About one-third of our life is spent in sleep, and it can be said that sleep is the process of recharging and storing energy of the organism, and the quality of sleep is directly related to our quality of survival and quality of life. However, in today’s accelerated pace of life and work, sleep disorders have become a new health killer. According to a survey conducted by the World Health Organization on more than 20,000 patients attending primary hospitals in 15 bases in 14 countries, it was found that 27% of people had sleep deprivation. In China, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places at the same time to start the results of the sleep survey, in more than 10,000 people surveyed 45% of the people have sleep disorders.
So what is sleep disorder? Our common insomnia is only one of the manifestations. In general, sleep disorders can be divided into two main categories.
① abnormal sleep quantity or (and) quality, including insomnia (difficulty falling asleep, early awakening, shallow sleep and easy awakening), drowsiness, abnormal sleep rhythm (sleep inversion).
② abnormal behavior during sleep, including nightmares (nightmares), teeth grinding, involuntary muscle or limb movements, sleepwalking, somnambulism (sleep talking), night terrors (sudden shrieking, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, disorientation, etc.), sleep apnea syndrome (repeated pauses in breathing during sleep, snoring is the most common situation).
What are the dangers of sleep disorders?
Mild or transient sleep disorders do not cause significant impact on life, work and body. However, persistent and repeated sleep disorders can lead to disorders of human physiological and psychological functions, which often make patients suffer. The common hazards are.
① long-term lack of sleep so that the brain can not fully rest, headaches, dizziness, memory loss, inattention, thinking and judgment, loss of appetite and other phenomena, thereby reducing the ability to work and work efficiency, increasing the likelihood of accidents. where traffic accidents caused by sleep disorders are common.
② poor sleep can reduce and weaken the immune function of the body, and the chance of various diseases is greatly increased.
③ poor sleep can cause endocrine, metabolic and other functional disorders.
④There is a close connection between sleep disorders, psychological problems, neurosis and psychiatric problems. About half of insomnia patients are accompanied by psychological and mental disorders, the most common being mood and emotional disorders, such as depression, anxiety, sentimentality, irritability, irritability, lack of self-control, and so on. The occurrence of these conditions in turn affects sleep, which in turn creates a vicious circle.
⑤ Poor sleep significantly increases the risk of hypertension, heart disease, heart failure, stroke, sudden death, and other diseases, especially sleep apnea syndrome. Foreign studies have found that the impact of poor sleep on hypertension and heart disease is more harmful to health than smoking.
So how to treat sleep disorders?
First of all, it is especially important to develop good sleep hygiene habits.
① Set up the bedroom, keep it comfortable, quiet and relaxing, avoid outside disturbances (such as light, noise stimulation), carefully choose the bed and bedding, comfortable and soft.
② go to bed when you feel like sleeping, do not read newspapers, novels, TV, etc. in bed.
③ Go to bed and get up as regularly as possible, even if you did not sleep well the night before, you still have to get up regularly the next day.
④ Don’t let your brain be in an excited state of thinking before going to bed, and appropriate physical activities will help you sleep, but don’t do strenuous exercises.
⑤ Dinner should be moderate and not too full. Do not drink too much water or alcoholic beverages before going to bed. Of course, hunger is also not conducive to sleep.
Secondly, self-psychological adjustment is very necessary.
① Do not regard sleep as the first important thing in life, think that insomnia makes you can not do anything. The discomfort caused by short-term insomnia can be solved by appropriate activities, hot baths, etc.
② Don’t make it a rule to sleep a few hours every night, a natural attitude will help you sleep more. Also, each individual is very different and requires a different amount of sleep.
Again, if the above methods do not work, proper medication is necessary. Many people believe that taking sleeping pills is addictive and therefore refuse to take them, thus making it difficult to solve the insomnia problem. In fact, the new generation of benzodiazepine sleeping pills can reduce dependence by controlling the amount and duration of medication. Overseas studies have shown that gradual discontinuation and short-term use (2-4 weeks) are almost free of drug dependence. Therefore, the reasonable use of sleeping pills is helpful for the treatment of sleep disorders. In addition, patients with severe depression, anxiety and other psychiatric disorders take appropriate antidepressants and anxiety medication is also conducive to improving sleep. Of course, drug treatment should be carried out under the guidance of a doctor, private consumption or discontinuation of drugs may cause serious consequences.
In summary, sleep disorders bring many negative effects and serious consequences to people’s physical health and normal life and work, causing great losses to patients, families and society. Therefore, the correct understanding and treatment of sleep disorders should not be ignored. It is our common goal to pay attention to sleep and keep healthy every day.