Üsküdar University NPİSTANBUL Hospital Neurology Specialist Prof. Dr. Barış Metin gave information about imsonia (insomnia) and said that imsonia can be defined as the disorder of falling asleep and maintaining sleep.
Experts state that people may have difficulty falling asleep at night if they have irregular sleep-wake hours, and recommend avoiding factors that disrupt sleep hygiene by regulating sleep and wakefulness rhythms rather than medications in general for sleep problems. Neurology Specialist Prof. Dr. Barış Metin: "The effect of sleeping pills is short-term, a medicine that helps you sleep today may not make you sleep 1-2 months later." said. Stating that not everyone has to sleep for 8 hours, Metin emphasized that sleep needs may vary from person to person.
Prof. Dr. Barış Metin stated that there are dozens of diseases that cause imsonia, and the most common of these is the disruption of the day and night wakefulness rhythm, and continued as follows:
“If they have irregular sleep and wake times, this can make it difficult for people to fall asleep at night. In addition, restless legs syndrome can also make it difficult to fall asleep. Again, if some people have excessive anxiety about sleeping, this worry and anxiety makes it difficult to fall asleep. Apart from these, patients with depression and anxiety disorders may have difficulties falling asleep due to their psychological problems. Sleep disorders can also occur due to not paying attention to some general rules regarding sleep, which we call sleep hygiene. For example, excessive consumption of tea and coffee in the evening can disrupt sleep.”
Electronic devices can also negatively affect sleep
Prof. also stated that insomnia is a very common condition. Dr. Metin said, “One of the most important factors affecting sleep hygiene is electronic devices. Electronic devices have entered our daily lives more and more. Nowadays, people use tablets and phones when they go to bed. “This causes excessive light exposure and makes it difficult to fall asleep.” he said.
Prof. also noted that less attention is paid to sleep and wakefulness hours. Dr. Metin said, “This makes it difficult to fall asleep at night. In order to get good and quality sleep, it is generally necessary to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. “If we disrupt this pattern, we may have difficulty falling asleep at night.” said.
Sleeping pills should not be used without doctor's advice.
Referring to over-the-counter sleeping pills, Prof. Dr. Metin pointed out that there are harmless ones among them, but he does not recommend prescription or over-the-counter sleeping pills, and that sleeping pills should not be used without a doctor's advice.
Regulation of sleep and wakefulness rhythm is more effective than medications
Emphasizing that it is not possible to provide a permanent solution to sleep problems, Prof. Dr. Metin said:
“Unless the person has a specific psychological or psychiatric disease that prevents them from falling asleep or maintaining sleep, such conditions can be treated with medication. For sleep problems other than these, we generally recommend regulating sleep and wakefulness rhythms and avoiding factors that disrupt sleep hygiene, rather than medications. Because the effect of sleeping pills is short-term, a medicine that helps you sleep today may not make you sleep 1-2 months later. Therefore, regularizing factors such as organizing your life, sleeping and waking up at certain times, not taking stimulants in the evening, avoiding long sleeps during the day, and avoiding sleeping until late in the afternoon offer more permanent solutions to falling asleep.”
You should avoid consuming too much tea and coffee.
Prof. also said that there are alternative treatment models for sleep problems. Dr. Barış Metin said, “We actually provide behavioral training to our patients with sleep problems rather than medication. We can also give medication to help the person, but these are short-term. It is very rare that we tell a patient to 'take sleeping pills and use them for months'. "We generally try to eliminate the causes of sleep hygiene." said.
Avoiding excessive consumption of tea and coffee, using tablets, phones, etc. that may disrupt sleep, other than sleeping in bed. Prof. also explains that we should avoid using electronic devices and not stay in bed too long if we cannot sleep. Dr. Metin stated the following:
“Because as you turn from right to left and left to right in bed to sleep, your sleep will improve, and if the person is taking another medication, it may be necessary to change it. These constitute the rules that we call sleep hygiene in general, and we try to identify and change attitudes that disrupt sleep, reduce sleep quality, and attitudes towards sleep hygiene.”
Not everyone needs to sleep 8 hours
Prof. Dr. Metin noted that there is a misconception about people's natural sleep duration and said:
“With the prejudice such as 'Everyone should sleep 8 hours', some people go to bed thinking 'I should sleep 8 hours too'. However, this does not apply to everyone. There are also people who live a very healthy life with 5 hours of sleep. If those people try to sleep for 8 hours, they cannot sleep, and this time they apply to us saying they are insomniac, or vice versa, a person's need for sleep can be 12-13 hours a day, for example, as in children. Children sleep that much, but if you let them sleep less than that, the child will have difficulty in daily life activities. Likewise, there may be people who need this much sleep in adulthood. If you try to put those people to sleep for a short time, problems such as insomnia and feeling sleepy throughout the day may occur.
It is necessary to take into account individual factors. Not everyone sleeps at the same time, not everyone sleeps the same amount of time, not everyone falls asleep at the same time. Someone can fall asleep at 12.00:2, another cannot sleep before XNUMX:XNUMX am. “This is not a disease.”