Treatment for sleep disorders. Poor sleep in adults - what to do if you can't sleep

Health 12/14/2017

Dear readers, everyone will probably agree with me that sleep is vital for every person. Regular lack of sleep can disrupt the functioning of the entire body, and especially nervous system. If a person sleeps poorly or does not sleep at all for some time, he becomes restless, irritable, inattentive, and stops absorbing new information. In such a state it is dangerous to drive, perform important work. Sleep disorders are very serious, and today, together with your doctor, highest category Evgenia Nabrodova we will discuss this topic with you. I give her the floor.

The more successful a person becomes, the more he achieves, the more often he experiences sleep disorders. Insomnia or simply restless sleep is very exhausting and can trigger pathological processes, up to mental disorders and malignant cell degeneration.

Experts say sleep disturbance in adults is a real problem modern society, which is acute for many people. It can lead to diseases that will have to be treated long and hard. I would like to convey to you that it is necessary to treat sleep disorders, and not ignore the problem for months and years, hoping that it will disappear by itself.

Why is a good night's sleep so important for a person?

The regulator of circadian rhythms is the pineal gland, an endocrine gland located in the midbrain. It produces serotonin - the hormone of happiness or pleasure, a precursor to melatonin. A person’s well-being directly depends on the amount of serotonin. It acts as a neurotransmitter, controls many functions in the human body, participates in the process of blood clotting, cell protection and the occurrence of pain impulses. This hormone also plays important role in fertilization (serotonin is part of the follicular fluid) and regulation of uterine contractions during childbirth.

No less important is melatonin (a derivative of serotonin), which is produced mainly at night. It is noteworthy that its synthesis depends on the degree of illumination. Melatonin production at night accounts for up to 70%. If you are used to sleeping with the light on, it is better to give up this habit. Otherwise, nighttime melatonin production will decrease, which can lead not only to sleep disturbances, but also to other health problems.

To help you understand how important it is to sleep at night (without lighting), I will list the main functions of melatonin:

is responsible for the work of all endocrine system, constancy of blood pressure and circadian rhythms;
slows down the aging process, has an antioxidant effect;
accelerates the process of adaptation, getting used to the shift climate zone and time zones;
increases the activity of the immune system;
participates in the functioning of the digestive system and brain;
regulates sexual function;
increases resistance to stress;
regulates the process of cell renewal;
changes the level of production of many hormones and biologically active substances depending on daily rhythms.

With age, the activity of the pineal gland noticeably decreases, the production of melatonin increases, so in many older people, sleep becomes superficial, and insomnia often occurs. Recent studies have shown that the use of melatonin suppresses the growth of cells of certain malignant tumors. This is due to the antioxidant effect of the hormone, which is produced mainly at night and in complete darkness.

Experts conducted experiments on animals in which melatonin synthesis stopped. As a result, they began to age quickly, free radicals accumulated in their bodies, cell regeneration stopped, and cancerous tumors began to grow. The results of such experiments clearly demonstrate the importance of melatonin and night sleep for all living organisms, especially for humans.

Melatonin is most actively produced between 11 pm and 2 am. At this time, a person must necessarily sleep, but without additional lighting, to which the eye receptors react and transmit the corresponding signal of vigor to the brain.

Let's understand the causes of sleep disturbances

The causes of sleep disturbance in adults can be very different. They are often associated with the psychological situation in the family and at work, the influence of stress and psycho-emotional tension. Usually people do not know exactly what caused their sleep disorders. A qualified specialist must deal with the reasons. Only in this case will the treatment of sleep disorders in adults be as effective as possible.

I will list the main predisposing factors:

busy work schedule, lack of rest and a full night’s sleep, which should last at least 7-8 hours;
falling asleep late for several months;
constant stress;
abuse of alcohol, psychostimulants, strong coffee and tea;
abrupt withdrawal of sleeping pills, sedatives;
diseases of the central nervous system, chronic diseases that are accompanied by pain, cough and other symptoms that cause you to wake up frequently at night.

Most often, the causes of sleep disturbance in adults are associated with non-compliance with the daily routine and psycho-emotional instability. If a man for a long time is under the influence of stress, chronic insomnia occurs. Due to anxious thoughts and worries, people cannot fall asleep for a long time or often wake up in the middle of the night. In the morning they feel very weak and drowsy. This sharply reduces performance and affects professional activity and personal life.

This video describes the stages of sleep, talks about melatonin and the mechanism of falling asleep, as well as ways to combat insomnia.

What sleep disorders exist and how do they manifest themselves?

Experts identify several types of sleep disorders:

insomnia - insomnia caused by psychological problems, alcohol or medications;
hypersomnia - increased drowsiness associated with certain chronic diseases, pathologies of the bronchopulmonary system, use of medications or alcoholic drinks;
disturbances in sleep and wakefulness caused by changes in work schedule, change of place of residence, chronic fatigue syndrome;
parasomnia - disorders of mechanisms affecting the quality of night sleep (epilepsy, enuresis, night terrors).

The manifestations of sleep disorders are varied. As a rule, patients complain of a shortening of the deep sleep phase, nightmares that do not allow them to fully rest. If sleep disturbance is combined with psychological problems and experiences, then painful headaches, disruptions in the digestive system, and skin diseases can occur. This indicates a close connection between a person’s psychological state and the functioning of the whole organism. Patients are very sleepy during the day, irritable, and cannot concentrate on anything, but as night falls they become anxious, often wake up, and are tormented by nightmares.

Experts highlight one interesting concept - “syndrome restless legs", which in 15% of cases is the cause of chronic insomnia. It develops both against the background of psychological problems and due to impaired venous circulation. The main clinical manifestation is involuntary motor contractions. Patients also wake up at night due to general discomfort in the legs and a tingling feeling.

How to solve the problem

Treatment of sleep disorders in adults can be medicinal or non-medicinal. First, it is recommended to contact a neurologist. When acute or chronic diseases are detected, they are treated by specialized specialists. Doctors can prescribe sleeping pills, sedatives, folic acid and iron supplements, and multivitamin complexes.

A huge role in the treatment of sleep disorders is assigned to the correction of the daily routine. For patients who cannot sleep for a long time, it is better not to sleep daytime. It is also recommended to avoid activities that stimulate the nervous system if they take place in the evening. Before going to bed, it is better to take a warm bath and read an interesting book. Avoid late dinners. To help you fall asleep better, experts recommend taking a walk every day before bed. The body will receive the necessary amount of oxygen, and you will be able to relax and take your mind off bad thoughts. Be sure to ventilate the room 1-2 hours before bedtime.

