Nighttime insomnia. Causes of Chronic Insomnia

Sleep is an extremely important physiological act that supports the normal functioning of the psychic sphere. The consequences of chronic insomnia are deplorable: a person becomes irritable and absent-minded, gets tired quickly, cannot cope with previous activities, assimilate information.

For the duration of occurrence of insomnia is acute and chronic. Acute insomnia can also occur in a healthy person, for example, in an alarming situation. It passes on its own in no more than three days. The causes of constant insomnia are more serious.

Risk groups

Statistics show that older women are most often the victims of insomnia. An important role is played by a low level of education and lack of work. The likelihood of problems with sleep increases in people who have undergone a divorce or separation, as well as those who suffer from somatic or mental illness.

The work of the human body obeys daily rhythms. The regulation of this mechanism is responsible for the epiphysis and suprachiasmatic nuclei of the brain. The light that the retina catches stimulates their work. This leads to the fact that in daylight, melatonin, which causes the onset of sleep, is not synthesized, and in the dark - begins to be produced.

Fact! Therefore, in winter, when the nights are longer, I want to sleep more.

A sense of wakefulness also supports the hypothalamus (tubulomamillary nucleus). They synthesize dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin and acetylcholine. These neurotransmitters diffuse throughout the cerebral cortex and provide a level of vigor.

Another part of the hypothalamus (ventrolateral preoptic nuclei) produces gamma-aminobutyric acid. This is the main brake mediator of the central nervous system. It inhibits the activity of nuclei, which synthesize "cheerfulness hormones". The cause of chronic insomnia can be a violation of the brain at any level.

Mental disorders as a cause of insomnia

Mental disorders are the leading cause of nighttime insomnia:

1.   disorders develop due to disruption of the neurotransmitters of the brain: serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and melatonin. They are involved in the regulation of sleep. That is why one of the first and long-lasting symptoms of depression is insomnia.
2. Any anxiety disorder (organic anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder) leads to the fact that a person cannot fall asleep, scrolling over disturbing thoughts in his head or due to an obscure anxiety.
3. More serious diseases, for example, or bipolar affective disorder, are also often accompanied by difficulties in falling asleep. The reason is the same as in depression - a disruption of the neurotransmitter system.
4. Blue Devils or delirium tremens begin with anxiety and inability to fall asleep.

Impaired sleep hygiene

The cause of insomnia may be bad habits regarding falling asleep:

1. Reading or watching video in bed.
2. Caffeine or nicotine abuse at night.
3. Irregular time to sleep.
4. Daytime sleep.

This can cause insomnia in children. For example, if a child is accustomed to falling asleep only when rocking up or in the parents' bed, then when trying to change the habitual ritual, the whims begin.

Insomnia of somatic and neurological origin

Most diseases of this nature can cause insomnia. A person cannot fall asleep due to persistent pain, dyspnea at night, cough, urge to urinate, which are provoked by these or other somatic and neurological disorders.

Often, restless legs syndrome is responsible for waking up, and also “sleep apnea” in the first case there is an unpleasant feeling in the legs. To stop it, you need to move them, for example, to walk. In the second, periods of lack of breathing lead to brain hypoxia and a feeling of morning tiredness, weakness.

Most often in pregnant women, insomnia causes the same reasons. On early terms   hormonal changes are changing, which leads to a violation of the “sleep-wakefulness” cycle, the formation of the “symptom of restless legs”. In the later stages, the baby's stirring interferes with sleep, the inability to take a comfortable posture due to the increased abdomen, frequent night urination, heartburn, and other reasons.

If the reason is not found?

When all possible factors are excluded, and the complaints persist, they talk about primary insomnia. Often its cause is the very person of the person. More often, it suffers from impressionable and sensitive people who have suffered stress.

Stress factor causes acute insomnia. For most people, it goes away on its own, but for some it becomes the cause of the “fear of lack of sleep.” The very furnishings of the bedroom, the need to fall asleep reminds them of their experiences and re-launches pathological reactions.

What is the result?

