About Sleep
Sleep we do every day, usually during sleep the body becomes unconscious and we are not aware of her surroundings. Sleep itself consists of five phases, namely: drowsiness, light sleep, deep sleep stage 2 and the last stage of REM (rapid eye movement). In the REM stage is breathing, heartbeat and eye movement become more toned and the muscles become temporarily paralyzed limbs, at this stage is usually a dream happen.
Each person may be different sleep needs, and often people with different ages requires long sleep differently. Babies need time to sleep about 17 hours, while older children need time to sleep as much as 10 hours. For most adults need 7-8 hours of sleep.
People tend to sleep less at getting older. Parents usually need more time to sleep, with the number and length of the growing phase of drowsiness to deep sleep then time becomes less.
Insomnia
Insomnia is the inability to get to sleep or staying asleep within a reasonable time. This situation can make the condition of the body becomes tired, as sleep is very important for our health the same as the pattern of food or sport. Whatever the causes of restless sleep or insomnia, it can affect us both physically or mentally. People who suffer from disturbed sleep or insomnia reported a lower quality of life compared with people who sleep well.
Complications of restless sleep or insomnia can be :
- The reduced performance at work or school either.
- Psychological problems can arise, such as depression or anxiety.
- Overweight or obese.
- The decline in immune system function.
- Increase the risk of long-term illness, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
Causes
Usually there is no one specific cause that can cause restless sleep or insomnia, but there are several factors that can contribute, such as :
- Psychological health problems, such as stress or anxiety
- Physical health problems such as asthma or pain
- The influence of certain drugs such as medication asthma, vertigo or depression
- Jet lag
- Environmental factors, such as noise, an uncomfortable bed, the conditions are too hot or cold
- Problems or lifestyle habits, like staying up at night, alcoholic beverages atapun use of stimulants such as nicotine
There are two types of restless sleep or insomnia, namely :
- Primary insomnia Primary insomnia has a clear causative factor. insomnia or disturbed sleep can affect about 3 in 10 people who suffer from insomnia. Sleep patterns, sleep habits and environment before bed is often the cause of this type of primary insomnia.
- Secondary insomnia Secondary insomnia usually occurs due to the effect of something else, like a medical condition. Psychological problems such as feelings of sadness, depression and dementia can cause secondary insomnia is on 5 of 10 people. In addition to physical problems such as arthritis, diabetes and pain also can cause secondary insomnia and generally affects 1 in 10 people suffering from insomnia or trouble sleeping. Secondary insomnia can also be caused by side effects of drugs taken for a particular disease, use of illicit drugs or abuse alcohol. These factors may affect 1-2 out of 10 people who suffer from insomnia.
Insomnia can also be distinguished as transient insomnia, short-term and long term. Transient insomnia usually occurs only a few nights, while the short-term insomnia lasts> than 2-3 nights, but the occurrence of less than 3 weeks. For its own long-term insomnia can last almost every night and there was> = 3 weeks.
Overcoming Insomnia
To overcome the problem of disturbed sleep or insomnia is usually done in 2 ways, namely through the psychological and medical aid. The first handling usually will first be assisted by way of psychology, if later deemed necessary will be given additional new drugs. Here's a description of both methods :
1. Psychological Therapy
Consultant psychologist can usually teach easy relaxation techniques which can help overcome insomnia. They also usually provide consulting services to talk (psychotherapy) can help people to deal with events such as loss of someone close or domestic problems that can lead to disturbed sleep or insomnia.
In addition to the above, there are also therapy on sleep, which includes cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) which can overcome the anxiety problems that disrupt sleep and also helps build a positive outlook on the bed.
Cognitive behavior therapy include :
- Knowledge about good sleep habits. During sleep hygiene habits can be helped to improve the quality of sleep.
- Relaxation techniques, such as muscle relaxation exercises and breathing exercises can be used to overcome anxiety at bedtime. This technique allows us to control breathing, heart rate, muscle tension and mood.
- Cognitive therapy, is included by replacing anxiety about not sleeping with other positive things.
- Stimulus control, including in it to restrict the activities carried out in the bedroom just to break it.
- Sleep restriction therapy limits the time you are in bed, so that the bed was reduced and become more tired the next night. Once the quality of sleep is increased, then the sleep time will increase again gradually.
- Kind of hypnotic drugs such as diazepam and lorazepam may be prescribed by a doctor in the short term to address the problem of insomnia or disturbed sleep heavy. But these drugs have side effects drowsiness the next day and cause symptoms of addiction.
- Anti-allergy drugs that are sedative such as diphenhydramine and promethazin also be used to treat insomnia or trouble sleeping. But these drugs can be present in the body for a long time and cause a hangover effect in the morning.
- In addition to prescription drugs above, there are several studies showing that the herb valerian is also effective to treat insomnia or trouble sleeping. Additionally Passiflora and wild lettuce extract and Lavender and chamomile are also traditionally used to treat insomnia or trouble sleeping, although there has been no research to prove it. Should first consult with your doctor or pharmacist if you want to use these herbal ingredients to treat insomnia or trouble sleeping.