insomnia

Synonyms

Lunatism, noctambulism, sleep disorder, insomnia, moonstalking, difficulty falling asleep, difficulty sleeping through the night, premature awakening, excessive sleep (hypersomnia), disorders of the sleep-wake rhythm, insomnia (asomnia), sleepwalking (moon addiction, somnambulism), nightmares

definition

A insomnia is defined by difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently at night or waking up very early in the morning and the associated fatigue.

Everyone spends one big part of his life to sleep with.
Sleep is very important for the body in order to regenerate and to rest.
Heart rate decreases, breathing slows down, blood pressure drops. This relieves the cardiovascular system. During dreaming, the brain can also process things that have been experienced.

For insomnia, the Performance suffer after a short time. Long-term insomnia can also increase the risk of certain diseases.
Unfortunately, sleep disorders are like Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep quite often. These become the so-called Insomnias counted.

At Difficulty falling asleep it is difficult to fall asleep even if you are tired and exhausted. You roll around in bed, change position every minute and just can't sleep.
At Difficulty sleeping through the night On the other hand, falling asleep is not a problem, but those affected wake up at night and then simply cannot sleep anymore.
A special form of sleep disorders Parasomnias fall into this category nightmares and Sleepwalking.

Treatment for insomnia depends mostly on that root cause. If another illness is the cause, this is given priority. In addition, especially with the “wrong” way of dealing with sleep, the so-called Sleep hygiene to be actively improved.

Read more episodes of lack of sleep here: Consequences of lack of sleep

Classification of the different forms of insomnia

Insomnia can be divided into several main groups:

• Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep (insomnias)
• sleep-related breathing disorders
• Disturbances with excessive sleepiness (hypersomnias) of central nervous origin
• Parasomnias
• sleep-related movement disorders
• sleep disorders
• Twitching when falling asleep

Causes of insomnia

There are many different causes that can lead to insomnia:

• Psychological causes:
  Mental illness or anxiety can often lead to insomnia. The main reasons in this area are:
  • Stress at work, at school, at university, etc.
  • To care
  • Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder
• Disorders of the day-night rhythm:
  • Shift work: Especially with several night shifts in a row, insomnia often occurs.
  • Jet lag after long air travel
• Physical causes:
  • Chronic pain such asBack pain
  • Age: Older people have been shown to need less sleep than younger people.
  • Pregnancy and menopause are also possible disruptive factors for good sleep.

Read more on the topic: Insomnia During Pregnancy

• Substances:
  • Caffeine (coffee, cola, energy drinks)
  • alcohol
  • cocaine
  • Sleep pill abuse
• Sleep environment:
  Sleep can also be disturbed by environmental conditions.
  • noise
  • too high or low temperatures
  • brightness
  • red lights (e.g. on standby lights)
  • restless bed partners

Insomnia During Pregnancy

During the pregnancy it comes to many physical changesthat can lead to insomnia.
The Hormonal changes during pregnancy is noticeable early on. This makes the body “go crazy”.
Many women are already in the first third increasingly tired and sleepy. The cause here is the hormone progesterone, which is increased during pregnancy. During the day become more naps inserted, this often means that night sleep is neglected.
In many women it happens, especially in the first 3 months Nausea and vomiting. In addition, there is an additional factor in the course of pregnancy increased need to urinate added. Both of these are not necessarily beneficial for a good night's sleep.
Also more sensitive breasts cause insomnia especially in women, who usually lie on their stomach.
Against End of pregnancy After all, he especially robs ever growing baby bump sleep - it is difficult to find a comfortable position.
Also the increasingly clear movements of the baby can lead to sleepless nights.

Menopausal insomnia

Hormone levels change not only during pregnancy, but also during Menopause the hormones fluctuate. Especially the Estrogen levels drops sharply. This hormone helps you sleep. If this level continues to drop, sleep disorders often occur.
Other messenger substances are also no longer released in their normal rhythm - the The sleep-wake rhythm gets out of hand.

The increased psychological stress during the transition also plays a major role when it comes to falling asleep and staying asleep. Many women wonder about this new phase of life.

In addition, many women suffer from menopause Hot flasheswhich of course are not only noticeable during the day, but can also be felt at night.

Insomnia in young children

Toddlers, aged 1 to 3 years, are still very sensitive when it comes to the Daily rhythm and daily routine goes.

Has something changed in this, for example by a long vacation drive or other reasons, it can lead to disturbances in the sleep rhythm and thus too Difficulty falling asleep come.
Small children are quickly emotionally stressed when there are problems in their environment.
For example, small children notice immediately when a caregiver suffers from a mental illness.

Of course, this can also be done with children Pain be the trigger for insomnia.
Many children continue to suffer Polyps in the nasal area, which too snoring or lead too little air while sleeping and thus also disturb sleep.

