If you have trouble sleeping at night, folk remedies. Insomnia: causes, how to fight and get rid of it, music, folk remedies, pills? Why sleep is bad: causes and variants of disturbances

Sleep disorders are quite widespread phenomena. From 8 to 15% of the world's adult population have frequent or constant complaints of poor or insufficient sleep, from 9 to 11% of adults use sedatives sleeping pills, and among older people this percentage is much higher. Sleep disorders can develop at any age. Some of them are most typical for certain age groups, such as bedwetting, night terrors and somnambulism in children and adolescents, as well as insomnia or pathological drowsiness in middle-aged and older people. A neurologist will tell us about sleep disorders, chief physician, Ph.D. Slynko Anna Alekseevna.

– Anna Alekseevna, tell our readers why our body needs such an important component of life as sleep?

– Sleep is one of the most important components of human life. During sleep, wakefulness is inhibited with the switching off of consciousness and active work the unconscious, the activity of certain (somnogenic) systems of the brain and the entire organism as a whole. Processing and integration occurs during sleep mental activity person, active recovery structures and functions of the body. And this part of our life is no less important than waking, and perhaps the most important, during which self-healing, healing, and mental “reboot” occur. It’s not for nothing that they say: “The morning is wiser than the evening.” Because during sleep, active processing of information occurs. Not only the conscious and unconscious take part in decision-making, but also the knowledge and experience of our ancestors, which are encrypted in our genetic material. Some believe that spending one third of your life in a dream is too much, and therefore they rush to live, cutting down on sleep time, grossly disrupting the sleep cycle (sleep during the day, stay awake at night, go to bed late). Such disrespect for sleep takes a toll on the body. It is known that this reduces resistance to infections, the immune system is impaired, and the risk of cardiovascular diseases increases, mental disorders, adaptation to stress decreases, etc. It has been noted that centenarians sleep a lot, that is, their body rewards a large amount of time spent in sleep with long, healthy wakefulness. However, it is known that the need for sleep decreases with age, and older people sleep less. But isn't this a prognostic sign of health?

– Anna Alekseevna, is there a difference in the way we sleep?

– It is considered normal to sleep from 6 to 9 hours a day for an adult. But everyone's need for sleep is different. It is important to go to bed so that you can wake up on your own in the morning without coercion or discomfort and not feel drowsy during the day. It is very important to fall asleep at the same time. In this regard, time zone shifts, the transition to summer-winter time, and working at night are unfavorable for health. It is very important to fall asleep before 23.00. It has been observed that sleep between 11:00 pm and 1:00 am is very important for the body. At this time, the greatest regenerative activity of the body occurs. This is consistent with knowledge traditional medicine. During this period, the energetic “power” of the heart is at a minimum, so it is best to sleep at this time. But not only the total duration of sleep matters, the structure of sleep is important, when the correct duration and sequence of sleep stages occurs. It is known that the structure of sleep changes in various diseases. Medical influence on sleep phases changes the course of some diseases (for example, depression). Sleep is a heterogeneous state; during sleep, a natural alternation of phases occurs. The slow-wave sleep phase makes up 75-80% of sleep (divided into naps, light sleep, moderate sleep, deep dream), during this phase of sleep occur recovery processes, optimization of internal organ management. There is also a phase REM sleep or rapid eye movement phase. In the REM sleep phase, the electroencephalographic picture resembles wakefulness, although the person is motionless and the muscles are maximally relaxed, during this phase he dreams. The total duration of all phases, that is, the cycle, is about 90 minutes. During the entire sleep period, 4-6 cycles occur.

Insomnia or insomnia

Insomnia or insomnia– a subjective symptom characterizing dissatisfaction with sleep, lack of vigor after sleep. If this dissatisfaction with sleep occurs within one week - it is episodic insomnia, up to 3 weeks - short-term, more than 3 weeks - chronic insomnia. In laboratory mice without sleep, a change in consciousness occurs after three days, a coma and death after a week. A person also cannot live without sleep, just as he cannot live without food, drink, and air. Therefore, people who say that they do not sleep at all are mistaken. They sleep, but their sleep is intermittent, short, incomplete and there is no feeling of sleep and vigor after it.

