Insomnia - a disorder associated with difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, is a shortage of quality and amount of sleep needed for normal daily activities.
Recovered downstream acute, subacute and chronic forms. According to the degree of severity - mild, moderate severity and expression.
Causes
Insomnia is usually a manifestation of another disease or condition that requires a mandatory search reasons to sleep at night. The most common causes of insomnia:
- stress,
- neuroses,
- mental illness,
- neurological diseases,
- diseases of internal organs,
- use of psychotropic drugs,
- alcohol,
- toxic factors
- hormonal and metabolic diseases,
- syndromes that occur during sleep (a syndrome of "sleep apnea"; movement disorders during sleep)
- pain,
- external adverse conditions (noise, humidity, etc.)
- shift work,
- change of time zones,
- disturbed sleep hygiene;
- constitutionally caused by the shortening of a night's sleep.
It should be emphasized that the most common cause of insomnia are psychological factors (anxiety, depression).
manifestations of insomnia
The problem with going to sleep is the most common; with prolonged duration may be formed "waste rituals to sleep", and "the fear of bed" and the fear of "non-occurrence of sleep."
There is a desire to sleep disappears as soon as the person is in bed, there are painful thoughts and memories, increasing physical activity in an effort to find a comfortable position. The upcoming slumber is interrupted by the slightest sound.
If a healthy person falling asleep occurs within a few minutes (3-10 minutes), the patients sometimes it is delayed until 2 hours or more.
For insomnia are frequent nocturnal awakening, after which a person can not fall asleep for a long time, and feel "surface" of sleep. Awakening due to both external (mainly noise) and internal factors (frightening dreams, fears and nightmares, pain, urge to urinate et al.).
All these factors can awaken and healthy people with good sleep. But in patients with insomnia dramatically lowered the threshold of awakening and difficult process of falling asleep after waking episode. Reducing the awakening threshold is largely due to the lack of depth of sleep.
Disorders that arise in the next period after waking up - it is a problem of early morning awakening, decreased performance, "weakness." Patients are not satisfied with a dream. This can be attributed, and daytime sleepiness. Its feature is difficulty falling asleep, even under favorable conditions for sleep.
For insomnia characterized by a reduction of sleep duration.
Diagnostics
The diagnosis is based on:
- Assessment of individual human chronobiological stereotype (owl or bird, or a short-dolgospyaschy) which, possibly genetically caused;
- taking into account cultural features (such as siesta - an afternoon nap in the hot countries) and professional (and night shift work, jet lag);
- the results of psychological research;
- the results of polysomnography (this method involves simultaneous recording of multiple parameters, such as electroencephalography, rheotachygraphy, Electrooculography that is the minimum necessary set to assess sleep patterns)
treatment of insomnia
insomnia treatment involves two approaches:
- addressing the factors that caused it,
- measures for the normalization of sleep itself.
The first way to get rid of insomnia is undoubtedly the most adequate, but quite difficult and is not always feasible.
The second approach involves the medicinal and non-drug therapies.
medicinal methods
Non-drug methods used in the treatment of insomnia varied: sleep hygiene, therapy, phototherapy, Acupuncture, biofeedback, physical therapy (hydrotherapy, aeroionotherapy, electrotherapy, climatic, Devices that regulate breathing rhythm, creating a pleasant noise ( "of the sea"), the thermal effect on the nose), homeopathy.
Thus it is clear that non-drug methods for insomnia constitute activities aimed at mainly on the harmonization of identity and bringing in a relatively quiet state of the nervous system person. The effectiveness of such techniques is especially individual and depends primarily on the emotional state of the patient.
Sleep hygiene is:
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time.
- Eliminate naps, especially in the afternoon.
- Do not eat at night tea and coffee.
- Reduce stress, mental workload, especially in the evening.
- Organize physical activity in the evening, but not later than 3 hours before bedtime.
- Regularly use water treatment before going to bed - a cool shower or a warm shower (comfort temperature). The use of contrast water procedures, excessively hot or cold baths is not recommended.
Psychotherapy (rational psychotherapy, autogenic training, hypnosuggestive methods, individual and group psychotherapy) - a common method of treatment.
Phototherapy - treatment with bright white light (intensity from 2,000 to 10,000 lux) based on the current understanding of the impact of bright light on the brain of the system and allows the system through the eye, pineal gland and the hypothalamus control the circadian rhythms, including cycle "Sleep-wake".
Entsefalofoniya® ( "Music Mozga®") - listening to music by the patient (in various media) obtained by converting it into an electroencephalogram music with the help of special computer processing methods on the basis of a number of special algorithms, which contributes to a change in the functional state person. Entsefalofoniya includes elements of music therapy and biofeedback, but has some differences from these methods regulation of functional states.
medicinal methods
For the treatment of insomnia, the best would be to combine these two methods.
Preparations of different groups of unidirectionally affect sleep patterns. Non-specificity of their effects on sleep patterns is to increase sleep time, reducing the duration of sleep. The problem of choice of sleeping pills is the least number of side effects and complications of this drug.
To begin treatment of insomnia preferable from plant preparations or melatonin. These drugs pose the least problems for patients and can easily be lifted in the future.
Duration destination hypnotics for insomnia shall not exceed 3 weeks (optimum - 10-14 days). This is the time in which you can find out the causes of insomnia. During this period, as a rule, are not formed addiction and dependency, as well as there is no discontinuation of the drug problem. Respect this principle is quite difficult, since a significant proportion of patients prefer to use drugs than to endure sleep disturbance.
This article is based on information of breast cancer - Independent publications practitioners