Drug therapy in the treatment of sleep disorders is used with extreme caution. Since the causes of insomnia often lie in non-compliance with the daily routine, it is first of all recommended to make the necessary adjustments to your routine, stop staying up late, and avoid psycho-emotional fatigue, especially in the evening. You can use relaxation techniques, massage, physiotherapy, yoga.

Treatment of sleep disorders in adults with drugs with sedative-hypnotic effects can cause addiction and withdrawal symptoms. Some medications used for insomnia cause severe daytime sleepiness and reduce performance. Such drugs are contraindicated for people who drive vehicles and work in responsible positions.

Melatonin medications can be used to make it easier to fall asleep. But their uncontrolled use is strictly contraindicated. To determine the treatment of sleep disorders in adults, a diagnosis must be carried out. Without examination results, medications cannot be selected.

At a young age, with normal night sleep, there is no need to take additional medications for sleep disorders with melatonin, since an excess of this hormone can be dangerous. Doctors prescribe such medications for insomnia, mainly in people with reduced activity of the pineal gland.

Melatonin is used to treat sleep disorders in the elderly and senile. Additionally, vasodilators and tranquilizers are prescribed plant origin. Sleeping pills can cause quite persistent addiction in old age. To discontinue the drug, a gradual dose reduction is necessary.

Sleep problems and eating habits

The quality of food consumed has a great influence on the state of the nervous system. With a lack of vitamins and microelements, a person begins to feel weakened, he lacks strength, and daytime drowsiness and night insomnia often occur. Sleep disturbances can also appear with regular overeating, abuse of alcoholic beverages, fatty and fried foods. Due to poor quality nutrition, digestive problems, abdominal pain, and flatulence occur. With these symptoms, people often wake up at night and then cannot sleep until the morning.

The habit of eating a large dinner before bed also contributes to sleep disorders. After eating, hydrochloric acid begins to be released, and if you do not regularly follow your diet and eat at night, you will wake up from strong feeling hunger and desire to eat something.

Coffee and tea lovers are familiar with the feeling of insomnia. Many people drink these caffeinated drinks to feel energized throughout the day and get things done. But experts have already proven for sure that with frequent consumption of coffee and tea, a certain dependence occurs, which manifests itself when these natural stimulants are discontinued. As soon as you stop drinking caffeinated drinks, you will feel drowsy and your performance may decrease. If you drink coffee at night, you may have problems falling asleep.

The quality of night sleep largely depends on the person himself. Try to work with your doctor to understand the causes of insomnia and be sure to change your own lifestyle if it prevents you from getting a good night's sleep.

Doctor of the highest category
Evgenia Nabrodova

I thank Evgenia for the information. I invite you to read other articles on the blog:

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A very common problem in the modern world. Similar complaints come from approximately 10-15 percent of the adult population, about 10% of people on the planet use various sleeping pills. Among older people, this figure is higher, but disorders occur regardless of age, and for a certain age category are characterized by their own types of violations. For example, night terrors and urinary incontinence occur in children, insomnia or pathological sleepiness in older people. There are disorders that, having appeared in childhood, accompany a person throughout his life. For example, narcolepsy.

Primary and secondary disorders

Sleep disorders are classified into primary and secondary. The former are not associated with the pathology of any organs, but the latter arise as a consequence of various diseases.

Sleep disorders can also often occur with problems with the central nervous system or mental disorders. With many somatic diseases, a person suffers from pain, shortness of breath, cough, and does not sleep at night.

Drowsiness often occurs in cancer patients due to intoxication. Pathological sleepiness may be a symptom hormonal disorders for tumors, encephalitis.

Classification of sleep disorders

Doctors identify several main types of such disorders. Let's look at the most common ones.

Insomnia is a disorder that occurs during the process of falling asleep, causing prolonged insomnia. They are often associated with therefore they can occur temporarily as well as permanently.

Insomnia is often caused by sleep disturbances such as taking medications or alcohol. Insomnia is provoked by: chronic alcoholism, long-term use of drugs that depress the central nervous system, abrupt withdrawal of sedatives or sleeping pills.

Another type is called hypersomnia. This is increased sleepiness. Psychophysiological can be associated with a psychological state, can be caused by taking alcohol or medications, mental illness, narcolepsy, and other pathological conditions.

Sleep disturbances are caused by disruptions in wakefulness and sleep patterns. Parasomnia is also widespread, that is, a malfunction in the functioning of human systems and organs associated with awakening or sleep. Causes of sleep disturbances: somnambulism, night terrors, urinary incontinence, epileptic seizures that occur at night.

Symptoms

Symptoms vary and depend on the type of sleep disorder in adults or children. It is worth noting that any problems with sleep can soon lead to changes in emotional state, decreased attentiveness and performance. Schoolchildren may have problems with studying and mastering the material. Often, a patient turns to a doctor for help, not suspecting that the reasons lie precisely in insomnia.

Let us now analyze the symptoms in more detail, considering what consequences they lead to. or insomnia can be considered non-chronic if it lasts less than three weeks. People who suffer from sleep disorders - insomnia, first cannot fall asleep, and then constantly wake up in the middle of the night. They often wake up early in the morning in a broken state, without enough sleep, and this leads to emotional instability, irritability, and chronic fatigue.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that patients with these problems wait with increasing anxiety every night, imagining what it will lead to. Time passes much slower at night, especially when a person suddenly wakes up and then cannot fall asleep. His emotional state is depressed under the influence of various psychological factors.

Often after stress subsides, sleep also normalizes. Often, problems with falling asleep become a habit, the situation only gets worse, and constant insomnia develops.

Insomnia, which is caused by alcohol or medications, often leads to the fact that the REM sleep phase is reduced, because of which the patient begins to wake up regularly at night. If long-term alcohol consumption is stopped, the body will return to its normal rhythm in about two weeks.

When sleep disturbance in adults occurs as a consequence of taking potent drugs that affect the nervous system, the effect of such a drug decreases over time, and increasing the dose may only lead to a temporary improvement in the situation. Sleep problems may worsen even as your dosage increases. In such a state, a person often wakes up, and a clear boundary between sleep phases disappears.

In mental illness, insomnia is accompanied by a feeling of severe restlessness at night, as well as a superficial and very light sleeper. A person often wakes up and feels tired and apathetic during the day.

The diagnosis of sleep disturbance is made with the so-called sleep apnea syndrome. At this time, the flow of air in the upper respiratory tract temporarily stops; such a pause may be accompanied by motor restlessness or snoring. Doctors distinguish obstructive apnea, which occurs due to the closure of the lumen of the upper respiratory tract, and central apnea, which are usually associated with disorders in the respiratory center.

Restless legs syndrome can also often lead to insomnia. It originates deep in the calf muscles, constantly requiring the body to move its legs. Such an uncontrollable desire often occurs before bedtime.