– What types of sleep disorders exist?

– More than 54 various diseases nervous system, mental and internal diseases are manifested by sleep disturbances.

Sleep disorders: dyssomnias, presomnia disorders, intrasomnias, postsomnia disorders, parasomnias, pathological parasomnias, hypersomnias

Sleep disorders can be divided into:

Dissomnias –

difficulty falling asleep, maintaining sleep, excessive sleepiness, feeling of lack of rest after sleep.

Presomnia disorders -

difficulty falling asleep (inability to fall asleep for 2 or more hours)

Intrasomnia –

shortening of sleep, frequent awakenings, shallow sleep, early awakening.

Post-somnia disorders –

lack of feeling of rest after sleep, lack of physical vigor, feeling of “being overwhelmed”, asthenia.

Parasomnias –

motor and mental phenomena that accompany sleep. These are shudders, changes in body position, which are physiological. AND pathological parasomnias– excessive, restless movements during sleep, sleep-talking, sleepwalking. There may also be frightening dreams, nightmares, disturbances in the rhythm and depth of breathing, night snoring, apnea (long pause in the breathing cycle).

Hypersomnias –

pathological daytime sleepiness. Most often, daytime sleepiness and inappropriate falling asleep during the day are caused by obstructive apnea. That is, during sleep there is an overlap respiratory tract and the patient wakes up from lack of air. This happens especially often in obese people with large bellies, sleeping on their backs, when the lungs are supported by organs located below the diaphragm. In this situation, it is advisable to reduce weight, sleep on your side, on a higher pillow. Daytime falling asleep extremely dangerous for people involved in driving and other dangerous species activities.

– How to assess the quality of sleep?

– Doctor who studies sleep - somnologist, analyzes sleep using polysomnography. This is a diagnostic method that includes simultaneous registration of electroencephalography, ECG, electromyography, audio monitoring of snoring, analysis of body movements, legs, respiratory movements, body temperature, blood pressure, pulse, etc. Polysomnography data allows you to assess the duration of sleep, the number of awakenings, the distribution of sleep stages, breathing disorders and heart rate, abnormal movements and establish the nature of parasomnias. However, not every patient with insomnia is able to study their sleep so carefully. Therefore, a therapist or a neurologist or a psychiatrist often helps to figure this out.

– Anna Alekseevna, tell us about the reasons for sleep disturbances?

– The causes of sleep disturbances are varied and divided into three groups.

1. Internal reasons– sleep apnea syndrome, periodic limb movements, syndrome restless legs and etc.
2. External reasons– psycho-emotional tension, anxiety and stress, pain syndromes, inadequate use medicines, including sleeping pills, poor sleep hygiene, taking psychostimulants, alcohol, excessive smoking, violation drinking regime (frequent urge for urination at night), etc.
3. Circadian disorders– time zone change, premature sleep phase syndrome, disorders caused by daily or night shift work, etc. Of course, in the first place among all factors leading to sleep disturbance, especially in healthy people, are emotional stress, mental and physical fatigue, mental fatigue. Especially in people with asthenoneurotic personality traits, states of anxiety, asthenia, melancholy or depression, apathy, and depressed mood are common. This is called psychophysiological insomnia. Often such people try to help themselves and take it in the morning. tonics, In the evening sedatives or hypnotics. Over time, such self-medication depletes the body’s adaptive and restorative forces, which not only does not restore sleep, but also does not give a feeling of rest and promotes development. psychosomatic diseases. The first to suffer is the organ system that is subjected to the greatest load or there is an innate predisposition or weakness of this organ system. At first, organ function is impaired, when everything is still reversible. Then the disease already disrupts the structure of the organ.

- Anna Alekseevna, give me a few useful tips on treating sleep disorders for our readers!

– What are the steps to treat psychophysiological insomnia.

