A full sleep is very important for maintaining the body's vital functions. It performs several important functions that are responsible for restoring the body and processing the information received per day. In ancient times it was believed that the best cure for any disease is sleep. Types of sleep have their own characteristics and have different effects on brain activity.
What is the use of sleep?
During sleep, the speed of all body systems decreases, which contributes to complete rest. Respiratory processes are slowed down, the cardiovascular system and the functioning of the brain are reduced.
The quality of sleep also affects the processes of memorization. During a night's rest, the brain analyzes the information that has been received throughout the day, and then determines the necessary factors in long-term memory, and the information garbage erases from memory, unloading it and providing full work the next day.
Fast and slow sleep have their own characteristics that positively affect the work of the human body.
Sleep phases
There are two main phases:
- fast (stage of superficial sleep) - is characterized by a slight increase in brain activity, it is in this phase that a person has dreams ;
- slow (deep sleep stage) - there are no dreams, the activity of all body systems decreases.
REM sleep phase has several stages:
- falling asleep;
- shallow sleep;
- deep sleep (delta stage).
Sleep for most people is an anti-stress factor. It has been repeatedly noted that during a night's rest many domestic problems, conflicts are mentally resolved, ideas come. Quick and slow sleep, cyclically replacing each other, fill the body with energy for an active next day.
Sleep cycle
Sleep in healthy people has an approximately equal number of cycles and their duration. During sleep, about 4-5 full cycles with alternating phases of sleep pass . Immediately after falling asleep, a person has an orthodox sleep (slow), which has a duration of 45-90 minutes, by morning its duration is significantly reduced.
A paradoxical (fast) sleep at the beginning of the night has a short duration, and by morning it becomes more frequent. A full fast sleep provides a feeling of lightness and vigor in the morning. If a person does not sleep well in this phase, then the morning will be accompanied by a feeling of lethargy and fatigue.
To ensure health, a person needs to sleep 5-10 hours a day. Such a difference is determined by the individual with the characteristics of the body, gender and age indicators, as well as lifestyle.
Quality sleep ensures the restoration of brain activity, the maintenance of the functioning of all vital systems, as well as the distribution and processing of information received per day.
What factors affect sleep quality
Throughout the day, the body should receive a uniformly distributed load of both mental and physical plan. It is observed that people leading a sedentary lifestyle are more likely to suffer from insomnia, have difficulty falling asleep, and have poor sleep. While a little physical activity contributes to the rapid relaxation of the body and the onset of a full night's rest.
The emotional fullness of the current day is also important for the full course of sleep. Any outbursts or lack of emotions during the day affect the quality of the night's rest. Therefore, it is important to evenly distribute the load on the body and diversify it.
Creating emotional states during the day , alternating with a physical load, you will eventually be able to get a deep and calm sleep. Types of sleep will also alternate evenly, restoring the body.
Dream characterization
For one night, a person can see several dreams or one story, which is dreamed during the paradoxical phase. In general, the duration of dreams reaches two hours. When dreaming, the sleeping person has an active movement of the eyeballs (eyes are closed), movements can be carried out both in horizontal and vertical planes.
You can remember a dream only when you wake up in a certain period. This should be a phase of paradoxical sleep. REM sleep provides remembering the dream to the smallest detail. A few minutes after the end of the paradoxical phase, the plot of the dream is completely forgotten. That is why a person often thinks that dreams do not dream, since he wakes up in the phase of slow sleep.
Lunch break
Medical research indicates a positive effect on the body of daytime rest - siesta. In many countries, even in antiquity, this was considered an obligatory part of the daily regimen. If you snooze at least several times a week for about half an hour, the appearance of cardiovascular disease will be reduced by a third.
From these studies it is clear that even an adult clearly needs a nap. Types of sleep in this case have a different cycle and duration. In such a short period of time, a person cannot achieve deep sleep.
Pathological types of sleep
There are three main pathological sleep states:
- drowsiness;
- insomnia;
- sleepwalking.
All of them negatively affect the body's recovery process, leading to the appearance of disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system (psychosis, neurosis, depression, organic brain diseases).
Hypersomnia occurs against the background of a person's transfer of infectious diseases, anemia or nervous disorders. In such conditions, the body needs more hours to rest and recover. Therefore, it is recommended to allow the body to fully recover, and only after that return to the usual regimen and loads.
Insomnia occurs after stressful situations, informational brain overload, sleep disturbances, as well as excessive physical exertion. Often insomnia indicates the beginning of the development of somatic diseases or mental disorders.
Exposure to external factors (for example, electric light) can also cause insomnia, especially if the body has not received the necessary physical and psycho-emotional stress during the day. Sleep in this case is too superficial, sensitive, a reaction to any external stimuli is manifested. REM sleep time in such people increases significantly, so there is no quality rest of the body.
Sleepwalking
This sleep disorder is more often manifested in childhood, especially for babies with an unbalanced psyche. As a rule, this disease goes away with age. Finding symptoms of somnambulism requires careful attention and examination. In some cases, medical treatment may be necessary.
During deep sleep, sleepwalking is usually less likely to occur than in the REM stage. The process of dreaming is completely erased from memory, a person does not remember where he was and what he did, although in this state he is able to fulfill requests and perform familiar actions.
Any person, regardless of age and gender, needs a quality sleep. Types of sleep during a night's rest will ensure the restoration of tired body systems.