Another reason for sleep disturbance lies in involuntary flexion movements that occur at night in the leg, and sometimes in the big toe or foot. This bending can last about two seconds and be repeated after half a minute.

Narcolepsy

In narcolepsy, the disorder is characterized by sudden attacks of falling asleep during the daytime. Such disturbances, as a rule, are short-lived and can occur during a trip on public transport, after eating, due to monotonous work, and sometimes due to prolonged physical activity.

In this case, narcolepsy is often accompanied by attacks of cataplexy. That's what they call it sudden loss muscle tone, which may even cause the patient to fall. The attack is usually associated with a strong emotional reaction, such as laughter, anger, surprise, or fear.

Insomnia is often caused by disturbances in wakefulness and sleep patterns. This occurs when changing time zones or a constant schedule of intense shift work. Such problems disappear after two to three days.

In medical practice, there is also slow sleep syndrome, which is characterized by the physical inability to fall asleep at certain hours. Because of this, it is not possible to establish a normal schedule of rest and work on weekdays. Patients with this disorder manage to fall asleep no earlier than two o’clock in the morning or even by the morning. Only on weekends or on vacation do they not have problems sleeping.

They rarely turn to a specialist when premature sleep syndrome is detected. Although outwardly he may not bother them at all. The patient falls asleep quickly, has a good night, but wakes up too early and then goes to bed early. Such disorders usually occur in people old age and do not cause them any particular discomfort.

Rarely, but still, non-24-hour sleep syndrome occurs, due to which a person cannot live in a normal day. The biological day of such patients increases to 25-27 hours. Such disorders are popular among people with personality disorders and the blind.

Sleep disturbances during menopause are common. It is during menopause that restless legs syndrome manifests itself. During this period, the level of the main female sex hormone, estrogen, sharply decreases. This is what causes insomnia and other sleep problems. Doctors advise going to bed early during menopause, eliminating all unnecessary sources of light, and starting to prepare the body for sleep as early as 7 pm. If you still need to work in the evening, then try to use directional light by turning off the central lighting in the room.

Children's problems

Sleep disorders in children are most often caused by several diagnoses. One of them is somnambulism, which, manifested in childhood, can accompany the patient throughout his life.

The essence of the disease lies in the unconscious repetition of certain actions during sleep. Such people can get up at night, walk around the room, perform some actions, without realizing it at all. At the same time, they do not wake up, and attempts to wake them up can lead to actions that are dangerous to their life and health. Most often, this condition lasts no more than a quarter of an hour. After this, the person returns to bed and continues to sleep or wakes up.

Often they occur in the first hours of the patient's sleep. He may wake up in a panic in the middle of the night. Such conditions are accompanied by rapid breathing, tachycardia (strong heartbeat), sweating, and the pupils are dilated. Only after calming down and coming to his senses can the patient fall asleep. In the morning, there may be no memories of the nightmare at all.

Nocturnal urinary incontinence occurs during the first third of sleep. Such sleep disturbance in children is classified as physiological if they are very young, and pathological if the child has learned to go to the toilet on his own.

Diagnosis of insomnia

In order to find out what to do about sleep disorders, it is important to make a correct diagnosis. Polysomnography remains one of the most common research methods. It is held in special laboratory, in which the patient remains overnight.

A somnologist conducts the examination. Now it’s clear which doctor treats sleep disorders. If you have such problems, you need to contact a specific specialist.

During the diagnostic process, the patient sleeps in a special laboratory, and his sleep is monitored by a large number of sensors that record cardiac activity, bioelectrical activity of the brain, respiratory movements of the chest, inhalation and exhalation during sleep air flow, the process of saturating the blood with oxygen.

Everything that happens in the ward is recorded on a video camera, and the doctor on duty is always nearby. Such a detailed and detailed examination makes it possible to thoroughly study the state of the brain, how all body systems function at each of the five stages of sleep, determine what deviations from the norm exist, and, accordingly, find the causes of your problems.

Another diagnostic method is called average sleep latency testing. It is usually used for excessive sleepiness and is extremely important in determining narcolepsy.

The essence of the study is five attempts to fall asleep, which must be carried out during the person’s normal waking hours. Each attempt is given 20 minutes, with a break between them of two hours.

Particular attention with this method is paid to average sleep latency - this is the time it takes the patient to fall asleep. The norm is 10 minutes. If it is in the range from 5 to 10 minutes, then this is a borderline value, and less than 5 minutes is already pathological drowsiness.

Treatment of insomnia and its consequences

Another doctor who deals with sleep problems is a neurologist. The treatment he prescribes for the sleep disorder will depend on the identified causes. When identifying somatic pathology therapy will be aimed at combating the underlying disease.

If the depth of sleep and its duration decrease due to the patient’s age, then this process is considered natural and usually requires only an explanatory conversation with the patient.

If you can't sleep

It is important to monitor patient compliance general rules healthy sleep before starting treatment with sleeping pills. A person should not try to sleep in an overexcited state or when he is angry, do not eat a lot before going to bed and do not drink alcohol at night, do not drink strong tea and coffee several hours before going to bed, and do not sleep during the day. Maintain good physical shape, exercise, but do not do any exercise at night. Keep your bedroom clean and tidy.

If you have problems sleeping, then it is recommended to go to bed and get up at approximately the same time, and if you still cannot fall asleep within half an hour, then you should get up and do distracted activities. The desire to sleep should appear on its own. Nightly calming treatments, such as a warm bath or a walk, are recommended. Relaxation methods and psychotherapy help to cope with insomnia.

Drugs against insomnia

Tablets for sleep disorders are often benzodiazepine drugs. When the process of falling asleep is disrupted, medications are prescribed with short time actions. These include "Midazolam" and "Triazol". Taking them increases the likelihood of side effects - amnesia, confusion, excessive agitation.

To medications long acting include "Flurazepam", "Diazepam", "Chlordiazepoxide". They are taken when waking up frequently and can cause drowsiness during the day. Zolpidem and Zopiclone, which are believed to have an average duration of action, will help cope with this. The risk of becoming dependent on them is much lower.

For insomnia, antidepressants are often taken. They are not addictive and are good for older people suffering from chronic pain or depression. These are Mianserin, Amitriptyline, Doxepin. They also have enough side effects.

In severe cases of sleep disorders, antipsychotics with a sedative effect are used. These are "Promethazine", "Levomepromazine", "Chlorprothixene". Elderly people are often prescribed vasodilators. "Papaverine" can help you sleep a nicotinic acid, "Vinpocetine". Remember that any sleeping pills can only be taken as prescribed by a doctor, and after completing the course, the dose should be gradually reduced to get rid of addiction.