Treatment of psychophysiological insomnia (insomnia)

1. Maintaining sleep hygiene. Set a fixed time for going to bed and waking up. It is advisable on those days when you manage to get enough sleep, to determine the duration of sleep, since this individual indicator. If your sleep time is 8.5 hours, then you should already be in bed half an hour before bedtime, preferably with light, pleasant literature (preferably fiction), perhaps with smooth, pleasant music. For example, if you need to get up at 7.00 in the morning, then you need to get ready for bed at 22.00. And at 22.30 go to bed.
2. Avoid falling asleep during the daytime.
3. Don't think about not being able to sleep.
4. It is advisable that the sleeping room be allocated separately, (ideally there should be no equipment, TV, computer). It is advisable to ventilate the bedroom well (the optimal room temperature is 18-20? C), thick curtains on the windows, a comfortable mattress, a small pillow, the bed does not creak, extraneous sounds don't distract.
5. A walk in the evening is beneficial fresh air , breathing exercises, light physical activity, freestyle, slow swimming. No later than 20.00 it is necessary to complete physical activity. If there are no contraindications, it is good to take a bath or shower at a comfortable temperature. If sleep disturbances are associated with psycho-emotional stress, it is good to have a relaxing massage (or therapeutic massage) 2-3 times a week, and exercise at medium and light intensity 2-3 times a week.
6. Avoid drinking strong coffee, tea, tonics, cola during the day. For any “stimulation” the body has to pay with subsequent asthenia, irritable weakness, and insomnia. In the evening you can drink tea with mint and honey. Honey is a sweet natural sleeping pill.
7. The last meal should be easy for the body to digest, in small quantities, no later than 2 hours before bedtime. It is better to consume liquids in limited quantities after 18 o'clock, so as not to wake up at night, for the toilet. A pleasant feeling of fullness causes drowsiness.
8. Do not use any medications on your own without consulting a doctor.. It is advisable to discuss with your doctor the optimal tactics for behavior and treatment of sleep disorders.
9. And most importantly - go to bed in a GOOD MOOD! SWEET DREAMS!

– Thank you for the interesting conversation, Anna Alekseevna! I hope every reader takes something useful from your story!

A conversation with Anna Alekseevna Slynko (neurologist, chief physician, candidate medical sciences) conducted by Margarita Kucheruk

Sleep disturbance is very serious and current problem today, which haunts many people.

Bad, interrupted sleep or its lack directly affects the quality of life, mood, well-being, energy level in the body, work and health internal organs human body. This often leads to many dangerous diseases.

May interfere with proper sleep various factors: poor nutrition, bad habits, stress, etc. We list the main reasons that provoke bad dream:

As you know, smoking is very bad habit, which seriously worsens the health of the body as a whole, including a bad effect on the quality of sleep. Smokers mistakenly believe that thanks to cigarettes they can relax, calm down and sleep well. In fact, nicotine is a stimulant. And if a person smokes a cigarette just before bed, he is likely to wake up several times during the night.

But giving up nicotine before bed also prevents you from falling asleep well: the desire to smoke will cause the smoker to feel discomfort and anxiety, which has a bad effect on sleep. Scientists have shown that smokers sleep worse due to the stimulating effects of nicotine and are more likely to feel anxious. That's why The best decision- completely abandon this addiction and start leading healthy image life.

2. Excessive alcohol consumption

For many, evening alcohol consumption acts as a sleep inducer. Indeed, a glass of wine with dinner can be very relaxing and cause drowsiness, but excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, on the contrary, leads to frequent sleep disorders, night awakenings and even the onset of sleep paralysis when a person cannot move for some time and feels terrible discomfort. Such factors will cause fatigue and rapid loss of strength in a person in the morning and throughout the day.

Stress and neuroses are frequent companions modern people. According to scientists, stress is the most common cause of poor sleep. It disrupts the balance between sleep and wakefulness, causing difficulty falling asleep. According to surveys, many people cannot sleep due to excessive stress, anxiety and restlessness. Stress activates the sympathoadrenal system, which causes insomnia. In this case, meditation, deep breathing techniques, or reading a calm book before bed will help.

