Insomnia caused by depression, hypertension, or heart problems has its own nuances. How to deal with it in each case?
Bad mood syndrome
Almost always with depression there are problems with sleep. Most often it is insomnia, but somewhat peculiar. Usually we associate insomnia with difficulty falling asleep. A person wants to sleep – and cannot fall asleep. With depression, there may not be any problems with falling asleep. As a rule, a person goes to bed and almost immediately goes into sleep.
Difficulties begin later. Sleep becomes superficial, sensitive and restless. During the night, a person wakes up several times and falls asleep again. In the end, waking up around 3-4 in the morning, he can no longer fall asleep. He feels that he hasn’t slept and wants to sleep, but he can’t do anything about it.
To normalize the situation, you must first pay attention to the treatment of the underlying disease – depression. For this, doctors prescribe antidepressant drugs. Their main task is to improve mood and get rid of all negative manifestations, including sleep disturbances. Antidepressants should be taken long enough, the effectiveness of treatment depends on this.
There are seasonal disorders confined to the dark season. These are the so-called autumn depressions. Their appearance is associated with a lack of sunlight and short daylight hours. It is known that in the dark, the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone, increases. This is due to the fact that light stops getting on the retina. And a person under the influence of the “sleep hormone” becomes lethargic and inactive, it puts him to sleep. That is why it is very difficult to get up in the morning in the fall and winter and it takes a long time to “swing”.
With insomnia, the production of melatonin decreases at night and you do not want to sleep. In the morning, fatigue takes its toll: a person gets up broken, not rested and wants to sleep all day. To get rid of this, use phototherapy, or treatment with bright white light.
This is a fairly simple method that can be used independently at home. You must purchase a special device – a lamp for phototherapy. And every day in the morning, while it’s still dark, you need to sit in front of her at a distance of 30–35 cm and spend a certain amount of time. You can read a book, knit, embroider, or do something else.
In addition to insomnia in depression, another problem with sleep often arises – an increased need for sleep. Apathy and unwillingness to do anything lead to the fact that a person begins to spend a long time in bed.
Accordingly, when you are with your eyes closed for a long time, the amount of sleep per day increases. And I want to sleep more and more. Paradoxical as it may seem, the dream does not become good.
All the same antidepressants help improve its quality. It is necessary to cure the underlying disease, and sleep will improve. But there is a little trick. The fact is that all antidepressants can be divided into two groups. Some with a stimulating effect that give strength, others, on the contrary, with a depressing effect. They do not deprive the body of energy, but simply normalize sleep.
They should be taken in the evening. And for those people who have reduced daily activity, drugs with a stimulating effect are recommended. They need to be taken in the morning.
Pressure is normal
With hypertension, blood pressure can increase both day and night. The highest rates can be observed in the morning. And in a good way you need to control the pressure three times a day: in the morning, at lunch and before bedtime.
Nighttime blood pressure with hypertension can vary greatly. If in a healthy person at night it becomes slightly lower than during the day, then in hypertension different options are possible. Pressure may decrease, not change at all. And the third option – it can increase sharply.
This is a tense situation for the body, as normal blood supply to the brain is disrupted, which can lead to a malfunction in the activity of the whole organism and sleep in particular.
Half of all hypertensive patients with sleep problems suffer from insomnia. Hypertension causes sleep disturbances. But poor sleep, even in a healthy person, can lead to increased pressure.
Therefore, no matter how trite it sounds, but you need to sleep well.
What is needed for this? First of all, you must follow the rules of sleep hygiene. In the evening, do not overeat, exclude exciting drinks from the diet: alcohol, tea, coffee. If possible, it would be nice to go for a walk, breathe fresh air.
You need to sleep on a comfortable bed in a well-ventilated room. And most importantly – try to eliminate stressful situations in the evening. Do not engage in professional activities at home, do not solve any important issues. I do not even advise watching the news to those whom they make an adverse impression. Only calm music, pleasant reading and positive emotions.
As for hypertensive patients, I would not advise them to sleep during the day. It is better to endure and do not go to bed during the day.
It would be nice to do physical therapy. This should be done in the evening, three hours before bedtime. But first, consult your doctor: each form of hypertension has its own load.