significantly affects sleep, the use of stimulants (coffee or tea, alcohol, which will help to fall asleep, but will make the sleep disturbing and interrupted), smoking. Physical activity in the evening makes it difficult to fall asleep, but a passive lifestyle can cause problems with falling asleep.
Symptoms of insomnia and diagnosis
To find out the causes of insomnia in a man or woman (after all, treatment and the ability to help the patient depend on this), the doctor collects a detailed history. A functional disorder is a situation in which a patient experiences sleep disturbances at least three times a week and more often, complains of difficulty falling asleep, poor quality of rest, severe malaise, decreased social functions or working capacity due to insufficient duration or unsatisfactory quality of night sleep.
Manifestations of insomnia are frequent awakenings at night and a feeling of superficial sleep, drowsiness in the daytime. Awakenings can be caused by specific reasons: urge to urinate (due to illness or hormonal changes during pregnancy, for example), pain, and so on. As a result, a person becomes irritable, attention concentration decreases, memory worsens, social problems may arise.
The evolutionary mechanisms are such that women are not only more likely to suffer from insomnia, but also easier to tolerate. The mother gets up at night, responding to the crying of the child, the woman reacts more emotionally to both negative and positive experiences. The effects of female insomnia are less damaging than male insomnia. Moreover, sleep disturbances in men increase the risk of accidents in industrial work, while driving or in other types of activity, where you need to be careful and careful.
For this reason, treatment for sleep disorders is required. Which doctor should I contact for insomnia? First, it is better to consult a general practitioner, that is, a family or general practitioner. After collecting an anamnesis, the specialist will refer the patient to narrow specialists: a neuropathologist, psychologist, psychotherapist, cardiologist and so on. Perhaps electromyography, pulse oximetry, electroencephalography, electrocardiography or electrooculography will be prescribed.
Classification of insomnia
Patient actions and treatment will vary depending on the type of disease. Why is insomnia tormenting? Acute, or adaptive, occurs against a background of acute stress, unresolved conflict, or emotional upheaval. In this case, the excitement can be both negative and positive. Psychophysiological is associated with increased anxiety of a person due to sleep problems.
Paradoxical insomnia is a situation in which the patient complains of chronic lack of sleep and the accompanying symptoms, but in fact the real duration of sleep is more than normal. Idiopathic insomnia occurs in childhood and persists in adulthood. It is associated with increased or decreased activity of the nervous system. Behavioral insomnia of children develops against the background of sleep hygiene disorders.
Why is insomnia tormenting? If you have trouble sleeping with other health problems, insomnia also develops. Violations can occur in connection with taking medication, tea or coffee, improper sleep hygiene or a mental disorder of the nervous system. Inorganic insomnia is caused by mental illness and other psychological factors, improper sleep organization.
General recommendations for patients
When treating insomnia, only an integrated approach should be used. The doctor gives general recommendations that help most patients, unless, of course, sleep disturbances are caused not by concomitant diseases, but are an independent problem against the background of improper sleep organization, emotional arousal, or overwork. If you are healthy, then just follow the general guidelines to restore good quality sleep.
These recommendations are as follows:
- Get up and go to bed daily at the same time, including weekends and holidays.
- Dinner 3-4 hours before bedtime, do not drink energy drinks and caffeinated drinks 6-8 hours before bedtime.
- To postpone the solution of important matters to an early time in order to avoid emotional outbursts 3-4 hours before bedtime.
- Use the bed for its intended purpose only. To watch TV and read the news, it is better to choose a different place.
- Sleep in complete silence and darkness on a wide and comfortable bed. Maintain optimal air temperature and humidity: 18-20 degrees Celsius, about 30-45% humidity in the cold season and 30-60% in the warm season.
- Give up daytime sleep.
- If such treatment for insomnia from overwork or other causes does not help, you should use behavioral methods.
Behavioral insomnia control techniques
Why is insomnia tormenting? If this happens due to overstrain or disturbance in sleep organization, doctors often advise patients to use behavioral methods, but this method is suitable for those who have sleep disturbances not caused by concomitant illnesses. The bottom line is not to lie in bed for more than 15 minutes without sleep - this is enough time for a healthy person to go into sleep. If you could not fall asleep during this time, then get up and do something (reading, listening to music). Go to bed again when you feel that you are quickly falling asleep.