4. Lack of physical activity

People who give up sports and exercise for various reasons are often susceptible to restless sleep and often wake up several times during the night. All this gradually leads to disruption of performance and concentration during the day. Those who support physical activity and plays sports at least 150 minutes a week, have much less problems with falling asleep. Many people mistakenly believe that exercising in the evening disrupts their healthy sleep. Moderate exercise stress about two hours before bed helps fight insomnia.

5. Hormonal changes

According to statistics, women are more vulnerable to insomnia and sleep disorders than the stronger sex. This is often associated with hormonal changes, which occur in women during menopause, pregnancy and menstruation. Fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone during your period greatly disrupt your sleep. During pregnancy, the amount of progesterone in the body increases, which can also lead to insomnia. Menopause causes a decrease in estrogen and progesterone, which affects frequent night hot flashes, which interfere with normal sleep. To solve the problem with changes in hormones, taking special drugs approved by a doctor, and a warm evening shower or bath with aromatic oils.

6. Using electronic devices before bed

IN modern society One of the most common reasons for disrupting healthy sleep is the use of electronic gadgets throughout the day and especially before bed. The light emitted by phones and tablets interferes with the production of melatonin, a hormone responsible for sleep. In addition, during interaction with such electronics, brain activity is stimulated, which prevents a person from completely relaxing. Electronic gadgets affect the rhythm of the body, preventing good sleep. Electronics have a particularly negative impact on the sleep of children and adolescents. In order to get a good night's sleep, it is advisable to turn off the TV, tablet, phone or computer at least an hour before going to bed.

7. Caffeine consumption in the evening

Many people love coffee and drink it throughout the day and even after dinner before bed. But you should give up drinking coffee in the evening if you want to sleep well and soundly. It's better to postpone this idea until the morning. Caffeine is a fairly strong stimulant that can cause nervousness and dizziness. They, in turn, can provoke insomnia. Caffeine taken 6 hours before bedtime has negative impact to sleep.

When it comes to sleep disturbance, the cause may well be a hearty and excessively high-calorie dinner. Power with high content fat and low level fiber in the evening can impair sleep quality. Consumption of fried, sweet and fatty foods leads to heaviness in the stomach, and therefore a person will have difficulty falling asleep and waking up more often. Thus, in order for sleep to be deeper, you need to provide more in the evening. light food than, for example, in the morning or afternoon. Best consumed during dinner low-calorie foods high in fiber.

9. Uncomfortable temperature and bright light

To get better sleep, bright light should be excluded in the bedroom. Darkness or twilight promotes good and sleep soundly for both adults and children. Light disrupts the production of melatonin secreted by pineal gland(epiphysis) and responsible for normal sleep. Even slight rays of light from a window can cause the body to wake up. Therefore, before going to bed, it is advisable to close the curtains and turn off the lights, making sure that the bedroom will be dark and quiet throughout the night. It is equally important to ventilate the room before going to bed so that the temperature is comfortable and the air is fresh. Doctors say that human body needs a cooler temperature while sleeping, so if it is not very cold outside, you can leave it open or use air conditioning. A warm evening shower helps to achieve optimal body temperature and sleep well.

10. Pets

Pets provide many benefits both physically and mental health their owners. They help reduce tension, control stress and improve your mood. But at the same time, pets can worsen the quality of sleep. The habits and habits of animals at night are different from those of humans. If your pet behaves restlessly at night, it is better to take him out of the bedroom and give him a place to sleep in another room. With more frequent and severe attacks If your animal is restless at night, consult your veterinarian.

Throughout life, exposed a large number stress and anxiety. In such conditions, the need to relax becomes especially acute for a person, and the simplest way to relax, known since ancient times, is a sound and healthy sleep. But, unfortunately, in Lately A huge number of people have difficulty sleeping. When about 15% of the population of developed countries experience systematic difficulties associated with nightmares or insomnia, another 11% already resort to the help of various sleeping pills. More and more more people They type “bad sleep, what to do” into Google, trying to somehow normalize their nightlife. And before talking about what to do if you can’t sleep or have insomnia, you should understand the reasons. What can cause this condition?

