Sleep disturbance: what is the danger and how to solve

The problem of sleep disturbance is becoming more common every year. About 15% of the population come to specialists with such an appeal every year, and about 10% cannot fall asleep without the help of sleeping pills. This epidemic is very dangerous, because only during sleep does the body have the opportunity to fully recover, bring vital systems back to normal. A poor-quality night's rest, or even its complete absence, can lead to many chronic problems, so in no case can you ignore the ailment. In this article, we will consider the main reasons why sleep can deteriorate and what you can do to indulge in the gift of Morpheus without problems.

Sleep disorders

First, you need to figure out what can generally be considered a sleep disorder. Interestingly, many, not knowing this, may not even suspect that they suffer from disturbed sleep.

Sleep disorders are:

• prolonged and problematic falling asleep;
• superficiality of sleep and its short duration;
• violation in the time of awakening;
• a combination of the above problems.

There are many reasons why sleep problems may appear. Among them there are primitive ones, which are difficult to think about, but there are more serious ones, in which it manifests itself only as a symptom. Let's look at the most popular factors affecting the onset of the disease.

• Common cause of sleep disturbance, everyone knows it insomnia, according to scientific insomnia. It is observed most often, and in people of all ages. For the most part, it is characterized by insufficient long sleep or its superficiality, which torments a person for a long time: at least three times a week for a month or more. Insomnia can be caused by stress, downed mode, unfavorable conditions in the sleeping room, nervous system disorders, excessive alcohol consumption. It is not uncommon for insomnia to manifest itself as a side effect while taking medications. The main symptoms are difficulty falling asleep, lack of sleep, shallow sleep (regular sprinkling at night), drowsiness during the day.
• Restless legs symptom. This is a neuralgic disease, which manifests itself as unpleasant sensations in the legs that occur at night, during a period of complete calm. Most often, the disease is diagnosed in women. The causes of occurrence may be associated with a hereditary factor or with lack of iron in the body, as well as folic acid, B vitamins, thyroid diseases, diabetes mellitus, lung diseases and a number of other ailments. The symptomatology is expressed in unpleasant sensations in the legs: the illusion of goosebumps, scratching, pulling and bursting sensations. To reduce the severity of the symptoms, the person is forced to rub or shake their legs.
• REM sleep behavior disorder.
• Sleep apnea. A very terrible disease in which the patient has a regular cessation of breathing during sleep, i.e. the lungs temporarily cease to be ventilated. Such an ailment can lead to serious diseases of the internal organs and lead to obesity.
• Narcolepsy. Quite a rare disease that is more often diagnosed in young men. Expresses itself in constant drowsiness and a tendency to sleep in the wrong places at the wrong time. The causes of the disease are not yet known for certain, but the results of a study have revealed in patients with narcolepsy a lack of the hormone orexin, which is responsible for maintaining a normal state while awake. More often there is a hereditary cause.
• Somnambulism. In the common people, this disease is called sleepwalking. From the outside, all this may look quite normal, albeit a little creepy: a person gets out of bed and starts doing his usual things, he can watch TV, clean up, brush his teeth and even sit down to draw, but all this is a harmless manifestation. In some cases, sleepwalkers can harm themselves or harm a person who accidentally meets on the way. The eyes of sleepwalkers are mostly open, they can give answers to simple questions, but his actions themselves are unconscious, so in the morning people do not remember their adventures. The causes of sleepwalking can be medication, severe stress, epilepsy, a constant feeling of anxiety, drug addiction, etc.
• Bruxism. This ailment is expressed in the fact that the patient begins to tap and grind his teeth at night. The duration of the attack can stretch for minutes and come several times per night. Teeth grinding sounds can be so strong that others can hear them. A person suffering from such ailment regularly has dental problems. There are no exact reasons why there is a nuisance, but the most common opinion among experts is nerves and stress, mental fatigue and overstrain. It has been noticed that more often the disease is diagnosed in people with the wrong bite. In the morning, such a person feels a headache, pain in the jaws and teeth, ringing in the ears.
• Nightmares. The frequent nightmares that plague some people also seriously disrupt sleep. Awakening is accompanied by feelings of anxiety and despair. If such a dream comes in a deep phase, then a person may not at all understand the reasons for his awakening, but all the unpleasant sensations will be with him. All the details are well remembered in the phase of REM sleep, nevertheless, this does not make it easier for a person, because it is still problematic to fall asleep later. Why do I have nightmares? There may be several reasons for this, but most often this is a consequence of the stress experienced or an unfavorable state of the nervous system at the current moment. Often people who are depressed suffer from this. In this case, it is useful to visit a psychologist and solve internal problems.

Sleep disturbance in a child

The healthy duration of a child's sleep is directly related to his age. Approximately, you can focus on the following data:

Sleep problems in children can occur due to:

• neuralgic disorders;
• emotional overload;
• somatic problems;
• physiological characteristics.

