Insomnia in children and adolescents

  When they can’t sleep, they are so distressed that they don’t know what to do, and when they tell their parents or teachers, they are often scolded: “You’re lying to me, how can a child not sleep! You’re not sleeping as soon as you lie in bed? Don’t think too much about it! Go back and read your book!  Many insomnia patients, most of them told me: they have not slept well since childhood, sleep is getting worse and worse, may be caused by a certain examination or some minor family matters, things are not remembered, but insomnia has continued until now. Nowadays, some of the teenagers are very advanced in their thinking, they can recognize that poor sleep is a disease and often come to (or ask their parents to bring) the sleep disorder clinic on their own initiative to see a doctor, short-term insomnia is easy to regulate, a little help to them, most can recover. However, there are younger children who do not realize on their own that insomnia is a problem or that insomnia needs to be seen by a doctor, leading to additional or more serious problems, such as mood disorders in children, decreased academic performance, social problems, impact on growth and development, etc.  There are many kinds of reasons for insomnia in children, the most common are: 1. Emotional and mental stress problems: now from elementary school, children’s exams, higher education and other competitive pressures, coupled with the parents’ desire to see their children become a dragon, children will also put pressure on themselves; in addition, children in school, and classmates, teachers, such as tension, may lead to their emotional instability, physical and mental relaxation, resulting in Tension and anxiety, which affects sleep.  2, improper diet: many children eat too much late at night, or eat a lot of snacks, such as coffee, cola or even alcohol, etc., which can easily lead to mental excitement, unable to sleep.  3, children in adolescence, in the period of physiological changes, is the excessive growth period to maturity, easy to be troubled by puberty problems, affecting sleep.  4, irregular work and rest habits: in order to cope with exams, often stay up late and sleep for a short time, which destroys the normal biological clock of the body and leads to insomnia.  5, poor sleep hygiene: play cell phones, IPAD, computers, etc. before bedtime, read some stimulating content, resulting in overexcitation of the brain, plus the blue light from the screen of electronic products will also make it difficult to sleep.  We can take measures to actively respond to the causes of insomnia, first by self-regulation to improve sleep. In this regard, I have the following five suggestions: 1, regular work and rest: daily life should be regular, to maintain the habit of early to bed and early to rise, avoid staying up late, overnight. In the evening you can do a moderate amount of physical exercise, which helps sleep. In short, to develop a more regular lifestyle habits, it is good for sleep.  2, relaxed mindset: teenagers should have a good mindset, that is, to have optimism, positive mental attitude, the correct understanding of life’s troubles, if they really can not bear, then they should find their relatives, teachers, friends to talk about it, or find a suitable cathartic channel to relax and release the pressure.  3, pay attention to diet: eat less food and drinks containing caffeine, ban smoking and alcohol, avoid eating and drinking before going to bed.  4, create a good sleep environment: keep the bedroom clean, quiet, away from noise, avoid light stimulation, etc.  5, ready for bed: a glass of milk before bed, listen to music, or you can try to soak your feet in hot water before bed, these actions will help us fall asleep faster. Do not lie in bed and play with electronic products before going to bed, you can read some relaxing books and newspapers.  Parents or school teachers need to pay attention to the child’s sleep situation, when the child takes the initiative to tell you that he or she is not sleeping well, must believe him or her, understand the situation well, teach the child self-regulation methods, if self-regulation does not work, you can take him or her to the hospital for consultation.