Sleep disturbance. Causes in adults. Symptoms

What should you do if your sleep suddenly becomes too light, nightmares begin to torment you, and falling asleep becomes more and more difficult every day? First of all, it is necessary to eliminate the causes, which can be very different. Modern scientists identify more than 70 possible life situations, causing problems related to sleep.

Among the most common reasons are psychological anxiety, hormonal imbalance, excessive physical or emotional stress, or even overeating.

Symptoms of sleep disorders depend on the type of deviation and are also very diverse. The main ones are insomnia (insomnia) and hypersomnia (excessive sleepiness), which will be discussed below.

Insomnia

With this disorder, you have difficulty falling asleep, often wake up and cannot fall asleep again. There are usually two reasons that cause insomnia.

If this deviation is caused by a psychological state (the first case), then such insomnia is called psychosomatic. It can be permanent, caused by any psychological disorders or breathing disorders, as well as temporary (situational).

Temporary insomnia lasts no more than three weeks. Constantly feeling sleep-deprived, people become irritable and emotionally unstable, so excessive, unusual aggression is often considered one of the first symptoms of insomnia. Over time, some people begin to anxiously wait for the night to fall, as they are very worried about sleep disturbances, which only makes them worse psychological condition.

Often, after the stress factor disappears, insomnia stops. However, sometimes difficulties falling asleep and waking up at night become habitual for a person, and the fear of insomnia aggravates the situation, which leads to the development of chronic insomnia.

Insomnia can also be caused by alcohol consumption (the second case), which primarily concerns people suffering from chronic alcoholism. Sleep disturbance can also occur under the influence of various medications(for example, drugs that activate or depress the central nervous system). In this case, the REM sleep phase is shortened, as a result of which the patient often wakes up at night. Once you stop taking alcohol or medications, this insomnia usually goes away within two weeks.

Insomnia can also be a consequence of abrupt cessation of taking sleeping pills, sedatives and other drugs.

How to deal with insomnia?

What to do if you have sleep disturbances (insomnia)? If you are sure that insomnia is caused psychological reasons, then first of all you need to learn to relax. Take relaxing baths with aromatic oils and sea ​​salt before bed. Make an appointment with a massage therapist. Prepare for bed in advance by turning off bright lights and the TV two hours before. You can also drink a few drops of valerian before going to bed. If insomnia is caused by any other reasons, you should consult your doctor.

What to do if you can't sleep? Sometimes it happens that there are no particular problems with sleep, but it is difficult to fall asleep. In this case, first of all, you should ventilate the room, straighten the sheet and turn on relaxing music. The daily routine is also important. It’s not easy to train your body to fall asleep and wake up at the same time, but the results will be worth it. We should not forget about standard, well-known methods, such as, for example, counting sheep.

Hypersomnia (excessive sleepiness)

The primary cause of increased sleepiness is chronic fatigue caused, for example, by decreased immunity after illness and fatigue. Other causes include psychological and respiratory disorders, the use of certain medications, alcohol and drugs.

What to do? First of all, go to the hospital and check your body for hidden inflammations and infections. If nothing like this is found, take a course of vitamins and sign up for fitness, often be in the fresh air, that is, tone your body.

Nightmares

There is another problem that often occurs that cannot be attributed to the first two sleep disorders. A person has bad dreams. What to do? There is a sleep disorder called parosomnia. These include sleepwalking (sleepwalking), bedwetting, and nightmares. The latter usually indicate severe exhaustion of the nervous system caused by fatigue or severe emotional stress. Other reasons may include eating right before bed (this leads to increased brain activity), excessive drinking, by-effect some medicines, sleep apnea syndrome, and fever.

So what should you do if you have a bad dream? Currently, there are certain techniques that help get rid of nightmares, which will be outlined below.

Ways to deal with nightmares

• Remember your dream and come up with another, happier ending.
• Don't keep a bad dream to yourself, discuss it with your friends and family.
• If you don’t want to tell anyone about your nightmares, write down your dreams in a special notebook or just draw them.
• Get enough sleep. Sleep at least 6-8 hours a day, and also learn to fully relax.

It should be noted that in most cases, all these procedures are not necessary, and nightmares go away on their own after about two weeks.