There are also over-the-counter sleeping pills that can help with insomnia. But it also needs to be taken with caution. Donormil, which will prolong the period of sleep, and Melaxen, which will compensate for the lack of the hormone melatonin in the body, can help. "Sonylux" is produced in the form of drops, which has a sedative effect. This is also a sleeping pill without a prescription. Helps overcome anxiety and feelings of aggression.

One of the most popular and widespread means is Valocordin. Although it is sold over the counter, it contains a barbiturate. Helps cope with painful sensations in the heart, psychomotor overexcitation.

Prevention of insomnia

It is not easy to cure insomnia, so it is effective to prevent sleep disorders.

To do this, you need to scrupulously follow a routine, go to bed on time and get up in the morning, give the body moderate physical and mental stress. Carefully use drugs that affect the central nervous system, and also monitor the intake of alcohol, sleeping pills and sedatives.

Prevention of hypersomnia will include the prevention of traumatic brain injuries, as well as neuroinfections, which can cause excessive drowsiness.

Sleep disturbance is an anomaly that is quite common today. The deviation in question gives rise to a weakening of mental efficiency and deterioration physical activity, decreased social interaction. The appearance of the described phenomenon is not determined by the position of individuals in society, their belonging to certain age groups, or gender characteristics. This deviation can be primary, in other words, independent of the presence of organ dysfunction, and secondary, resulting from various pathologies. Dream defects can occur as a result of a number of mental anomalies, disorders of the nervous system, and complications of somatic ailments.

Sleep disturbance causes and treatment folk remedies are closely interrelated, since only competent diagnosis will allow the selection of adequate corrective measures.

Causes of sleep disturbances

To establish the factors that provoke the development of insomnia, the existing signs that indicate a violation of sleep patterns should be analyzed. The patient needs to keep records of his night's rest. In addition, the doctor takes into account dream data received from his relatives (for example, relatives may inform the doctor that their loved one snores or moves chaotically in their sleep).

Certain information about possible reasons Sleep disturbances can be drawn from the characteristics of patients' complaints. For example, the inability to sleep or constant waking up after the individual has finally fallen asleep can be caused by the use of pharmacopoeial drugs and alcoholic beverages, serious illness, periodic twitching or stopping breathing during the night's rest. Sometimes, those suffering from sleep disorders fall asleep quickly and sleep well for half or most of the night, but wake up very early in the morning. This often affects depressed individuals, people suffering anxiety states, elderly subjects who can fall asleep and wake up spontaneously during the day.

Sleep disturbance in adults is often formed against the background of neurological illnesses or psychiatric disorders; they mutually aggravate each other.

To this category we can add mental fatigue, detected in the form of daytime fatigue, general weakness, drowsiness with minor exertion, lethargy, and the inability to sleep at night.

Well-known reasons that aggravate dreams and the process of falling asleep directly are smoking, drinking alcohol, drinks rich in purine alkaloids, such as Coca-Cola, tea, various energy drinks, coffee, eating a rich fatty meal, and doing intense physical training.

Various ailments such as arthritis, asthma, Parkinson's disease, heart or renal failure, apnea, hyperthyroidism, multiple sclerosis, tired lower limb syndrome, can provoke sleep disturbances.

With migraines, excess or lack of sleep can play the role of a provoking factor. Sometimes headaches can arise during a night's rest. However, more often, after the end of the attack of excruciating pain, the patient falls asleep.

Signs of sleep disturbance may also appear when pain syndrome. Sleep defects are observed in diseases such as vertebrobasilar insufficiency (limited blood flow from the spine through the capillaries to the brain), along with headaches, dizziness, decreased mental function, the ability to remember, deterioration in physical performance, and episodes.

They negatively affect dreams and hormonal transformations occurring in the body. Insomnia can disturb the peace of pregnant or nursing mothers, in other words, when a woman is especially impressionable and reacts sharply to external stimuli. Its contribution during the period of attenuation of the function reproductive system (menopause) sleep disorders include periodic hot flashes or bouts of sweating and fever. In hyperthyroidism, insomnia or sleep disturbance is one of the characteristic manifestations.

Atherosclerosis, mainly in advanced cases, represents serious problem. The disorder in question is found in painful sensations that arise in the leg muscles during movement or horizontal position. Such algia forces you to stop while walking or lower your limbs from the bed in order to feel relief. This condition occurs due to limited blood supply to the muscles due to blockage of capillaries by atherosclerotic plaques. If blood flow reaches minimal critical levels, tissue death occurs due to lack of nutrition. More often similar condition observed in individuals suffering from such a harmful habit as smoking, since the atherosclerotic process in them proceeds faster than in non-smokers.

In addition to the listed etiological factors, sleep disturbance in adults can also be a consequence side effect pharmacopoeial drugs.

Symptoms of sleep disorders

Signs of a sleep disorder are quite varied, as they depend on the nature of the disorder. However, regardless of the type of disorder, if it is observed for some time, it will certainly lead to a decrease in attention, changes in the emotional background and a decline in performance. Schoolchildren's educational performance may deteriorate and their ability to master new information may decrease.

Often, individuals seek qualified help, complaining of deterioration in well-being, without even realizing that it is associated with insomnia.

Below is a classification of sleep disorders. So, insomnia is divided into insomnia, hypersomnia, wakefulness-dream disorder, and parasomnia.

Insomnia is a sleep disorder, insomnia, manifested by a disorder in the process of falling asleep and the sleep period, occurs due to:

— psychological factors (psychosomatic insomnia);

— taking pharmacopoeial drugs or alcohol-containing drinks;

- mental illnesses;

- breathing disorders due to decreased ventilation of the alveolar spaces or apnea arising during the sleep stage);

— “restless limbs” syndrome;

- night muscle twitching.

Psychosomatic insomnia, in turn, can be temporary or situational and permanent. Insomnia caused by the use of medications or alcohol is caused by chronic alcoholism, prolonged use of drugs aimed at depressing or activating the central nervous system, or occurs as a result of stopping the use of sleeping pills.

Hypersomnia is a sleep disorder, insomnia, which is increased sleepiness. It is divided:

- for narcolepsy (the occurrence of REM sleep during wakefulness and a disorder in the regularity of sleep stages);

- psychophysiological, that is, due to the psychological state;

- hypersomnia caused by the consumption of alcohol-containing drinks or pharmacopoeial drugs, mental illnesses, and breathing problems.

Psychophysiological hypersomnia can be temporary or permanent.

Disorders of wakefulness and sleep stages can be temporary, caused by a sharp change in time zone or work schedule, or permanent. The second, in turn, is divided into the syndrome: slow stage sleep, premature dream phase and non-twenty-four-hour dream-wake cycle.

Parasomnia refers to autonomic, motor, or behavioral dysfunctions associated with dreams, but not necessarily caused by a sleep disorder.

Such disorders include: enuresis (incontinence of urine during a dream), somnambulism (committing any actions while dreaming), nocturnal and other disorders.