Insomnia as a sign of depression

When depression begins or is already there, sleep disorders almost always occur.

Changes in the messenger substances in the brain affect not only mood, but also sleep behavior. In addition, of course, the brooding typical of depression also causes insomnia.

Insomnia can therefore be the first sign of a depressive mood. A connection between daytime sleepiness, lack of drive and restlessness at night is particularly noticeable. Depressed people are often burdened with feelings of guilt, worries and fears when falling asleep or waking up prematurely.

Other physical symptoms of depression can include: difficulty concentrating, poor performance, headache, digestive problems (diarrhea, pain, nausea), pain in the heart area, rapid heartbeat.

Read more on the topic: Depression symptoms.

Therapy for insomnia

The therapy of the individual sleep disorders always belong

• a good Sleep hygiene
• a cognitive behavioral training
• a Avoidance of the triggering factors and
• in the case of secondary sleep disorders, the causal disease treated become

You can also use certain Sleeping pills the symptoms of insomnia are treated.

What can you do yourself?

There are some tips and tricks to improve the quality of sleep.
An important point is the improvement of the so-called sleep hygiene, i.e. of the conditions and environment that promote healthy sleep.

Important rules for good sleep hygiene are:

1. Ordered day-night rhythm: Go to bed at about the same time each evening and get up at about the same time in the morning.

2. Try not to sleep more than 8 hours a day. Even on weekends.

3. Midday naps should be avoided. If necessary, do not sleep more than 30 minutes.

4. The bed is only for sleeping.

5. You should not eat any (large) meals just before going to bed. Beverages containing caffeine should not be drunk at least 4 hours before bedtime. If possible, alcohol should not be drunk 2 hours beforehand.

6. Avoid smoking cigarettes in the evening.

7. Avoid exercising before bed. Otherwise, exercise, especially in the fresh air, promotes a good night's sleep.

8. Only go to bed when you are really tired.

9. Ensure a good sleeping environment: The room in which you sleep should be as quiet as possible. In addition, a comfortable temperature in the room should be ensured (maximum 18 ° C). A suitable mattress should be available. Standby lights are often very disturbing to sleep. Electronic devices should be switched off completely overnight if possible.

10. If you cannot fall asleep or if you wake up at night: get up briefly and try to relax (e.g. read a book). Avoid looking at the clock if possible, it only increases the stress factor.

Learning certain relaxation techniques can also help you sleep better at night.
In addition to progressive muscle relaxation, the following techniques can be helpful:

• Autogenic training
• yoga
• Pilates
• hypnosis
• meditation

Read more on the topic: Breathing exercises to help you fall asleep

Therapy with homeopathy

In homeopathy, not only the insomnia itself, but also the history and type of insomnia are taken into account.

The universal remedy is that Passion flower (Passiflora incarnata). It calms you down, relieves stress and helps you sleep. A start-up time of around three weeks is necessary to achieve the desired effect. The dragees or drops are best taken half an hour before going to bed.

In order to treat insomnia in a more differentiated way, one can choose from numerous active ingredients.
You can feel it, for example fatigue, however, cannot fall asleepthat helps best Chamomilla. This medicine is also for children very suitable. It also relieves fear, anger, anger, and restlessness.

Aconite works with similar complaints or Difficulty falling asleep, it's especially good for elderly suitable. It helps very well against nightmares, fear and shock.

Argentum nitricum is particularly suitable for Children, adolescents and young adultsthat under Exam anxiety Suffer. This fear can be almost crippling and keep people from sleeping.

Is one completely overtired, often suffers from Anxiety dreams and therefore finds no rest in the evening, so it is recommended Arnica to take.

Anamirta cocculus especially helps if you are from long journeys and time difference is torn out of his accustomed sleep rhythm and falling asleep and staying asleep are very difficult.

Medical therapy

Of course there are also some situations in which one medication insomnia is necessary.

Mostly enough herbal remedies already out. Helpful are e.g. valerian or Black cohosh. Valerian helps quickly and acutely, black cohosh only after a long period of use.

If herbal remedies are not enough, there are also a number of them Sleeping pillsthat can help.

Consequences of chronic insomnia

The consequences of chronic lack of sleep are very diverse and sometimes not without danger.
Especially the concentration suffers enormously from sleeping too little.
This can be detrimental to the School or professional life impact. Constant fatigue also leads to Irritability and decreased performance. The Stress level increases, stressful situations are processed worse.

If you already suffer from one mental illnessSo the insomnia also affects this mostly disadvantageous out.
If you don't get enough sleep, the entire body cannot regenerate sufficiently. Of the Hormonal balance is often disturbed to a great extent. This can make mental illness worse, or that too immune system weaknesses.
Also the risk one Cardiovascular disease get increases significantly, as our circulatory system can only insufficiently recover from the insomnia.

The also continues to walk Aging process progressed through insomnia.