Sleeping pills do not help cure insomnia in the long term. It is as if we were buying a dream on credit, which we will have to pay back in the future, sometimes with interest, argues Prof. Leon Lack in an article published on the Flinders University website in Adelaide.
Most people taking sleeping pills still experience trouble sleeping. Pills help for a short time, but almost always the consequence of taking them is addiction – emphasizes the expert.
It is important for insomniacs to understand that sleep is not just one long, homogeneous unconscious state; It has different phases, from deep sleep, which lasts 80 to 90 minutes, to light sleep, which is repeated three or four times, she adds.
According to the researcher, the best way to prevent insomnia is to go to sleep only when we feel tired, to get up when we cannot fall asleep, and in the case of people waking up in the middle of the night, limiting the time spent in bed for several weeks may help. It is also important that the bedroom is a place to rest free from distracting devices such as a TV or computer.
In the light sleep phase, we can wake up, which is perfectly normal and becomes more frequent with age. However, continuous media reports about the importance of a deep eight-hour sleep generate concerns, and their appearance in the middle of the night is not conducive to falling asleep – notes Prof. Lack. People suffering from insomnia experience the frustration of not being able to help themselves and lose control, leading to a decline in quality of life and even depression. If we cannot fall asleep within 15 minutes of going to bed, we should get up. Otherwise, the bedroom may become frustrating.
Problems with falling asleep may also be caused by dysregulation of the biological clock. In this case, bright light therapy often helps. Together with his team, prof. Lack has developed the first series of portable devices to help people struggling with this type of insomnia (PAP).
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