Psychosomatic insomnia is considered situational provided that the duration of its symptoms does not exceed three weeks. People suffering from this form of insomnia have difficulty falling asleep, constantly waking up in the middle of the night, and then are unable to fall asleep. This disease is characterized by earlier awakening and feelings of lack of sleep after sleep. The result of constant lack of sleep is the appearance of emotional instability, irritability, and chronic fatigue. The condition is complicated by the patients' experiences associated with sleep disorders. As a result, patients fearfully await the approach of night.

The time spent trying to fall asleep seems to be several times longer than it actually is. Mainly, situational insomnia occurs due to the influence of certain psychological stressors and is determined by emotional state sick. Often, sleep disturbances normalize after the stress factor is eliminated. However, sometimes difficulty falling asleep and frequent awakenings at night become a familiar situation, and the fear of insomnia only aggravates the condition, which leads to the formation of constant insomnia.

Insomnia, caused by alcohol or provoked by taking medications, consists of a disruption in sleep order: the REM stage of sleep is shortened and frequent waking up at night is noted. As a rule, after stopping the use of alcoholic beverages, the described disorders disappear.

Long-term use of sleeping pills and sedative effect also often causes insomnia. Gradually, the effect of the medications decreases, and increasing the dosage leads only to a short-term improvement in the condition, after which sleep defects worsen. This form of pathology is characterized by frequent short awakenings and the disappearance of a clearly drawn line between the stages of night rest.

Insomnia, occurring against the background of mental pathologies, is characterized by a constantly present feeling of extreme anxiety at night, light and shallow sleep, frequent waking up, and fatigue during the day.

Insomnia resulting from restless limbs syndrome develops due to the appearance in the calf muscles of a sensation that causes the desire to move the limbs.

Sometimes sleep defects occur due to spontaneous, repetitive flexion of the limbs.

Narcolepsy manifests itself in the daytime with sudden attacks of falling asleep. Such attacks are short-lived. They are dangerous because they occur during monotonous actions in transport. Narcolepsy is accompanied by attacks of cataplexy (loss of muscle tone, as a result of which the patient loses balance). Such an attack is more often observed against the background of a pronounced emotional reaction (fear, violent joy).

Sleep disorders caused by changes in geographic zone (phase shift) or schedule changes labor activity They are considered adaptive and go away on their own after two to three days.

Delayed sleep stage syndrome is the inability to fall asleep. As a rule, such patients fall asleep closer to the morning hours on weekdays. At the same time, on days when the patient does not need to go to work, there are no difficulties with falling asleep.

People suffering from premature sleep stage syndrome rarely turn to doctors. After all, this category of people does not have problems with organizing sleep, falling asleep or lack of sleep. Waking up earlier forces them to go to bed early. The disorder in question is more often observed in people of older age. It does not cause any particular problems for older people.

Non-twenty-four-hour cycle syndrome is manifested by the inability to exist in a 24-hour day. The biological day in this category of patients is often several hours longer than the established unit of time. Similar disturbances occur in subjects suffering from personality changes or blindness.

Somnambulism is the unconscious performance of automatic manipulations during a dream. Patients suffering from this sleep disorder may unknowingly get out of bed at night and walk around, performing actions dangerous to their own health, without waking up. At the same time, patients resist attempts to wake them up. Typically, this state lasts about fifteen minutes, after which the person returns to bed, where he either wakes up or continues to sleep.

Often, sleep disturbances and depression are often accompanied by vegetative-vascular dystonia, which covers many organ dysfunctions of various etiologies and symptoms that are caused by impaired nervous regulation.

In addition, sleep disturbances also occur with osteochondrosis occurring in the cervical segment of the spine. In turn, a dream disorder, with the described pathology, provokes an increase in fatigue and a deterioration in well-being. A person does not fully recover due to inadequate night rest. Sleep defects are often the first, and often the only initial signal indicating problems in the cervical segment. Inadequate sleep and nervous tension cause an increase in blood pressure, disruption of recovery processes, disruption of biorhythms, and exhaustion of the body.

Insomnia is a rather dangerous illness, often leading to suicide attempts. Lethargy, fatigue and malaise are the most minor consequences of sleep disturbance.

Scientists have long proven that any defects in dreams lead to a deterioration in the cognitive sphere, disruption of emotional processes, and the appearance of dangerous disorders of memory, attention, and coordination. In addition, persistent insomnia can lead to various pathologies psyche, cause hair loss, respiratory failure, persistent hyperglycemia, arrhythmia. Therefore, even in the early stages of the disease in question, it is necessary to contact specialists. Otherwise, ignoring the symptoms can provoke rather sad consequences of sleep disturbance.

Treatment of sleep disorders

Despite the need for traditional medicine to intervene in the treatment of some forms of dream disorders, most cases of insomnia are treatable traditional methods. Traditional treatment regimens involving the prescription of sleeping pills are used only as an exceptional measure, since their use often provokes addiction.

Pharmacopoeial sleeping pills are prescribed for long-term insomnia. Rapidly passing episodes of dream defects do not require medication, nor do physiological sleep changes in the elderly. Sleeping pills should be prescribed exclusively in the minimum permissible dosages.

When using sleeping pills, in particular benzodiazepine drugs, anterograde symptoms are often observed, the course of which is aggravated in patients of an older age group. When prescribing hypnotic tranquilizers to elderly individuals suffering from insomnia, special caution is also required, since they provoke a number of negative consequences(balance problems and subsequent falls).

Therapeutic measures with sleeping pills should always be prescribed in conjunction with optimizing sleep routines and hygiene. They should also cover measures aimed at detecting etiological factor and its elimination.

Individual? The causes of sleep disturbance and treatment with folk remedies are now quite well understood. In order to get rid of this unpleasant condition, the first step is to identify all the symptoms and carefully monitor the manifestations. Next important point To optimize your dreams, you can improve your sleep hygiene and change your daily routine. Falling asleep rituals, brought to the point of automaticity, and the formation of useful behavioral patterns will certainly lead to a sustainable improvement in sleep, regardless of what causes insomnia.

You can eliminate most manifestations only by changing your daily lifestyle. For example, regular exercise and control over emotional reactions have a beneficial effect on the processes of falling asleep and dreaming.

— adherence to a wakefulness routine and a nightly rest regime (you should go to daydream and wake up at the same time every day, weekends are no exception);

— sufficient time must be devoted to night dreams (at least seven hours daily);

- the feet should be warm to facilitate the process of falling asleep;

- the room in which an individual suffering from insomnia sleeps should be sufficiently quiet, darkened, cool and well ventilated;

- you can take a regular walk before bed;

— warm water saturated with essential oils can help relax and relieve accumulated tension (the bath should be taken for no more than fifteen minutes);

— an hour before leaving for the kingdom of dreams, you need to turn off the TV and other entertainment devices.