Speaking about the physiological characteristics of children's sleep, it should be noted that the sleep of children can seriously differ from the sleep of adults, it is more sensitive and superficial, while such indicators are normal. Most of the baby's sleep falls on the fast phase, all this time the baby can just lie with his eyes closed and you can see how his eyelids twitch due to the movement of the eyeballs. At this time, the child sees a dream. For this reason, problems with sleep can arise only because the conditions are not suitable for the child's rest. Given the sensitivity of sleep, the room should be quiet and the air temperature comfortable.

Sometimes mothers turn to specialists for help so that they determine the cause of the child's poor sleep, but the tests do not show any abnormalities. These are very rare cases, nevertheless, they indicate that this type of sleep is an individual feature of the child. Only age can solve the problem, over time, when the young body grows up, everything will be solved by itself.

The most common cause of problem sleep among children is emotional overload. If the child is overexcited, overworked, then the process of falling asleep will be unpleasant for him and for his parents. To solve the problem, you need to take good care of the child's mode: limit watching TV before bedtime, the amount of time in front of the computer. At night, it is better to read fairy tales or do something more relaxed. Students at school need to do their homework in the daytime and stop in the evenings to reduce brain activity. Limit your child's stress level, and if necessary, brew special baby soothing teas. In some cases, when you cannot cope on your own, it is better to seek help from a child psychologist.

Somatic problems have no connection with the nervous system. To exclude problems of this nature, you need to be examined by doctors. Sleep problems can come from third-party diseases in which sleep disturbance is only a symptom. But neuralgic problems are directly related to the work of the central nervous system, which only a neurologist can solve.

It is also worth noting that in childhood, the brain is constantly working and developing, even when the child is resting. Therefore, problems may not be problems at all, but be a simple nightly "training" of the brain. These are the features of the body of children that disappear by itself with age. However, if, due to such nocturnal awakenings, the child is lethargic during the day and at the same time he has other symptoms, then the help of a specialist is required.

Sleep disorders treatment

For the treatment of sleep, it is necessary to contact a neurologist who will study the sources and type of the problem, on the basis of which he will build an individual treatment. It is important to focus on treating not the sleep itself, but on eliminating the cause that led to the problem. Before prescribing sleeping pills, the specialist will interview the patient. It is likely that the cause of the problems may not lie in health problems, but in violation of the rules for preparing for sleep. For example, a lover of loud music can seriously excite his nervous system before going to bed with the works of his favorite bands, which leads to problems in falling asleep. In such cases, it is enough to eliminate the annoying factor in a few hours, and sleep problems will go away on their own. Large amounts of caffeinated beverages can also seriously affect sleep quality. In general, there are a lot of such factors that can affect a night's rest, so try to analyze your lifestyle yourself, it is likely that an appeal to a specialist will lose its relevance.

Since most drugs are potent and can be addictive, a good doctor will first make every effort to get medication-free sleep. You may need to consult a psychologist, a complete change of the daily regimen, the introduction of proper nutrition, a course of herbal treatment, etc. If this does not work, then medications will be prescribed. Remember, in no case do not self-medicate, otherwise the addiction of the body will lead to the fact that you will no longer be able to fall asleep without medication.

How to get sleep

If the cause of sleep problems does not come from other problems with the body, then the following recommendations may be quite effective:

• Be sure to work out a regimen for yourself and always strictly follow it. The maximum that you can afford on weekends and holidays is to sleep for half an hour or an hour more, but no more. It is noticed that each person has his own regime and the number of hours that he needs for a good rest. If it is normal for someone to lie down at 22:00 and get up at 06:00, then for another it is difficult, but at the same time, to lie down at 23:00 and wake up at 07:00 is great. The difference in the biological clock is normal and this must be taken into account when making up your regime. The same amount of sleep at different times will give different results. I would also like to note the duration of sleep and refute the "stereotyped eight hours." Again, everything here is purely individual. We want to sleep when our brain is overloaded with information, so it happens that we tend to sleep a lot in the middle of the day. If during the whole day the head has received a huge portion of new information, then the chances that a person will oversleep or not get enough sleep in due time increase. If the information is at a minimum, then the sleep will be shorter.
• Don't overload your stomach overnight. Yes, it also happens that the feeling of hunger interferes with sleep and it is unnecessary to torment yourself in this. Be sure to have a snack, but it is a snack, and do not overeat.
• Develop a ritual that trains the body. Every day before going to bed, do the same things, which ones - come up with yourself. This can be reading a book with a calm plot, taking a warm shower, listening to quiet calm music, or something else, most importantly calm. Over time, the body will get used to the ritual and, as if by magic, it will fall asleep at the time of the procedure.
• Drink a calming herb before bed, such as peppermint or lemon balm. In addition to sound sleep, this way you can strengthen the body as a whole.
• Ventilate the room before going to bed, there should be fresh air in the room. Buy bedding in soothing colors, hang night curtains that hide the light from the street, etc.