You can resort to more drastic measures. If you sleep only 5-6 hours out of 8, and the rest of the time you can’t fall asleep, then reduce the time spent in bed to these 5-6 hours. If you slept only 3-4 of these hours, then do not go to bed during the day. Patience until the next night, which you are likely to oversleep tightly. As soon as you learn to fall asleep quickly, and 85% of the time spent in bed, rest, you can increase the rest time by an hour.
Traditional medicine
Simultaneously with other methods of combating insomnia, you can use folk methods, namely phytosborders. What herbs for insomnia is good to drink at night to make it easier to fall asleep? The most famous plants with a sedative effect are motherwort and valerian. Fees can be bought at any pharmacy. This is a simple remedy for insomnia. It is enough to brew herbs and drink shortly before bedtime.
Valerian for insomnia and neurosis can be used in tablets or in the form of infusion. This is a natural and almost harmless sleeping pill. For anxiety and stressful situations, valerian should be taken three times a day. With chronic insomnia, the drug accelerates falling asleep and positively affects the quality characteristics of different phases of sleep. This natural sleeping pill for insomnia is enough to take once 30 minutes before bedtime. You can twice: in the evening and 30 minutes before going to bed. The optimal course of treatment is one month.
From herbal gatherings you can still drink chamomile or mint tea, children's tea with oregano. On sale you can find packaged teas that are convenient to brew. Light hypnotic effect and moderate sedative effect have hop cones, cyanosis, hawthorn. Such herbs are well suited to combat sleep disorders. You can combine several herbs with a complementary or unidirectional effect in one complex. So the treatment of insomnia can be combined with the maximum benefit for the body.
Aromatherapy Against Sleep Disorders
Some causes of insomnia in women can be successfully treated with aromatherapy. Do not forget about the relaxing bath. Water procedures are best taken 15-30 minutes before bedtime, the temperature should be no more than 40 degrees Celsius. In water, you can add a few drops of aromatic oil or a bag with herbal collection. For aromatherapy, you can use rosewood, basil, lemon balm, cypress or lavender essential oils. You can use a special aroma lamp.
OTC sleeping pills
In some cases, compliance with general recommendations and taking natural remedies is not enough to get rid of sleep disorders. In this case, tablets of plant origin can be taken to normalize sleep patterns. Nervous insomnia helps Novopassit, Persen or Dormiplant. Adult patients need to take one tablet three times a day (with an interval of 4-5 hours). After consulting with your doctor, the dosage can be increased. During treatment, care must be taken when driving a car and performing other work requiring a quick reaction, attention and concentration.
"Persen" - a drug for insomnia, which is created entirely on a plant basis. It’s better to buy Persen Night, designed specifically to combat insomnia, and not just mild stress and nervousness. Take the pill one hour before bedtime for 1-1.5 months. You can take "Phenibut" at night from insomnia associated with impaired functioning of the nervous system. Take the drug one tablet three times a day. .
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Your doctor may prescribe other pills that can help calm the nervous system and tune in to a healthy sleep. It is important that prescription drugs must be taken clearly according to the scheme suggested by the doctor. These are serious drugs, so violation of recommendations is fraught with complications, side effects, addiction and the like problems.
Sleep Music for Insomnia
Music helps many patients with sleep problems. The most common choice is classical music, which will help relieve stress after a difficult day and will contribute to easy falling asleep. You can choose such music for sleep from insomnia - Tchaikovsky's melodies ("Evening Dreams") or Beethoven ("Moonlight Sonata"). But not everyone likes classics, so you can stop at other music. Some prefer quiet songs by foreign artists. Ignorance of the language allows you not to listen to the text, but just relax.
Relaxation music helps from insomnia. Such melodies are distinguished by a special rhythm, which helps to tune in to rest. To normalize sleep, usually 7-10 days of listening to such melodies is enough. With a combination of music therapy with other methods of treatment, the therapeutic effect will come much faster. The sounds of nature for sleep are also a good choice. Sounds of a forest, a bonfire, the sound of the sea, the quiet singing of birds help a lot. The sounds of nature for sleep, you can choose the ones that you like.
Not all cases of insomnia can do with home treatment. In 80% of patients with sleep disorders, disorders are caused by mental or somatic diseases. This means that solving the problem requires a comprehensive examination and treatment of the underlying pathology.