Among the folk remedies aimed at improving the depth and quality of night's rest, various infusions and decoctions of medicinal herbs can be distinguished. To the most effective drinks herbs include a tincture of a perennial plant called sleep-grass, an infusion of dried valerian rhizomes, and a decoction of pumpkin pulp.

Insomnia (other name - insomnia ) is a sleep disorder in a person in which there is either insufficient duration of sleep or poor quality of sleep. These phenomena in insomnia can be combined and continue for a long time.

When determining whether a person suffers from insomnia, the doctor does not take into account the absolute duration of sleep, that is, how many hours a person sleeps a day. The fact is that for different people good rest Different amounts of sleep are required.

Medical statistics show that from 30% before 50% people have periodic sleep problems, and 10% chronic insomnia is noted. Sleep disturbances are more common in women.

How does insomnia manifest?

Chronic insomnia a person experiences constant difficulties in falling asleep. Throughout the night, the person who is experiencing chronic insomnia , wakes up many times. As a result, the patient experiences general dissatisfaction with sleep: he sleeps fewer hours than required for full recovery, and in the morning he feels exhausted and not rested.

Insomnia at night leads to the fact that the patient's duration of deep sleep decreases and the ratio of deep and REM sleep is disrupted.

It should be understood that sleep disturbance in adults and children is not a separate disease, but a symptom. At the same time, disruption of night sleep can lead to a serious deterioration in a person’s quality of life. Often observed disturbance of sleep and wakefulness : A tired person after a bad night's sleep is forced to sleep for a while during the day to regain strength. To eliminate this symptom and find the cause of its manifestation, it is important not to delay contacting a sleep disorder center or other medical facility. Specialists make a diagnosis, determine what types of sleep disorders occur in patients and prescribe appropriate treatment.

To one degree or another, insomnia constantly or periodically worries many people. The fact that poor sleep in an adult disrupts the harmonious flow of his life rhythms is easy to determine by a person’s appearance. He feels bad after sleep, there is severe fatigue and lethargy. On the face of someone who is resting poorly in a dream, swelling under the eyes , observed redness of the eyes , dry lips . The patient may complain that he has bad dreams. During the day, a person suffering from insomnia may feel sleepy almost all the time, while at night he cannot fall asleep, or falls asleep and immediately wakes up. Performance decreases noticeably, and various diseases associated with chronic lack of sleep may appear.

The following types of sleep disorders are conventionally defined: presomnic , intrasomnic And post-somnia disorders . This classification is carried out depending on certain symptoms.

People who suffer presomnia sleep disorders have difficulty falling asleep. A person suffers from obsessive thoughts , fears , anxiety . Sometimes he cannot fall asleep for several hours. Neurotic sleep disorders of this type are aggravated by the fact that the patient realizes that the next day everything can happen again. But if a person falls asleep, his sleep remains normal.

People with intrasomnic sleep disorders They fall asleep more or less normally, after which they constantly wake up at night for various reasons. Such people are often overcome by night terrors associated with bad dreams. After each awakening, it is difficult for a person to fall asleep. As a result, in the morning the patient feels severe weakness and weakness.

At post-somnia sleep disorders both falling asleep and sleeping are absolutely normal. But a person wakes up very early, and falling asleep again does not occur. As a result, the duration of sleep is shorter than is required for proper rest of the body.

Why does insomnia occur?

Insomnia worries people suffering from the most various diseases. The causes of insomnia in girls and boys are often associated with severe mental stress, serious experiences, significant physical activity. For example, in adolescents, the causes of poor sleep are often associated with overload at school; insomnia in children can be triggered by physical overload. However, a person who experiences symptoms associated with poor sleep may be completely healthy.

Insomnia in humans develops as a consequence, that is, a lack of oxygen in the human body. Hypoxia leads to dysfunction of a number of organs, which in turn worsens general state body.

The causes of insomnia in men and women are also often associated with, cardiovascular diseases , mental illness , neuroinfections . People who have suffered damage to the brain, in particular to those areas of the brain that are responsible for regulating periods of sleep and wakefulness, often wonder why insomnia plagues them.

The causes of sleep disorders are very often associated with stress or mental overload. A person who has experienced a traumatic situation to the psyche notes constant sleep disturbances, fatigue, and weakness. Why poor sleep affects performance is clear to everyone. Therefore, it is important to avoid stressful situations as much as possible and protect the psyche from shocks.

Sleep disturbances, both in old age and in middle-aged women and men, can be explained by disturbances in blood flow in the central nervous system, changes intracranial pressure .

In addition, the causes of sleep disturbance in adults are sometimes associated with the fact that a person stays awake at night due to work, entertainment or other reasons. If there is a change in time zones while traveling, the traveler may also suffer from insomnia. In this case, the answer to the question of what to do if you suffer from insomnia is not found until the human body adapts to the new time zone.

Sleep disorders - current problem for people who abuse drugs, psychoactive substances, sleeping pills, tranquilizers. Night sleep disorder is also observed in those who regularly drink alcohol. Complaints of being tormented by insomnia are noted both on days when a person is intoxicated and after a binge. Sleep disturbances are often present in those who suffer from neuroses.

Insomnia is often observed in expectant mothers in different periods. What to do during pregnancy in order to adjust the rhythms of sleep and wakefulness cannot be decided without consulting a doctor.

However, insomnia during pregnancy is generally considered completely normal occurrence. Sleep disturbances can begin in early pregnancy. For many women, insomnia begins already in the first trimester of pregnancy. This occurs due to exposure hormonal imbalance. An increase in the level of other hormones leads to the fact that a woman’s body sometimes cannot achieve the proper level of relaxation. Therefore, insomnia in some cases is even perceived as an indirect sign of pregnancy.

Insomnia during late pregnancy is associated with physiological reasons. Taking into account the peculiarities of the anatomy of the expectant mother, it is easy to explain why insomnia in pregnant women is a frequent companion during this period of life. The weight increases, the belly grows, the fetus moves more and more often, so it is very difficult for a woman to sleep peacefully at night. In addition, due to the pressure of the uterus on bladder a woman has to go to the toilet several times every night. Your doctor will tell you how to deal with these phenomena. After all, there are a number of simple rules that can make the condition of the expectant mother at least a little easier.

Insomnia in children of the first year of life most often associated with intestinal colic and teething. In newborns, the digestive system gradually adapts, which leads to discomfort associated with colic. Sleep disturbance in a teething baby also occurs due to a strong increase in saliva production. It accumulates in the throat, causing the child to wake up. Early insomnia may also be associated with the child’s reaction to the food he eats. Sometimes a child develops allergic reaction for some food products. The most common allergies are to cow's milk, however, the baby’s body can react ambiguously to other foods. Due to allergies to foods that the mother eats, even insomnia may occur in an infant.