The benefits of nightmares

When you have a very bad dream, what to do is the first question that arises in your head after waking up. After all, residual negative emotions such as fear, anger, emptiness and melancholy can be very strong. However, as surprising as it may sound, nightmares can also have their own benefits.

According to scientists, nightmares, being a product of the activity of the human subconscious, personify our unpleasant emotions, impressions, as well as internal conflicts. Thus, all negative situations from our present are processed by the brain and neutralized at night. If nightmares with the same plot are repeated, you should take note that there is some kind of problem that requires an immediate solution.

When are nightmares useful?

Of course, nightmares are not always useful, but only at certain stages of life. There are two specific periods of life when the influence of nightmares is especially effective.

Firstly, during turning points in a person’s life. At this time, nightmares usually end happily, that is, you manage to escape from bandits, defeat monsters, or find a way out of a tunnel. Such nightmares indicate a person's personal growth.

Secondly, after any tragic incident in a person’s life: loss of loved ones, natural disaster, war. Such nightmares help a person to throw out his grief in a dream and subsequently find peace of mind.

If you had a bad dream, what should you do? Regardless of whether you recognized yourself in the first or second situation, just move on with your life. Such nightmares will definitely pass on their own.

However, we should not forget that nightmares can also indicate a certain psychological problem, which you may not be aware of or acknowledge in the present.

I had a bad dream. What to do? Mystical aspect

Superstitious people believe that nightmares do not just happen, but carry a warning about certain events in life. Such possible events are listed below.

First of all, nightmares promise failure in business and a quarrel with loved ones. If you are a young woman, then disappointment and undeserved neglect await you in the near future. After a bad sleep, a girl should take care of her health and, perhaps, go on a diet.

Nightmares can also mean that you are a puppet in the hands of stupid people and you should take a closer look at your surroundings.

In conclusion, I would like to note: it is not without reason that they say that all problems are within us. The main cause of any sleep-related illnesses is a psychological state: emotional and physical overload, internal worries and dissatisfaction with something. The inability to cope with daily stress results in insomnia and nightmares. Therefore, you should take care of yourself, avoid unnecessary stress and overexertion, systematically relax and exercise. After all, money can’t buy health - it’s one thing!

Night sleep disturbance may be caused by for various reasons: external factors or diseases, permanent or episodic.

In the United States, according to statistics, at least 40 million people suffer from sleep disorders (insomnia). In developed countries, sleeping pills account for 10% of all prescribed medications.

Perfectly healthy young people (students and schoolchildren) who do not have enough time to sleep may complain of insufficient sleep duration.

People over 40 who have health problems are dissatisfied with the duration and depth of sleep. They have difficulty falling asleep, and at night they are very bothered by frequent awakenings due to suffocation or palpitations.

Shallow sleepers have similar symptoms, but they are more worried about prolonged falling asleep.

Women complain of poor sleep more often than men, but they go to the clinic less often. Women sleep worse for personal reasons, and men for social reasons.

People who do physical work sleep better than housewives and pensioners.

Widowers and widows are more susceptible to insomnia than family people.

Among the villagers there are more people who sleep little: they have to get up early, especially in the summer, and going to bed early is not allowed by watching interesting films and programs on TV. There are fewer rough sleepers in the countryside than in the city: they are engaged in manual labor. Also, the villagers do not have the habit of daytime sleep.

Self-massage of points for insomnia will help you fall asleep without medications. Their localization is on the head, arms, legs, medicinal effects for good health.

Manifestations of insomnia

Prolonged falling asleep– the most debilitating side of insomnia. To a person who cannot sleep, half an hour seems like an hour, and any longer time seems like an eternity.

Frequent awakenings at night exhausts, gives a feeling complete absence sleep. Delta sleep is short, it does not have time to develop; all mental activity is transferred to the stage of drowsiness and sleep spindles.

Consciousness in these stages seems to bifurcate, as in narcolepsy. The sleeper dreams of “half thoughts, half dreams”, he is almost aware of this and perceives such half sleep as wakefulness. However, the EEG shows a 7-hour night sleep.

