In order for a person to live and work normally, he needs, if possible, to sleep at least 8 hours a day. Children and teenagers need to sleep more.
Each person’s need for sleep is individual.
Lack of sleep, intermittent or shallow sleep can cause not only fatigue, but also nervous diseases.
In the physiological laboratory of Pavlov, MK Petrova conducted the following experiments: interfering with the normal sleep of dogs, she caused them neuroses, which she then successfully treated with sleep. In the practice of clinics and hospitals, many different nervous diseases can be listed, which are caused by improper sleep patterns.
In order for a person to be healthy, he needs to know the causes of sleep disorders and observe hygiene.
What upsets sleep?
First of all, a person’s lack of rhythm in his work and rest. This means that a person does not go to bed at a fixed time, and this disrupts the sleep reflex. A similar phenomenon is very common among students. Instead of planning their classes evenly, they often put aside a lot for later. And then there comes a stressful time – exams, and then students have to systematically lack sleep. In the end, the person gets so tired that sleep disorder occurs and even insomnia appears.
Noise, loud noises, intense mental work before bedtime, excitement, and the habit of falling asleep with a book disturb normal sleep. There may be other reasons that disturb sleep: too soft warm bed, predisposing to excessive sweating, itchy skin, as a result of untidiness of a person.
An improper sleeping position, when a person lies on a very high or very low pillow or face down, makes it difficult to breathe normally, and therefore interferes with sleep.
How often people forget how important and necessary the body is fresh air. In a smoky stuffy room, a person does not sleep well and has nightmares.
People forget about the necessary short walks in the evening to promote good healthy sleep.
Some people have a hearty dinner before going to bed, drink strong tea, coffee, smoke a cigarette, a cigarette. These bad and bad habits disrupt sleep.
Once a patient came to us with complaints of insomnia. Despite the fact that he always went to bed on time and his living conditions seemed to be conducive to sound sleep, he still slept very poorly.
After our conversation, it turned out that this person leads a sedentary lifestyle and moves very little. In the future, our patient was helped not by medications, but by physical exercises in the morning, a physical break during work and long walks in the fresh air.
How to ensure a normal sleep?
Sleep disorders can occur in different ways. For example, a person may not fall asleep throughout the night. And sometimes a person immediately falls asleep, but after waking up after a while, he can no longer fall asleep.
To avoid such phenomena, you must train yourself to fall asleep at a strictly defined time. Caring for the cleanliness of the body, bed and air is the key to normal healthy sleep. It is useful to sleep in the fresh air, with an open window or with an open window. A sufficient supply of oxygen brings a lot of strength to a person, and after sleep he feels vigorous.
A very important condition for deep sleep is the elimination of everything that causes unpleasant emotions, anxiety and, in general, nervous disorders. Even exciting experiences like watching a movie on TV before going to bed, etc., can cause sleep disturbances, especially in children.
As we have already said, you should never drink stimulating drinks at night, especially alcoholic ones, smoke, etc.
Compliance with all these rules is necessary, since normal sleep is a conditioned reflex process and certain conditions are needed for its occurrence.
IP Pavlov believes that sleep is not only a “rescuer”, but also a “healer”.
For sleep disorders, the usual hygienic sleep regimen can be supplemented with very simple methods of treatment available to everyone, of course, on the advice of a doctor: warm foot baths for 10–45 minutes, mustard plasters on the neck and back of the head for 2–3 minutes. Just remember that older people with cardiovascular disease should not take very hot baths.
In case of nervous disorders and insomnia, warm baths before bedtime with the addition of pine needles, sea salt, etc. help well. According to the doctor’s prescription, in some cases, hypnotics in small doses can be used.
A person should take care of his night sleep immediately after waking up. This should be expressed in morning exercises, in a refreshing shower or wet rubdown, in sufficient exposure to fresh air and in the alternation of mental and physical labor.
Observing a certain daily routine, you must remember that it is more useful to get up earlier and go to bed earlier. Rhythmic sleep in complete silence, in the absence of light and other stimuli, preserves a person not only health, good working capacity, but also promotes longevity.