Sleep disturbances in children are observed when the body is infected pinworms which cause very severe itching in the area anus, laying eggs there. Therefore, if a child 10 years of age or older has insomnia, he should definitely be tested for worms.

It happens that a child’s sleep disturbance occurs due to ear infections . It is very difficult to recognize this disease in a small child, and sometimes it is sleep disorder in children that is the only symptom ear infection. When the child lies down, the fluid that appears as a result of the infection presses on the eardrum. IN vertical position pain and pressure decreases. Consequently, the child cannot sleep peacefully.

Insomnia in older children can be observed due to excess activity, both physical and mental. Sometimes childhood insomnia develops due to a violation of the nightly ritual to which the baby is accustomed. Children after the age of three often wake up in the middle of the night if they have a very strong imagination. In this case, they are prevented from having a normal rest by the fears that their own imagination generates.

How to get rid of insomnia?

Sometimes insomnia occurs in a person from time to time. However, if difficulties falling asleep are isolated, then you should not worry about this. If a person has experienced a strong emotional shock , he may have trouble sleeping one or more nights. After this, normal sleep is restored without treatment.

But if difficulty falling asleep and sleep disturbances occur at least once a week, then it is worth thinking about how to treat insomnia in men and women.

People who periodically suffer from sleep disorders should think about how to get rid of insomnia. Gradually, such episodes can develop into chronic insomnia, and then the answer to the question of how to overcome insomnia will become much more difficult.

Chronic insomnia gradually causes violations mental health . If a person does not take care of how to cure insomnia in time, he may experience depression, anxiety attacks, and panic attacks. Over time, such diseases worsen, so the question of how to deal with insomnia is extremely relevant for patients with symptoms of sleep disorders. If home methods and ways to combat insomnia do not achieve the desired effect, you should definitely find out where such disorders are treated and consult a doctor. He will give detailed recommendations on how to treat insomnia. You can find out which doctor treats sleep disorders at your nearest clinic. You can also learn how to treat sleep disorders from specialists who treat diseases that cause sleep disorders.

Sometimes, in order to effectively treat insomnia at home, it is enough to follow very simple rules that are accessible to everyone. For example, chronic insomnia in some cases disappears after a person moves out of town for a while, sleeps on fresh air and in complete silence. Treatment of sleep disorders requires the maximum elimination of stressful situations and emotional stress from a person’s life.

Treatment of a sleep disorder involves eliminating those diseases that interfere with normal sleep. For example, a person may suffer from insomnia due to bad tooth, infectious disease and so on. In this case, treatment of insomnia with folk remedies will not be effective, since the treatment of insomnia is inextricably linked with the treatment of the ailments that provoked it.

IN modern medicine Various treatments for insomnia are used. These include medications, hypnosis treatment, and serious changes in habits and lifestyle. Prescribing treatment for insomnia at or during pregnancy , the doctor must take into account individual characteristics the patient's body.

During menopause sleep disorders are very common in women, so women try to find effective remedy from insomnia during menopause. After all, sleep disorder significantly worsens the quality of life of a woman entering menopause. After all, with nighttime insomnia there is a constant drowsiness and a feeling of exhaustion during the day. However, getting rid of sleep disturbances during menopause is sometimes possible without much difficulty. For some women, the most effective remedy for insomnia is good ventilation of the bedroom before bed . The bedroom should be cool. Just before going to bed, you should not watch TV or sit in front of the monitor. You should also have dinner about four hours before bedtime. Women often note that the best remedy for insomnia for them is a long, warm bath. This procedure helps you relax.

Folk remedies against insomnia also allow you to achieve normal sleep. An excellent method is to regularly drink herbal teas with a sedative effect. It is recommended to brew teas from lemon balm, valerian, mint, and chamomile. You can also use pharmaceutical tinctures of these herbs for some time. But if, after implementing these rules, you still cannot overcome insomnia, you must definitely contact a specialist who will prescribe medicinal drugs against insomnia. Properly selected pills will significantly improve a woman’s condition.

In some cases, modern technologies help restore normal sleep. medications from insomnia. Medications for sleep disorders should be taken by people who are susceptible to stress , depression . However sleeping pills should not be taken continuously. Only from time to time, under the supervision of a doctor, can you undergo a short course of treatment with sleeping pills. Often, for chronic insomnia, homeopathic medicines, as well as a variety of herbal preparations, are prescribed. However, taking such drugs must be accompanied by serious lifestyle adjustments.

For chronic insomnia in older people, you need to use it very carefully. hypnotic . Insomnia medications for the elderly may eventually lead to serious dependence on such drugs. As a result, regular use of such medications leads to side effects, in particular, changes in consciousness and thinking processes. Even those sleeping pills that are sold in pharmacies without a prescription can cause serious side effects such as decreased blood pressure, nausea, anxiety and restlessness. In addition, even the best medicine for insomnia loses its effectiveness over time due to the body’s addiction to it. Therefore, a specialist will tell you what medications you need to take and how to properly approach treatment for insomnia in old age.

However, for a person of any age who suffers from a sleep disorder, it is advisable to initially ask the doctor which pills for insomnia will help get rid of this problem, and the treatment will be without addiction and side effects. It is necessary to focus specifically on the treatment regimen prescribed by a specialist, and not on the prices of pills or the names of pills that a person suffering from insomnia heard from friends. By purchasing sleep aids without a prescription, the patient risks worsening his own condition over time.

You can also find out from your doctor what herbs help with insomnia. Tea for which it is used herbal collection , you can drink regularly for a long time. It will help you relax, calm down and fall asleep peacefully.

To overcome problems associated with sleep disturbances, you should definitely take care of changing your usual lifestyle. Experts have proven that implementing certain rules, even without medications, can improve the quality of your sleep. Good effect can be obtained by doing special exercises for relaxation. It could be respiratory gymnastics , meditation , yoga .

The so-called cognitive behavioral therapy , which is one of the methods of psychotherapy. The patient consults with a specialist and actively discusses sleep problems, which makes it possible to determine the causes of this phenomenon and overcome them.

The changes that it is advisable to introduce into your own rhythm of life are a more active lifestyle, improvement of your diet and meal schedule, and correction of your sleep schedule. Experts recommend going to bed and waking up at the same time all seven days of the week. In this case, daytime sleep should be completely excluded.

You should not lie in bed reading or watching television. A bed is a place only for sleeping. In the evening, it is better to exclude all those activities that lead to stress and excessive tension.

Under no circumstances should you eat before bed, as satiety will only worsen insomnia. There is also no need to drink a lot of fluids before going to bed, because the need to empty the bladder can disrupt restful sleep.