But due to its mismatched structure, it does not bring complete rest: there are only three cycles of “slow-wave sleep - paradoxical sleep” per night, shallow sleep due to shortened slow-wave sleep.

And yet, statistics show that poor sleepers do not always sleep poorly in reality: complaints of frequent awakenings are confirmed in 86 cases out of 100, insufficient depth of sleep and prolonged falling asleep - in 70 cases, insufficient sleep duration is confirmed only in 43.

This indicates a subjective perception of sleep disturbances. Even someone who claims to not sleep at all, sleeps at least 5 hours a day, can sleep without noticing it at night and doze during the day.

Episodic sleep disorders

The causes of sleep disorders may be temporary and depend more on external factors. For example, when are changing circadian rhythm and sleep as a result of flying to a different time zone.

Sleep can often be disturbed due to noise, if the windows overlook an expressway or construction site. Such insomnias are called psychophysiological.

Sometimes complaints about external interference turn out to be disorders of the nervous system.

One patient A.M. Veina complained about noises that had haunted him all his life: in his youth, his neighbors in the dorm were noisy, then the noise of a tram, the noise of a construction site near his house, etc. disturbed him. This man did not invent anything, but he often had personal and professional conflicts.

Mentally unbalanced, he perceived any noise as a worldwide catastrophe.

You can change your place of residence, move from a noisy area to a quiet one, but will you leave yourself?

It happens that episodic sleep disorders can haunt a person throughout his life.

Another patient had been plagued by night terrors since childhood. At such moments, he jumped up and began to scream in horror. At the age of fifty, he is still sometimes overtaken by the same fears, and then he wakes up his family and himself with terrible screams.

How do such nightmares arise?

They are born in the deep delta sleep stage, it may not be terrible dreams, and vegetative-vascular crises. The reaction to such a dream is manifested strong heartbeat, intermittent and heavy breathing, chills, increased blood pressure and body temperature.

The person is covered uneasy feeling. Such a crisis may happen once a year or may recur up to several times a month.

Sleep disorders caused by diseases

Sleep may be disrupted due to diseases of internal and peripheral organs. With this disorder, patients experience various inconveniences and pains, such as nightmares and bad dreams.

Cores They fall asleep quite quickly, but in the middle of the night they often wake up and cannot fall asleep for a long time, tossing and turning from side to side.

Hypertensive crises, myocardial infarction, angina attacks occur mainly in paradoxical sleep, and in slow sleep– attacks of bronchial asthma.
During REM sleep, all people's blood pressure and pulse change. To those who coronary vessels not in order, such changes are fraught with attacks.

Secretion gastric juice also changes in everyone's dreams. In an ulcer In this case, pain may occur, and forced wakefulness along with it.

Poisoned by alcohol a person sleeps little and poorly, his paradoxical sleep is suppressed. REM sleep will not return to normal soon, because removing alcohol from the body takes a long time.

Paradoxical sleep does not want to wait for the alcohol to completely leave and begins to regain its position, invading wakefulness: this is how it appears delirium tremens with hallucinations and delusions.

In epileptics sleep structure is disrupted. They lack paradoxical sleep in some cases, and in others the stage of drowsiness is excessively increased. They are good sleepers and never complain about sleep. Perhaps the explanation is the resolution of accumulated unconscious conflicts during attacks.

Manic patients They also rarely complain about sleep, which is amazing, because they have the most nap in the world - sometimes an hour, sometimes two, but they do not feel the desire to sleep. A manic patient is excited, jumps out of bed, gets down to business, immediately drops everything, is ready to get involved in a conversation, but his thoughts are racing.

Suddenly falls into a deep but short sleep and wakes up full of energy and energy. Apparently, the quantitative lack of sleep is compensated by its depth. However, there are situations when a short sleep cannot compensate for the full scale active work, then exhaustion sets in and the patient needs to lie down.

After REM sleep deprivation in manic state There is no compensatory return: for these patients, all conflicts are resolved in their vigorous activity. For creative people, this activity can be very fruitful. It is called ecstasy or inspiration.