Why is it impossible to sleep at night? You have disrupted your biological clock. Why can't I sleep at night?

home Sleep problems occur in 8 - 10% of the world's population, but this is only documented data, since many people keep silent about such symptoms, hoping that everything will be resolved by itself. In some cases, indeed, it is only a matter of time, but there are situations when insomnia completely destroys life cycle

person and needs specialist help. Let's try to figure out why people can't sleep at night and how to solve this problem!

Insomnia and its manifestations Sleep disorders worry people the most of different ages , but, naturally, certain problems are characteristic of different age categories

• . The classification of these sleep disorders directly depends on the disease. Sleep disturbances manifest themselves in the following aspects:
• A person cannot sleep for a long time at night, tosses and turns, suffers;
• Often people fall asleep quickly, but wake up and after that cannot fall asleep;
• Frequent awakenings, 5–6 times during sleep, every hour and a half;

A person often wakes up in the middle of the night for a short period of time and goes back to sleep. In fact, such pathologies are individual for each person, since all people have completely different nervous systems. First of all, sleep is psychological condition

the body, during which both the body itself and the nervous system rest and recover. Its violations indicate the presence of certain problems that can lead to serious pathologies.

Why can't I sleep at night? Sleep disturbances can be direct, that is, directly related to problems internal organs

1. or indirect - manifest as one of the symptoms of certain diseases. There is a generally accepted classification of sleep disorders, which includes:
2. Insomnia is a disrupted process of falling asleep;
3. Hypersomnia – a constant sleepy state;

Parasomnia is a periodic excited state of the body that occurs as a result of disruption of the normal functioning of internal organs. These are the three main types of sleep disorders. In 90% of cases, a person experiences one of these three types, but if left untreated, all three types can occur. The thing is that the cause of any of these pathologies is a violation a person, but with prolonged insomnia, the psyche suffers even more, which serves as a reason for the development of new types of insomnia. A person can completely lose their sleep. But not only a mental state can cause sleep disturbances, these include:

• Nervous system disorders;
• Mental disorders;
• Stress, anxiety, depression;
• Women experiencing menopause and men in midlife crisis often experience loss of sleep;
• Diseases of the cardiovascular system;
• Diabetes mellitus greatly disrupts sleep. Arises oxygen starvation brain and hallucinations appear as a result of which awakening occurs;
• Asthmatic diseases;
• Epilepsy;
• Apnea (snoring);
• Kidney pathologies. Very often, loss of sleep is associated with regular urination;
• Hyperthyroidism;
• Parkinson's disease;
• Vascular atherosclerosis;
• Pathologies of the musculoskeletal system;
• Overactive thyroid gland.

By and large, any disease that creates great discomfort and painful sensations, can disrupt sleep patterns, and this can only be overcome by curing the disease itself. In some cases, insomnia is explained by severe fatigue and overstrain, when the body is in a critical state of stress.

Any disease that disrupts sleep patterns automatically spoils the mental state, and accordingly, soon insomnia becomes mental state person and it is necessary to influence it in this direction.

Diagnostics

The answer to the question - why people cannot fall asleep, and what is the reason for this, can only be provided by an experienced specialist. When making such a complaint, the doctor will ask you to describe your condition to him. It is necessary to justify all complaints as clearly as possible, tell in detail how exactly insomnia manifests itself, whether something besides sleep is bothering you, perhaps something hurts.

After all this, the doctor prescribes a full diagnosis, which may include:

• General and biochemical analysis blood;
• Ultrasound of the heart, cardiogram;
• Ultrasound of cerebral vessels;
• CT and MRI of vessels;
• Consultation with an endocrinologist, psychologist and neurologist.

Only after all the research can it be established why a person cannot sleep at night.

What to do if you can't sleep

Naturally, in each specific case, treatment is selected individually. If sleep problems were caused by other diseases, then they are treated first, and only then the disturbed sleep is restored. As a rule, such therapy is complex and includes:

• Drug treatment;
• Related folk remedies.

Drug therapy is used in rare cases, only when a person is unable to cope with the illness on his own, cannot relax and fall asleep. For serious mental disorders, doctors prescribe psychotropic drugs, such as:

• Gombutrol;
• Phenobarbital;
• Lyrics;
• Sibutramine;
• Sibazon.

These are very strong, potent drugs that are not sold without a prescription. If you do not follow the dosage, the condition will only worsen, so it is extremely important to follow all the doctor’s indications and recommendations. If it says that you need to take one and a quarter tablets, it means that you need to divide the tablet into 4 parts.

Also use common sedatives both powerful and simpler ones:

• Tenoten;
• Novopasit;
• Persen;
• Valar;
• Motherwort tincture or edelweiss;
• Valerian.

Sedatives help restore nervous system, the body reacts more calmly to all internal and external stimuli, and sleep sensitivity is significantly reduced. Well, in the first days of therapy, doctors use sleeping pills:

• Donormil;
• Lubrium;
• Barboval;
• Cetrin;
• Xylazine;
• Hawthorn tincture.

All drugs have different strengths and are prescribed depending on the severity of the disease, but in any case, you should first consult with your doctor.

Folk remedies

The best means of preventing and treating insomnia is early stages are ancient, time-tested folk remedies that help normalize the nervous system, relieve irritation and promote sleep. For this you can use:

1. Soothing tea. Can be brewed herbal tea, which includes chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, motherwort, hawthorn, fireweed, heather, adonis, oregano, sweet clover. It is best to combine no more than three components in one tea;
2. Warm bath. Any heat therapy relaxes, after which it immediately puts you to sleep. The water should not be hot, but pleasantly warm and the temperature must be constantly maintained. You can add flavored foam, special bath infusions or essential oils to the water.
3. Aromatherapy. Through receptors, many diseases can be treated, including sleep problems. An aroma lamp helps a lot. Just a few drops essential oil Half an hour before bedtime will help you relax and reduce sleep sensitivity. Naturally, not all oils are suitable for such a procedure; it is necessary to use exclusively neutral, soothing scents such as lavender, jasmine, mint, lemon balm, rosemary, fir, tea tree, rose, sage.
4. If you have kidney disease, it is recommended to drink a glass of warm milk with honey before going to bed. This will solve the problem of frequent trips to the toilet. It is milk with honey that children are often given to drink before bed in order to avoid such incidents.

Well, in fact, you just need to be responsible about your health, worry less, eat right and exercise. It is necessary to especially carefully monitor your condition during the transition from winter to spring, as there is a sharp vitamin deficiency, climate change and for many emotional people a period of depression begins. It is recommended to eat more vitamins, go for walks fresh air, drink more. Remember, it is easier to prevent a disease than to eliminate its consequences.

Insomnia and sleep disorders are frequent guests modern man. Poor ecology, nutritional problems and anxiety - there are many reasons for insomnia, really many. You went to bed early, but you realize that you’ve been rolling around on the bed for several hours. You take your phone to check the time and realize that it’s three in the morning and you have to get up in a few hours. Perhaps, closer to the alarm, you will still sleep for an hour and a half, but you will wake up phenomenally exhausted.

Do you do this often? Well, congratulations dude, you have a sleep disorder. Statistics show that about 45% of Russians periodically suffer from insomnia - that’s almost half the country!

If you're reading this article at two in the morning because you couldn't sleep and decided to keep yourself busy, you've got a problem, man!

Insomnia is more than just an inability to sleep. Symptoms include difficulty falling asleep, frequent awakenings and periods without sleep (also called “windows”) at night, waking up early in the morning without being able to fall back to sleep, daytime sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, and irritability. Insomnia can be acute (lasting from one to several days) or chronic (lasting from a month to several years). It is also the most common sleep complaint worldwide (especially among women). But this does not mean that men do not suffer from it.

Sleep problems are often symptoms of another disease or condition, such as depression, chronic pain, medication, or stress. Most often, insomnia is associated with a combination of a number of factors, including medical and psychological problems.

There are several strategies that work to restore sleep; now is the time to try them out.

1. Take care of yourself

Sleep disturbance? Frequent? It's time to start keeping an eye on this. You can write in a notebook, you can download a special application for this. You need to record the number of hours you sleep, note the days when you feel sleepy, the moments when you are completely nodding off. This will help you identify the problem and monitor your progress towards solving it.

2. Set a regular bedtime

This will help your body get used to certain limits. Choose the most suitable time so that you can get everything done and still get a good night’s sleep.

3. Calm yourself down with something before going to bed.

Any activity before bed should be calming to avoid sleep disturbances. Oddly enough, many experts advise avoiding surfing the Internet before bed, as you risk encountering an abundance of different, often unnecessary information, spinning and trying to digest in your brain. It is also not recommended to play on the computer before going to bed. Just before bed. Thirty minutes before bed is normal. Rapidly jumping from an active to a passive state does not allow you to calm down properly. Good idea Before going to bed, read a book. I either read a book or draw, it helps.

4. Do not drink invigorating drinks and it is highly advisable not to eat

You should not eat at least three hours before bedtime. I understand that some people have a strange popular belief It says that the hungry will dream of gypsies. Nothing disturbs sleep more than a working stomach or energizing caffeine in the blood. One night I drank a little more than a lot of mint mate, which was so fashionable a few years ago, I didn’t sleep all night and was incredibly cheerful, it’s good that it was the weekend. By the way, mate contains four times more caffeine than coffee. It is better not to drink tea before bed, just like cola.

5. Choose the right mattress and pillow

If you think pillows are for different types dreams cost a little more than a lot, and represent some kind of perversion, you are mistaken. They are very good at helping us fall asleep. You can find and buy pillows for side, stomach, or back sleepers at Ikea and similar stores, and they won't be expensive.

The same goes for the right mattress. If springs stick out from it in different directions or it sags in different parts, this is definitely not a great mattress. The prices of mattresses vary greatly, so finding the right one won’t be difficult.

6. Don't smoke before bed

And don't smoke at all. Nicotine is also a great stimulant, so a cigarette before bed can seriously disrupt your sleep. According to WHO, insomnia is much more common in smokers. This is a reason.

7. Do exercises at the beginning of the day

A great way to perk up, wake up the body and improve the quality of sleep. If you have trouble sleeping, start exercising. Sections, gym. good power training three hours before bed will give you a great sleep, and all because your body and blood will be saturated with oxygen, hormones and joy. In addition, there is the most banal reason for training - you will get tired, your body itself will push you towards the bed. Checked!

8. Limit consumption of caffeinated drinks

First, remove it before bed, and then reduce your consumption of coffee and tea to at least three times a day. This is especially true for coffee.

9. Don't nap during the day

Yes, it seems to us that this can help us wake up, compensate for the amount of lack of sleep, but this is far from the case. A nap is a lack of sleep, after which we often feel very tired. Ideally, you can take a nap no later than three hours before bedtime, but you shouldn’t take a nap after that: your sleep will be disturbed and disturbed.

10. Take a walk

At least a little. Natural light and fresh air will help restore melatonin balance. In addition, a walk before bed will give you the opportunity to relax a little and... at the same time get tired before going to bed so that you can sleep well.

11. Include more foods high in magnesium in your diet.

These are products such as sea ​​fish, almonds, cashews, spinach and foods high in B-vitamins: leaf salads, green vegetables, nuts and legumes.

“The monotonous battle of hours, the tedious story of the night...” sometimes drive a person to despair. He talks about the difference between insomnia, insomnia and sleep deprivation, as well as how to learn to sleep happily at night. Svetlana Sergeeva, neurologist at the Cecil Plus clinic, Ph.D., associate professor at the First Moscow State Medical University named after. I. M. Sechenova.

Oddly enough, there is no medical term for “insomnia.” This name was considered incorrect, since studies by our and foreign scientists did not reveal a complete lack of sleep in people who complained of being unable to fall asleep. If you really don’t sleep enough and you don’t like it, you constantly experience fatigue, daytime sleepiness, decreased concentration and performance, then you have insomnia.

Insomnia is defined as a deficiency in the quality and quantity of sleep needed for normal daytime activities. Moreover, it is necessary to fulfill both conditions, because in order to get enough sleep, a healthy adult, depending on his personal and psychophysiological characteristics and current state it takes from 4 to 9 hours.

What is deprivation?

If a person deliberately deprives himself of sleep or someone deliberately prevents him from falling asleep, then this situation has the scientific name “sleep deprivation.” Individuals practice various techniques depriving yourself of sleep to achieve an altered state of consciousness. Perhaps this is safer than drugs that also alter consciousness, but a significant deterioration in the well-being of sleep experimenters is guaranteed. After such experiences one cannot control oneself vehicles and perform work that requires constant attention, as the brain seeks to make up for lack of sleep by uncontrollably switching off for a few seconds. This phenomenon is called “microsleep”.

Anxiety on a schedule

Anxiety is often associated with increased fatigue, and increased fatigue is provoked by insomnia - the result is a vicious circle. If exhaustion is primary due to, say, excessive stress at work, plus there is heightened feeling responsibility, the desire for high results, then such a person must adhere to a strict regime. Everything should be planned according to the clock: war is war, and lunch and sleep are on schedule. The working day is over - away are all thoughts about work.

But, oddly enough, the habit of overwork is difficult to give up, especially when deadlines are pressing and bosses tease you with a promotion. There’s no time for sleep, and the next morning you’re exhausted, it’s more and more difficult to concentrate, slowness appears... and now you’re already annoyed with your colleagues. When leaving home, check several times to make sure the door is closed and the iron is turned off. Causeless anxiety, tightness in chest, the feeling that your heart is about to jump out of your chest is visiting you more and more often, headache at times it wraps around your head like a hoop... What successes are there? All of the above is called “manager syndrome” in the West, but in our country it is simply called “neurasthenia.” If your portrait is higher, then you need two specialists: a neurologist and a psychologist.

Shift work and frequent changes in time zones can also cause insomnia. Moreover, some easily rearrange their biological rhythms, while for others they are stable, preventing them from quickly adapting - for such people, working at night and constant business trips are extremely undesirable.

I can't sleep!

But still, there are many more who suffer from insomnia not of their own free will, saying: “Oh, if only sleep would overtake me sooner!” These, according to various sources, range from 28 to 45%. Medicine has divided insomnia into three categories: presomnic, intrasomnic and postsomnic disorders.

Presomnia disorders are difficulties in initiating sleep. The most common complaint with such “insomnia” is problems falling asleep. As soon as such a person finds himself in bed, painful thoughts and memories arise. He mentally replays the events of the day or looks for a way out of some situation, constantly tosses and turns in bed in an effort to find a comfortable position. The coming long-awaited doze is interrupted by the slightest rustle. Often the brain paradoxically ignores falling asleep: the time spent in bed is presented as continuous wakefulness, although in fact sleep has occurred.

With the long-term presence of presomnia disorders, the phobias “fear of bed” and the fear of “failure to sleep” - insophobia - develop, and pathological “bedtime rituals” are formed.

Intrasomnia disorders are frequent awakenings at night, after which it is difficult to fall asleep for a long time, a feeling of “superficial”, “shallow” sleep. Both types of disorders are characteristic of increased levels of anxiety. Accordingly, you can cope with them by overcoming anxiety. But don’t rush to the pharmacy to buy valerian; first visit a neurologist or somnologist. A somnologist is a special doctor who treats sleep disorders. These specialists will figure out what's wrong, and you may not need to take any medications.

Post-somnia disorders are a problem of early morning awakening. It’s only 4 in the morning, I’m not going to work soon, but I’m all asleep, I have no energy, and I don’t want anything except maybe a piece of cake... And so it goes every day! Such disorders are typical for people living in a state of depression, which, as a rule, is a consequence of a long-term anxiety disorder. It should be noted that depression in modern world does not necessarily manifest itself in total depression. Often it is hidden under the guise of chronic pain, digestive problems and other disorders of the autonomic nervous system. In any case, if you have post-somnia disorders, you should consult a neurologist. At this stage, the specialist will most likely prescribe an antidepressant, and within one to four months after starting to take it, the problem will be solved in the vast majority of cases.

Magic pill

“What about the miracle sleeping pills?” - you say. Modern approach involves treating the cause of insomnia, which should not be considered as a separate disease. Sleeping pills are prescribed only if emergency for a maximum of three weeks. During this period, as a rule, dependence and addiction do not form, and the doctor selects therapy for the underlying disease. Herbs and tinctures have a certain hypnotic effect, mainly due to their relaxing effect and reduction of anxiety.

There are a number of non-drug methods for treating insomnia: phototherapy - exposure to bright white light 2500 Lux, calming exercises - stretching, self-massage, breathing exercises, individually selected therapeutic music and “natural noises”. You can practice imagination exercises: it is useful to imagine the face of a sleeping person, imagine what it should be like own face when falling asleep.

Interesting!

The Guinness Book of Records includes a 17-year-old California high school student, Randy Gardner, who stayed awake for 264.3 hours (eleven days) in 1965. It can be assumed that Randy felt very bad at the end of such a difficult experiment on himself: it is known that one of the most cruel tortures is sleep deprivation.

Sleep hygiene

The most important condition for treating insomnia is maintaining sleep hygiene. To sleep correctly, you need to: go to bed and get up at the same time, eliminate daytime naps (especially in the afternoon), avoid drinking tea and coffee at night, and also follow a number of simple and logical recommendations:

Organize physical exercise in evening time, but no later than 3 hours before bedtime.

Water procedures before bed are highly recommended: take a cool shower, because a slight cooling of the body is one of the elements of the physiology of falling asleep.

It is recommended to sleep on a wide, firm bed, have a comfortable mattress with a flat surface, darker tones of linen, and comfortable nightwear. Use your bed only for sleeping: this is necessary to create and reinforce the association between bed and sleep.

Don't go to bed until you feel drowsy. If sleep does not occur within 20 minutes, it is recommended to get up and do a quiet activity until drowsiness sets in. If your attempt to fall asleep this time is unsuccessful, repeat the procedure.

It is advisable to get up at the same time, including weekends, despite the desire to “sleep off”.

It is important to ventilate the bedroom; if the air is dry, use a humidifier.

It is advisable to keep your head cool and your feet warm during sleep.

It is important to reduce the stress load in the evening: avoid watching TV news programs and aggressive films.

In general, full-fledged, personally satisfying activity, a harmonious combination of mental and physical activity, intensive work and periods of rest are the key to a good night's sleep.

Everyone is familiar with the situation when you go to bed, but instead of what you wanted healthy sleep and rest, various extraneous thoughts creep into your head, the events of the past day are replayed over and over again. Finally, in the morning you forget for a while, and a couple of hours later the alarm clock rings. My head is heavy, I have no strength and my whole day is wasted.

Usually the reason for such night vigils is simple:

• Unpleasant events that happened last day.
• An important meeting, anticipation of tomorrow's events.
• Internal emotional experiences.
• Fears related to loved ones, work, the future, uncertainty about the future.

Long, several-day “marathons” are caused by:

• Stress.
• Neurosis.
• Depression.
• Overfatigue causing disruption of the circadian rhythm.

WITH There are physical reasons that affect the body and disrupt restful rest:

• taking medications that overstimulate the nervous system,
• abuse of tonic drinks,
• too much, fatty food before bed,
• hard bed, protruding springs, dips.

Medicine calls such disorders insomnia (insomnia). The disorder includes a complete lack of sleep or sleep disorders, when a person cannot immerse himself in rest for a long time, sleeps superficially, and often wakes up.

If the situation repeats frequently, it develops chronic fatigue, inattention. Irritability appears, it becomes difficult to perform duties, work disturbances appear internal systems and organs. Frequent consequences of constant insomnia:

1. obesity,
2. hypertension,
3. diabetes.

To get at least a couple of hours of rest, people suffering from sleep disorders resort to pills. You need to understand that not all medications are allowed to be taken long-term; you should not prescribe serious medications yourself. There are a number of drugs that, if used continuously and uncontrolled, can completely upset internal rhythms and even cause addiction.

What drugs should not be treated

Tranquilizers and barbiturates help to quickly relieve anxiety and distance yourself from difficult thoughts. Most of these drugs are used to treat severe mental disorders. But there are easier options available in pharmacies without a prescription - Afobazol, Adaptol, Diphenhydramine, Corvalol. A doctor may prescribe diazemap or Rellanium to relieve stress.

It should be remembered that the consequences of constant admission psychotropic substances are unpleasant.

• The person becomes distracted, inattentive, and inhibited in work.
• He loses vitality much faster, his energy ceases to be enough for the waking day. After just a few hours, lethargy and fatigue appear.
• More often there is a headache, burning sensations and pain in the eyes develop.
• There is trembling of the hands, weakness in the legs, and in severe cases even convulsions.
• Memory decreases.

The dangers of tranquilizers rapid development addiction. After just a couple of months, the dose taken becomes insufficient for the effect; an increase is required. Gradually, a person goes beyond the norm, becomes completely dependent, and cannot fall asleep without a pill. Stopping the drug causes fear and even more stress. Dependence on mild drugs develops slowly; on heavy drugs, three to four weeks are enough.

Despite the onset of the long-awaited sleep “on the pill”, relaxation is not physiological. A person simply plunges into oblivion and comes to his senses after the morning clock rings. There is no real rest for the brain or body.

Simple and useful tools

It is best to start treating insomnia with simple sedatives. First of all, these are a variety of teas, herbal tablets. They include: mint, lemon balm, valerian, motherwort, peony, hops. An example is the collection: FITOSEDAN, tablets PERSEN, DORMIPLANT. Brewing a drink and a warm cup of tea with honey is calming in itself and can be a pleasant bedtime ritual. It must be taken into account that the real effect of using tea increases gradually. It will take several weeks for the rhythms to completely return to normal. You should continue to drink herbs daily.

There are a number of drugs that are non-addictive and have a positive effect on the nervous system, setting the mood for relaxation. The tablets are sold without a prescription.

MELAXEN

The medicine contains melatonin. This is a hormone produced by the pineal gland. The substance is familiar to the body and is well accepted in tablets. The main purpose of the hormone is to synchronize biorhythms and relax the nervous system. The advantage of the product is that melatonin, after providing an effect, quickly disintegrates and is eliminated from the body - addiction and overdose are excluded. On the contrary, after his participation, real useful sleep comes.

DONORMIL

Effervescent tablets containing doxylamine. Initially, the drug was considered an antiallergic drug, but the hypnotic effect turned out to be so great that now the medicine is used exclusively for the treatment of insomnia. The product helps you quickly relax and feel completely rested the next day. However, the drug is not taken for a long time, and lethargy appears during the daytime.

How to fall asleep quickly if you don't want to sleep

If it's time to rest, but there is no sleep in either eye, then you can use the following tips. First, get into a pleasant mood, for example, listen to quiet music. The farther all worries move away from you, the faster you will fall asleep.

• Take a walk before bed. Half an hour at a leisurely pace puts you in a calm mood.
• Take a bath and drink relaxing herbal tea.
• Create the most comfortable conditions in the bedroom: ventilate, take a low pillow, completely turn off the light.
• Take a “sleepy” position. It is believed that better person falls asleep on his stomach, turning his face to the left.
• Remove all thoughts from your head, do not think about the events of the day, do not make plans for tomorrow.

If all else fails, you can try a method developed for people in “emergency” professions, when there is very little time for rest. To do this, you need to lie on your back, put your hands at your sides, not move, roll your eyes up and calmly count in your mind.

What will help you sleep

There are certain things that help you sleep well at night.

1. Fresh air. The more time you spend outdoors during the day, the better you sleep. If possible, leave it overnight open window and don't turn on the heaters. A comfortable temperature is considered to be 21 degrees. IN European countries Evening walks and jogging are accepted, which help to relax and get ready for rest.
2. Proper food. Fatty foods seasoned with hot spices are definitely not for those who want to fall asleep. An abundance of sweets tones and gives energy, so it is also better not to eat them in the evening. You should not go to bed on a full or empty stomach. It is better to prefer a full dinner at 18 o'clock and before bed a cup of kefir and a couple of cookies.
3. Water. Our condition is perfectly controlled by water different temperatures. A cool shower helps you invigorate and wake up, but evening treatments at a water temperature of 37 degrees and above are relaxing. If you additionally dissolve lavender salt in water or add a decoction of pine needles, the effect will increase. Even if you can't take a bath, you can simply steam your feet.

If you use these natural sleep regulators correctly, you will have much less problems falling asleep.

Preventing Insomnia

The most important thing in the fight against insomnia is organizing your daily routine. Sleeping and waking times should coincide with natural rhythms. Inside the body, at different times, different processes and reactions occur, which are genetically determined. They are the ones who determine our natural regime – biorhythms. Our brain contains the core of all internal clocks. It is located close to the optic nerve and is affected by daylight. It is thanks to him that adjustment occurs to the twenty-four hour day and different lengths of the day in winter and summer. When there is little light, the sleep hormone melatonin is produced. In addition, circadian rhythms are slightly different in different people(owls and larks). Therefore, in order to sleep well and soundly, always follow simple rules.

Table of rules for sound sleep

Try to make the atmosphere in your bedroom pleasant: clean air, comfortable mattress and pajamas, silence.

It is useful to create certain bedtime rituals that are repeated daily. For example, reading a book, tea with honey, light music, a bath.

We are all exposed to a lot of stress every day - this is especially true for residents of megacities, whose lifestyle is so fast that it is difficult for them to keep track of everything. Work, household chores, and everyday routine often lead to the fact that a person simply cannot rest properly.

Sometimes it even happens that, having come home from work as exhausted as a lemon, some people cannot sleep, despite being extremely tired. All this is a consequence of our lifestyle, which leads to a number of stresses and, ultimately, to insomnia. Sleep disturbances are very common nowadays, and in especially severe cases, even the intervention of doctors is required.

What can help if you can't sleep?

However, before you bring yourself to such a state, you can try to use the advice of psychologists who have helped more than one person restore normal sleep. These are the tips:

1 . Don't read or watch TV before bed. If a book or program is interesting and encourages you to think, then your brain will not be able to calm down for a long time, preventing you from falling asleep. If you suffer from chronic insomnia, then watching TV and reading before bed are generally contraindicated.

2. Go to bed not when it seems like it’s time to sleep, but when you feel like it. What's the point of going to bed at 9 pm if you'll still be tossing and turning until 12?

3. Try not to do anything particularly active in the second half of the evening. In general, try not to think about problems or plan activities for tomorrow before going to bed. Try to do all this an hour and a half before going to bed.

4. Some doctors, especially Eastern ones, recommend performing breathing exercises to help you relax.

5. Your bed is there for you to sleep in, not for you to roll around unable to fall asleep. If sleep doesn’t come after 15-20 minutes and you don’t feel like sleeping, get up and do relaxation auto-training or just find an activity that helps you relax.

6. It is better to keep your bedroom cool, and be sure to ventilate it before going to bed.

7. Don't count sheep or elephants or anything else while trying to fall asleep. Counting stimulates activity in certain areas of the brain, making it even more difficult to fall asleep.

8. Not worth doing physical activity just before bed. It is advisable to finish all training exercises 3 hours before going to bed.

9. Don't overeat, and in general, your last meal should be 2-3 hours before bedtime.

10. Don't take naps during the day.

11. If you wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall asleep, don't force yourself - get up and do something else, and when you feel sleepy, go back to bed.