- a symptom that accompanies many disorders in the body. If it lasts more than a month, in no case should you linger on a trip to the doctor. It not only signals internal pathology, but also entails new problems. Modern medicine allows us to identify the reason for which insomnia torments, and eliminate it with medicines or physiotherapy.

According to the latest data, every fifth person on the planet suffers from sleep disorders. We decided to find out the causes of insomnia and its main symptoms, and consider the methods of treatment of this disease and methods of prevention.

Why does insomnia occur?

To determine the determining factors and the scheme of how to treat insomnia, one should determine the type of the disease. Sleep disorders are chronic, which are permanent, and episodic.

Causes of Chronic Insomnia:

• mental disorders;
• permanent mental overload.

Episodic insomnia can be caused by such factors:

• overeating at night;
• too early dinner;
• uncomfortable pillow or bed;
• lack of fresh air in the sleeping area;
• bright light;
• climate change and environment;
• small emotional turmoil, excitement.

Spring insomnia, which appears exclusively after warming and lasts about 2-3 months, is referred to a separate species. This sleep disorder occurs either due to an exacerbation of chronic diseases, or due to an acute lack of vitamins and. Such insomnia is more common in women, since in the spring the production of sex hormones increases briefly, which provokes anxiety and minor emotional fluctuations.

How to cure chronic insomnia?

First of all, do not self-medicate. If insomnia and comorbid headaches are tormenting for a long time - what to do and what drugs to take should be determined by a specialist. First, the doctor will find out the causes of the disease and the nature of night sleep. The fact is that insomnia means not only difficulty falling asleep. It is also characteristic early awakenings, night wakefulness or absolute lack of sleep. Each of the signs requires an individual approach and careful selection of sleeping pills. After the appointment of the appropriate drug, you must adhere to the following tips, how to fall asleep for insomnia:

• dinner 3-4 hours before the expected bedtime, better non-fat fermented milk products;
• adhere to the regime, go to bed and wake up at the same set time, even on weekends;
• do not force yourself to fall asleep if there is no feeling of drowsiness. It is better to be distracted by any monotonous occupation or listening to calm music, until you want to sleep. When watching TV choose the most boring and quiet movies and TV shows;
• do not drink coffee and strong tea in the evening, do not smoke.

Choosing what to take from insomnia, it is better to give preference to natural products, based on herbal extracts. More potent medicines are indicated only for persistent mental disorders and severe sleep disorders.

Folk treatment of insomnia

In folk medicine, first of all, evening sports are recommended. A quiet walk in the fresh air will provide oxygen to the lungs and brain, will give a feeling of pleasant fatigue and help to distract from everyday worries and experiences. In addition, herbs for insomnia are used. The most popular is peony spirit tincture, which can be easily purchased at the pharmacy. The motherwort herb also helps well; it must be brewed like regular tea and drunk throughout the evening. An excellent way to not worry, how to fall asleep for insomnia, is a relaxing foot massage with essential oil of fir. It must be performed after taking a hot shower or bath. herbal decoctions   (lavender, chamomile), in for 5-8 minutes.

Insomnia - consequences

Insomnia, or insomnia,   is a very common sleep disorder. Approximately half of all patients who seek medical help for one reason or another suffer from insomnia. At the same time, only a third of all the patients who have applied see a problem in the sleep disorder and try to cope with it.

Insomnia can pretty much undermine human health.   If insomnia becomes chronic, the risk of the development of various neurological diseases, diseases of internal organs and mental disorders increases.

The term "insomnia" (in the scientific world known as insomnia) is a group of quantitative and qualitative sleep disorders that result in disruption of the patient’s daily activities. Thus, insomnia does not simply mean the absence of sleep directly (as can be judged by the name of the disease), but can also manifest itself as violation of its quality or structure.

The term "insomnia" unites such groups of sleep disorders as:
intermittent, short sleep, interspersed with frequent awakenings;
difficulty falling asleep - the duration of the sleep phase is more than half an hour;
after a night's sleep, the patient has no feeling of freshness and rest.

Summarizing a certain result of what was said above, we derive the definition of the concept we are considering. So, insomnia -   it is a violation of the duration and / or structure of sleep, which results in a decrease in its effectiveness, which manifests itself as a lack of a feeling of recovery of strength and freshness after the morning awakening.

All people have dreams. They can be both color and black-and-white, show real or unreal events, be sound or soundless, they can be attended by people we see daily, as well as unfamiliar, mysterious creatures. The duration of the dream may be from 1 to 30 minutes.   Not everyone remembers their dreams. It is during sleep - during his fast phase   - a person rests, and his body restores its strength.

During sleep, the brain is engaged processing the received information and emotions and their preservation.   During this period, the subconscious and the conscious, the long-term and short-term memory actively exchange information, the formation of the human behavioral program takes place. A person is able to survive no more sleep 200   hours In the absence of sleep, the sense of humor, memory, emotions, responsiveness, ability to work disappear, the efficiency of the whole body and immunity decrease.

What is a dream? The normal functioning of the brain depends on whether its neurons are in an active state. At the same time, the activity of the neurons themselves depends on the support of special chemicals that release neurotransmitters   - wakefulness centers. Braking brain cells included in the wake system, scattered throughout the brain (most of them are in the substantia nigra), produce gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is the main inhibitory substance of the brain. Sleep occurs when active neurons weaken, and inhibitory neurons weaken them additionally. For the launch phase fast sleep   Acetylcholine, aspartic and glutamic acid are produced by the cells of the brain stem, pons.

Paradoxical sleep - it is a dream in which neurons stay awake and the body remains immovable with moving eyeballs. The epiphysis takes part in the regulation of sleep (the so-called “third eye”), which in the dark produces melatonin, a substance that causes severe sleepiness. Prostaglandin D3 plays a significant role in the pathology of drowsiness (for example, with meningitis, craniocerebral injuries, African "sleeping sickness"). It follows from all this that sleep is complex bioelectric and biochemical process.

Slow sleep -   the first stage of sleep is a nap that lasts from 5 to 10 minutes. Shallow sleep -   second stage of sleep - last 20   minutes Then follow the third and fourth stages of sleep - slow and deep slow sleep -   their duration from half an hour to 50   minutes Then the second stage of sleep is repeated again, after it the first episode of fast sleep appears, lasting about five minutes. After this stage is repeated, with a decrease in the stage of slow sleep and an increase in the stage of REM sleep. The duration of the last episode of sleep may be about 60   minutes

What is the danger of insomnia?

  The quality of life of a person suffering from insomnia may decrease significantly. In addition, today insomnia is among the most important factors that can lead to the development of various diseases of internal organs, as well as mental disorders.

Actually what is the danger of insomnia?   First of all, insomnia noticeably reduces the quality of night sleep, so a person who is prone to this disease becomes even more broken and tired by the morning than he was before going to bed. Such a violation of the quality of sleep naturally reflects on a person’s ability to work, make decisions, focus on problems and live a full life as a whole. The first to be hit are the intellectual abilities of a person, which is evidence that the human nervous system is depleted. A person suffering from chronic insomnia becomes vulnerable to various accidents and injuries.

In addition, insomnia can provoke the appearance of various diseases of internal organs. At the same time, insomnia is not the direct cause of such diseases, but because of the weakening of the forces of the organism to which it leads, they develop.

Causes of Insomnia

The main characteristics of insomnia - inability to fall asleep, lack of sleep, frequent waking. The assessment of this disorder is subjective, the patient is dissatisfied with the quality and quantity of sleep, he has no feeling of rest after waking up.

Insomnia can develop with mental and somatic diseases: Parkinson's disease, depression, arthritis, encephalitis, hyperthyroidism, asthma, degenerative diseases nervous system, prostatic hypertrophy, heart failure, kidney disease, neurosis, overwork, drug and alcohol abuse.

Abundant supper, romp, vivid emotional experience, smoking, strong brewed tea or coffee, drunk before bedtime can lead to sleep disturbance. Reception drugs   may provoke chronic sleep disturbance (for example, anticonvulsant and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, antipsychotics, b-blockers, antidepressants).

Social problems lead to a decrease in the duration of sleep: lack of confidence in the future, problems of the professional plan.   Also, the ability to relax and fall asleep peacefully affects the brainchild of scientific and technological progress - the Internet, TV, telephone, electronic devices and the flow of information that they carry.

It is not worth explaining once again that the processes of wakefulness-sleep are also influenced by environmental factors that enter the human body along with water, food, as well as stressors, and, to a greater extent, emotional and stressful factors. Often, a simple word, without causing physical harm, triggers a whole wave of hormonal and nervous reactions, which may result in loss of human sleep.

Insomnia Inspection

  There are all kinds of methods for the diagnosis of insomnia.   For example, the scale of assessment of sleepiness Epvrota. The respondent is asked to answer the following questions: Do you have a feeling of drowsiness in public places? while watching tv? reading? when you stand in the car on a red light? when you are in the afternoon after lunch? Responses are rated on a scale from 0   before 4   points where 0   means no sleepiness.

To exclude the above serious diseases, one of the symptoms of which may be insomnia, examinations and a full medical examination are carried out.

Such problems as frequent awakenings, difficulties in falling asleep, early awakenings, short sleep are distinguished. By severity distinguish severe and mild insomnia. Often, the patient sees only problems with sleep, not taking into account the neuroses and somatic pathology. Treatment should be aimed at eliminating the cause of the disease!

Insomnia treatment

Curing insomnia is not easy.   This requires careful attention to the problem and the attending physician, and the patient himself. Alas, today people suffering from insomnia rarely seek medical help, preferring to be treated on their own. However, they make a number of standard errors. Below we will talk about the main types of treatment for insomnia and tell you about the most common mistakes that people make when trying to cope with this ailment.

General principles of insomnia treatment

  First of all, a person suffering from insomnia begins to think about taking sleeping pills. There are two reasons for this: firstly, the low awareness of most people in this matter; secondly, a plentiful advertisement of all kinds of sedatives and hypnotic drugs. This treatment of insomnia is not only does not fix the problem itself (since very often insomnia acts as a symptom of another disease), it also threatens the patient with the development of serious complications: poisoning, impaired breathing, and negative effects on the internal organs. In addition, addiction can develop.

Nontraditional Insomnia Treatments

  Starting the treatment of insomnia, the patient must first learn to follow the rules of sleep hygiene. These rules can be either a separate method of treatment or be part of a set of measures, but they must be followed anyway.

In addition to sleep hygiene, methods such as are used to treat insomnia:
1. Psychotherapy -   This collection of techniques and methods to relax and develop a positive attitude of the patient to sleep. There are several methods of psychotherapy (group and individual). Psychotherapy has a positive effect on insomnia, which arose out of stress, nervous disorders, chronic overvoltage, as well as if the patient receives complaints about the alleged lack of sleep (the so-called sleep agnosia).
2. Encephalophony -   This method involves processing the signals of the electrical activity of the brain into musical sounds using a computer, after which the patient listens to the resulting “music”. Due to the fact that the specific equipment for the encephalophony procedure is absent, the use of this method is limited.
3. Herbal medicine - This is the use of various herbs with sedative and hypnotic effects. For example, in medical practice, the leaves of lemon balm and mint are widely used, the hypnotic and sedative effect of which has already been proven. With the same purpose used Valerian.

Drug treatment of insomnia

  To date, the range of sleeping pills and drugs that affect the structure of sleep is extremely wide, but this only complicates the problem of drug selection.

What characteristics should have ideal treatment for insomnia?
sleeping pills should not only cause a rapid onset of sleep, but also support it throughout the night;
residual drowsiness (after-effects of sleeping pills) in the morning should be reduced to a minimum and should not affect the social qualities of a person and his professional activities;
sleeping pills should not have serious side effects   and should not be addictive.

Important requirements for the use of hypnotics:
first of all, it is necessary to use preparations made on the basis of plant components ( Dormiplant, Persen) or melatonin ( Melaxen). As a rule, these drugs are dispensed from pharmacies without a prescription;
the duration of use of hypnotic drugs, regardless of the group should be no more than 15-20   days;
only a doctor can prescribe sleeping pills   who is knowledgeable about the state of health of the patient. Self-prescribing of sleeping pills is fraught with death!