How to cope with insomnia

Insomnia and other sleep disorders are a global problem. The whole spectrum of problems associated with sleep disturbance is called the general word insomnia.

What is insomnia ^

To insomnia include:

• complicated falling asleep,
• too early awakening,
• of arousal in the middle of the night with the inability of subsequent falling asleep,
• complete absence of sleep.

It is generally known that a person is vitally important for a healthy full-fledged sleep, since no living being can live without rest. Sleep is necessary on an equal basis with air. After a sleepless night, a person can not work fully, quickly becomes tired, can not concentrate on anything, he has neither the strength, nor the desire, nor the mood to do anything.

In ancient China, a sophisticated torture was used - depriving a person of sleep in order to knock out recognition. A person who has not been allowed to sleep for a long time with various tricks - noise, beating while trying to sleep, using various medications, began to experience severe headaches, coming to a faint-hearted state, in which he was ready to confess to any crime.

Sleep disorders in our time are beginning to take the scale of the epidemic, because, according to scientists, every fifth person on the planet suffers from insomnia, and these figures are steadily growing. This is evidenced by the widespread use and use of hypnotics.

Episodic manifestations of insomnia do not cause significant harm to the body, but if it repeats frequently and becomes chronic, it can significantly spoil the quality of life and undermine health.

Causes of insomnia ^

The causes of sleep disorders, experts call a great variety. But there are two main causes of insomnia, which are chronic and require mandatory treatment:

• Mental disorders, most commonly depression;
• Chronic mental overload.

It is necessary to try to understand carefully the causes of insomnia, to analyze whether it is primary or secondary.

Insomnia, especially with premature early awakening, is one of the most typical symptoms of depression and other psychoemotional diseases. Patients with depression usually wake up at dawn with a sharp sense of anxiety, fear and despair and can no longer fall asleep.

Very often insomnia occurs in patients with chronic pain. In these cases, insomnia is secondary, because it arose against the background of already existing diseases, and therefore therapy should be directed primarily to the treatment of a primary disease.

Chronic mental overloads, in general, are inherent in thinkers, scientists and creative people, forced in connection with the specifics of their work every day to come up with something new and original. During life under such a press, mental fatigue, weakness and constant fatigue inevitably occur even with minimal loads.

In addition to these two main causes of insomnia requiring immediate treatment, there are many small reasons that deprive people of the necessary night rest:

• For example, a frequent reason for not being able to sleep is too late or a plentiful supper, because fatty protein food is in the stomach for up to 6 hours anddisturbs the normal rest of the body. That's why doctors are not advised to eat later than 3-4 hours before bedtime.

• But go to bed with a strong sense of hunger is also not recommended, because the thought of eating will not give a normal sleep;so do not torture yourself with hunger, strictly observing the postulate "do not eat after six", but calmly drink a glass of kefir or eat some fruit.

• Insomnia can also cause discomfort in bed or a change of scenery, for sure many are aware of problems with falling asleep at a new place.

• An inconvenient pillow( too high or, on the contrary, flat, hard or too soft), a squashed mattress, stuffiness and dry air in the bedroom, noise or bright light, and disturbing and frustrating thoughts - all this prevents a complete rest for the brain and body.

What to do for insomnia ^

specialists The specialists of the Johns Hopkins University Sleep Disorders Center in Baltimore, USA, have developed a set of recommendations, how to sleep with insomnia and normalize the process of falling asleep.

• They advise not to try to fight insomnia if you woke up at night and can not fall asleep again for 15 minutes, as it is useless. It is better to stay in bed and listen to the radio, until there is drowsiness.

• In the mornings one should try to wake up at the appointed time, not trying to look for an "interesting" dream. This also applies to weekends, otherwise the difficulties with falling asleep will appear again at the beginning of the work week.

• To go to bed, advise only when you feel sleepy. If you can not fall asleep for 15-20 minutes, get up and do something nice-monotone such as knitting, reading a magazine or watching a quiet TV program.

• You do not need to play computer games, from which you can be excited or read a book that can be captivated for a long time. When you feel drowsy, go back to bed, and so repeat the procedure until you fall asleep. But it is important to remember the main thing - in the morning always get up at the same time, no matter how much you fall asleep.

• No need to smoke before bedtime, and also use foods such as coffee, cola and chocolate containing caffeine, which is a powerful stimulant.

• Do not take alcohol at night, hoping that it will help you relax and get a good night's sleep. This is an erroneous opinion, because the effect of alcohol will end in a few hours and you will wake up in the middle of the night, not having enough sleep.

• At night you need to drink a glass of ordinary water with salt - it protects the body from dehydration and has a good healing effect for various diseases. Be sure to read on our website an article on the benefits of water and salt for a person.

• The use of sleeping pills is acceptable only for a short time, if a person is not chronically awake and literally falls off his legs from fatigue. The medicine, of course, will help to fall asleep and will bring relief, but not for long, because the problems of insomnia are not treated with sleeping pills.

• And, sleeping pills need to be selected competently, depending on what kind of disorders you suffer. They are divided into short-acting drugs that are indicated for problems with falling asleep, and long-acting - to maintain sleep in the middle of the night.

• Before you go to bed, try to disconnect from day-to-day worries and problems, try to think about something quiet and pleasant.

• If you live in a noisy place, then use ear plugs, if you are disturbed by the light outside the window, put on eyecups.

• Do not forget to ventilate the bedroom before going to bed, try at any time of the year, if the weather permits, to sleep with an open window, which will ensure the flow of fresh air for the whole night.

Folk recipes for insomnia ^

The most effective and safe folk prescriptions for insomnia, used since ancient times are medicinal herbs, invented by nature as an ideal tool for treating any diseases, because they are natural, practically devoid of side effects and do not become addictive with prolonged use, in contrast to synthetic medicines.

Folk recipes for insomnia with the help of herbs are very diverse - they prepare various broths, infusions, inhalations, teas, baths, and also sew special pads made of natural fabric stuffed with dried leaves of mint, lemon balm, lavender and valerian.

You can prepare a decoction of a mixture of medicinal herbs:

• Mix 100 g leaves of motherwort, peppermint, 50 g of valerian root and 5 pips of hop cones.
• 1 tbsp.l.mixture should be poured 250 g of boiling water and insist in a thermos for 2 hours.
• Then strain, add 50 ml of boiled water and 2 tsp.honey and take at night.

Before going to bed, it is useful to take a warm bath with the addition of mint, chamomile, lavender or lemon balm( enough to add 3 drops of available oils to the bath).If there is no such possibility, just hit your feet by adding a pharmacy valerian tincture( 1 bottle per a bucket of water) to the water.

For rapid falling asleep, you can drip a few drops of lavender or chamomile oil directly on the pillow. Then make yourself a warm tea with lemon, melissa or verbena, or just drink a glass of warmed milk with honey.

Self-massage with aromatic oils helps to fight insomnia. To do this, cook olive or corn oil and drip into it 2-3 drops of camomile and lavender oils. Massage the tips of your fingers from the bottom up the auricle, and also the neck and shoulders.

A walk before going to sleep plays a role in the fight against insomnia and other disorders of falling asleep, and this should not be a run or other physical activity that activates the body.

The easiest way is ordinary quiet walking. Regular every evening half-hour walks perfectly calm the nervous system, help to distract from sad thoughts and negative emotions and provide a sound healthy sleep.