The child should sleep in a cool, well-ventilated room. There should be no extraneous sounds or light in the bedroom; you need a comfortable, moderately hard bed. The baby himself should go to bed in a calm and friendly mood. You cannot quarrel, scold your child before bedtime, or play very active games with him.

As a rule, treatment of insomnia in children with the help of medications is practiced when all other methods do not help. Even infusions of herbs that have sedative effect , children can only take it after this method has been approved by a doctor. As a rule, to treat insomnia in children, doctors recommend using psychotherapy, gymnastics, and special exercises for calming and developing imagination. Using optimal treatment methods, sleep disorders in children can be overcome without medications.

The doctors

Medicines

List of sources

Insomnia: modern diagnostic and therapeutic approaches / Ed. ME AND. Levina. M.: Medpraktika-M, 2005;
Komarov F.I., Rapoport S.I., Malinovskaya N.K. and others. Melatonin in normal and pathological conditions. M: Medpraktika, 2004;
Kovrov G.V., Vein A.M. Stress and sleep in humans. M.: Neuromedia; 2004;
Golubev V. L. (ed.). Autonomic disorders: clinical picture, treatment, diagnosis: A guide for doctors. M.: LLC "Medical Information Agency"; 2010;
Rasskazova E.I. Violations of psychological self-regulation in neurotic insomnia: Dis. ...cand. ped. Sci. M., 2008.

Normal sleep for healthy person This is, first of all, a complete and affordable vacation, given to him by nature itself. This is the time when the human body completely relaxes, the activity of all organs and systems decreases. The work of the brain of a sleeping person is aimed at producing hormones that, upon awakening, will bring him a pleasant feeling of lightness, freshness and restoration.

If, after waking up, a person does not feel cheerfulness and a surge of strength, perhaps this is the first signal of any violations. In everyday life they say: “I didn’t get enough sleep.”

A person’s feeling of lack of sleep is the first and main symptom of sleep disturbance.

Types of sleep problems

Unfortunately, there are many different difficulties associated with the process of falling asleep and sleep itself. Among them:

the inability to quickly and easily fall asleep at the appointed time, which is often accompanied by anxieties, fears, and obsessive thoughts. Very sensitive and disturbing sleep with awakenings from the slightest rustles, creaks, or lights on;
after satisfactory falling asleep, a very early awakening (at 4.00-5.00 o'clock), after which either there is no relapse of falling asleep, or restless sleep with confused dreams, which exhausts rather than restores;
lethargy, drowsiness, spontaneous falling asleep, dozing during the day;
chronically accumulating fatigue;
anxious tense state before going to bed, fear that you won’t be able to get a good night’s sleep;

Causes

Sleep is a perfect and very complex natural mechanism, into which disorder and discord often penetrate. Not only young busy people, but also children and the elderly often suffer from lack of sleep. Let's take a closer look at the most common causes of sleep disorders at each age.

Sleep problems in adults:

increased emotional background of life, easy excitability, irritability, spontaneous manifestations of anger or holding back negative emotions in oneself, all this greatly depletes the nervous system
experiencing severe psychologically traumatic situations: sudden dismissal from work, disappointment in life values, divorce, illness or death of a loved one
mental disorders and diseases: mild and prolonged depression, neuroses, hysteria
uncontrolled intake of psychostimulants, psychoactive substances: alcohol, nicotine, drugs, caffeine, dietary supplements, some hormonal, decongestant and antitussive drugs
disruption of the 24-hour sleep-wake pattern due to time zone changes and night shift work
after traumatic brain damage

In children:

lack of a properly organized daily routine, including going to bed at the same time
hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder
desire to be alone with parents without the presence of brothers and sisters
Children who spend little time with their parents during the day may experience increased anxiety about being separated from them at night.
an acquired habit of not falling asleep for a long time in the evening until all household chores are settled and the parents themselves go to bed
internal biological predisposition to falling asleep late, the so-called “night owl” type of shutdown-awakening of the nervous system

In older people:

wear and tear of the nervous system
side effect of taking medications
anxiety states
stressful and depressive background of life after the loss of loved ones
late meals, alcohol and coffee abuse
sleep apnea syndrome ( brief stop breathing in sleep)

Manifestations of sleep disorders in older age:

transient insomnia is the result of exposure to acute stressful situations. As it calms down it goes away.
chronic insomnia - result age-related changes in the brain and the structure of nervous tissues. It lasts from a month to several years, and, unfortunately, is often not completely cured.
restless legs syndrome, in which a person cannot fall asleep due to an obsessive sensation of “pins and needles” in the legs.
periodic limb movement syndrome, which is manifested by flexion of the big toe, partial or complete flexion of the legs at the knee and hip. This condition occurs due to disturbances in the exchange of neurotransmitters in the nervous tissue.

Special types

Since complaints, one way or another related to the sleep process, are extremely diverse, experts identify several special pathological conditions.

Insomnia

Insomnia is a disorder of the process of falling asleep, as well as the inability to fall asleep for a long time and deeply. Such disorders are considered psychosomatic, that is, arising as a physical reaction of the body to emotional experiences and worries.

They can be situational - the tense situation has passed and sleep has gradually returned, as well as permanent - it is advisable to treat them with a psychotherapist who will understand the reasons and select individual treatment.

Hypersomnia

Hypersomnia is the development of the body’s need for prolonged sleep from 12 to 20 hours a day. But even if it is possible to sleep for so long, a person still does not feel rested, he is constantly drowsy and distracted.

A similar condition can develop in any person due to chronic lack of sleep at night, or in severe stressful situations. In addition, there are special types of hypersomnia, such as narcolepsy, post-traumatic, idiopathic hypersomnia.

Parasomnia

Parasomnia – sleep phase disorders and periodic incomplete awakenings at night. These include: sleepwalking, nightmares, talking and convulsions during sleep, waking up with confusion, sleep paralysis, painful erection in men.

Violation of the sleep-wake pattern is most often temporary if it is associated with a change in work schedule, flight to other geographical latitudes, or a banal change of clocks to winter or summer time.

However, due to binge drinking, drug and gambling addiction, and frequent use of energy drinks, parasomnia can become chronic. This also leads to severe emotional experiences and prolonged depression left without timely treatment.

What to do: treatment

People suffering from sleep disorders should first analyze their lifestyle. Are there any overwork, unnecessary worries and anxieties, and if any are present, try to reduce them. If the problem cannot be solved in this way, you should consult a doctor.

Today, there is a large arsenal of medications that normalize the process of falling asleep and sleep rhythms during the night. Only a doctor can prescribe them. In addition, working with a psychologist or psychotherapist may be helpful.

Video on the topic

Below is a video in which a neurologist talks about sleep problems: