Don't mistake early waking up for insomnia
world sleep day
Text/Guangzhou Daily All-Media Reporter He Xuehua Correspondents Zhang Lanxi and Jin Ting
March 21st is World Sleep Day. Professor Jia Fujun, director of the Mental Health Center of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, focused more on the intertwining and entanglement of insomnia and depression. He especially reminded: if there is a problem of waking up early, don't take it as "insomnia" easily, because Depression and insomnia are closely related, and the typical symptom in patients with depression is early awakening, which requires special attention.
Insomnia and depression are often intertwined
Professor Jia Fujun pointed out that depression has many symptoms, including sleep disturbance.
Sleep disturbances may first appear before depression is diagnosed and in the early stages of depression.
Insomnia and depression are often intertwined, that is, sleep disorders may be a precursor to depression, insomnia is not necessarily depression, but depression and insomnia are very close.
"Insomnia has many manifestations. Common ones are difficulty falling asleep, light sleep, and easy awakening." Professor Jia Fujun reminded, but especially to be alert to early awakening, because the typical symptom of depression patients is early awakening, that is, early awakening is very important for depression. characteristic.
In addition, after depression is relieved, insomnia may improve; if depression recurs, the aura symptom may be insomnia; the most serious symptoms of depression are suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior, and insomnia will increase the risk of suicidal ideation or behavior.
It is precisely because of the intertwining and entanglement of "insomnia" and "depression" that Professor Jia Fujun believes that sleep intervention for patients with depression is very important.
Zhang Jihui, a researcher at the Mental Health Center of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, said that about 90% of depressed patients suffer from insomnia, and the main complaints of depressed patients are often insomnia.
The symptoms of insomnia are also an important factor in causing depression.
Long-term insomnia will aggravate depression and affect the recovery and prognosis of depression; early awakening is the most characteristic manifestation of sleep disorders in patients with depression, and many suicide attempts of depression occur at the moment of early awakening.
He called for attention to the diagnosis of sleep disorders to help early identification of depression.
Whether there is sleep disorder first and then depression, or depression and then sleep disorder, or both, it is necessary to go to a regular hospital for diagnosis and treatment by a professional doctor.
While treating depression, medication intervenes in insomnia
How can sleep disturbances during depression be treated?
Professor Jia Fujun pointed out that while treating depression, we should actively intervene with drugs for insomnia.
On the basis of antidepressant, drug treatment of insomnia has a faster effect, especially if the insomnia is more serious, drug treatment should be used first, and physical therapy can be combined, and the comprehensive intervention effect will be better.
Comprehensive intervention methods include: establishing sleep time, fixing sleep time, and maintaining regularity—that is, when to go to bed and get up, need to be regular to form a fixed wake-up time; avoid stimulant beverages in diet, quit alcohol, tobacco, coffee, etc. It's basic; don't look at your phone, watch TV in bed.
In addition, some psychological intervention methods are also helpful for insomnia treatment, such as self-suggestion "believe that you can fall asleep", listening to some relaxing music, meditation, and mindfulness are all conducive to falling asleep.
In addition, establish a correct consciousness, such as "the bed is for sleeping", in principle, go to bed after dozing off, and leave the bed if you can't fall asleep, so as to avoid the formation of bad conditioned reflexes.
Do you have these symptoms?
In fact, not everyone who snores suffers from sleep apnea syndrome, and the following symptoms are usually cause for alarm:
1. Snoring, breathing pause, suffocation at night;
2. Increased nocturia, loss of libido;
3. Morning headache, inability to concentrate, memory loss;
4. Drowsiness and fatigue during the day;
5. Grumpy, irritable, insomnia;
6. In severe cases, they will suddenly fall asleep at work, or even fall asleep while eating or driving.
Lin Min, deputy chief physician of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of the Third Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, reminded that if the above discomfort occurs, you should go to the respiratory medicine department or sleep specialist of a regular hospital as soon as possible, and make a timely diagnosis through systematic evaluation and improvement of sleep apnea detection.
Text/Weng Shuxian, all media reporters of Guangzhou Daily, correspondents Wang Hui, Li Yuqun, Bai Tian
Many people may think that sleeping snoring means "sleeping soundly", but experts remind that sleeping snoring is not just a simple matter of sound sleep, sound sleep or noise, it may be a disease.
"Snoring" is not uncommon. When a person is in a sleep state, the muscles relax, the airway narrows, and the airflow through the narrow part causes vibrations, which may cause snoring.
But there is a clinical disease - sleep apnea syndrome, which may also manifest as "snoring", or snoring.
According to Lin Min, sleep apnea syndrome is a sleep disorder in which breathing stops during sleep, which refers to the occurrence of more than 30 times of apnea during 7 hours of continuous sleep, each time the airflow is stopped for more than 10 seconds (including 10 seconds) , or the average number of hypoventilations per hour (respiratory disorder index) more than 5 times, causing the clinical syndrome of chronic hypoxemia and hypercapnia.
According to Ouyang Shunlin, chief physician of the Department of Otolaryngology of the Third Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, sleep apnea syndrome can be divided into central type, obstructive type and mixed type, of which the obstructive type is the most common type. The frequent and loud snoring was stopped for more than ten seconds, and then the loud snoring suddenly came out, and then stopped again... Many patients were woken up, sweating profusely, and even feeling suffocated.
If you or someone around you makes such a "snoring noise", you should be highly vigilant and investigate as soon as possible.
Lin Min reminded that drinking alcohol before going to bed or taking sedative and sleeping drugs can further suppress the respiratory center. Those who have sleep apnea syndrome themselves should pay great attention to avoid "holding back" accidents.
"Snoring" doesn't have to be trivial
Inappropriate treatment early
"Due to snoring during sleep at night, the human body is in a state of hypoxia, causing the cardiovascular center to be excited, resulting in increased blood pressure and increased heart rate, which can increase the incidence of angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction. Clinical studies have found that long-term snoring people The incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, cerebral infarction, and cerebral hemorrhage is much higher than that of people without snoring." Ouyang Shunlin explained.
Lin Min reminded that people with middle-aged men, obesity, smoking, drinking before bedtime, taking sedative and hypnotic drugs, oral and nasopharyngeal lesions, and people with cardiovascular and neurological diseases are high-risk groups for snoring.
For confirmed patients, in addition to quitting smoking and drinking, obese people should actively lose weight; in addition, choosing a pillow with a suitable height and adopting a sleeping position on the side can help reduce snoring.
For patients with severe symptoms, the following two types of treatment can also be considered: the first is non-surgical treatment, that is, non-invasive ventilator helps to improve symptoms, improve quality of life, and avoid accidents caused by sudden death or other serious complications.
The second is surgical treatment. According to Ouyang Shunlin, most snoring is caused by the obstruction of the upper airway such as the nose and throat. The purpose of surgical treatment is to reduce and eliminate airway obstruction.
The specific surgical method depends on the location of the airway obstruction, the severity and the general health of the individual.
Tips for insomnia sufferers
1. Adhere to a fixed sleep time, do not lie in bed when awake;
2. Increase exercise, but try not to do strenuous exercise 2 hours before bedtime;
3. Reduce the use of electronic devices before going to bed;
4. Avoid caffeine and nicotine intake;
5. Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages before going to bed;
6. Avoid eating and drinking a lot before going to bed;
7. Try to avoid using drugs that delay or disrupt sleep, such as diet pills, painkillers, etc.;
8. Do not take a nap after 3 pm;
9. Do some activities that help the body to relax before going to bed, such as reading, listening to music, meditation, etc.;
10. Take a hot bath before going to bed;
11. Keep the bedroom dark and cool;
12. Proper sun exposure.