Two days ago, Xiao A came to me and her eyes were swollen like peaches. However, she did not cry, but did not sleep well. The first thing she said to me was: “He Laoshi, I dreamed all night and did not sleep well at all. What should I do? ]
He Laoshi has something to say about dreaming and sleeping.
It is normal to dream every day.
All of us sleep not for 7 or 8 hours at once, but for 4 to 5 cycles.
The human sleep cycle includes the following stages:
- Shallow Sleep Phase 1 Shallow Sleep Phase 2 Shallow Sleep Phase 3 Deep Sleep Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
After three shallow sleep stages, people’s heart rate, blood pressure and other physiological function indicators will slow down and enter deep rest. After the first cycle of deep sleep, we will not wake up, but enter the rapid eye movement sleep stage.
During REM sleep, the sleeping person’s eyes will move up and down, left and right quickly, brain waves will become like awake state, heart rate and blood pressure will become irregular, and breathing will become rapid.
If a person is woken up at this time, he will say that he is dreaming.
In this way, the sleep cycle goes from shallow sleep to deep sleep and REM sleep, and then returns to deep sleep and shallow sleep. Each REM sleep phase lasts longer than one time, and the last time can last as long as one hour.
Above, everyone will experience it every day when they sleep. In other words, it is normal to dream every day.
Dreaming is not only normal, but also beneficial. Some people have done experiments in which subjects wake him up as soon as they sleep in REM to prevent him from dreaming. The results show that the subjects’ memory will decline, and they will also feel depressed, which will make the whole person poor.
What do you think is dreamy?
Because you didn’t sleep deep enough.
If the sleeper is woken up in the deep sleep stage after the REM sleep stage, they often cannot clearly recall their dreams, because deep sleep can calm the activity of activated brain regions during REM sleep and let the brain rest.
Therefore, Xiao A felt that she was dreaming all night, not because she really dreamed more than others, but because she slept less deeply than others. In other words, it was not because she dreamed that she did not sleep well, but because she did not sleep well that she felt that she had dreamed a lot.
Generally, dreaming too much will not have much impact on life except causing tiredness and bad mood. However, when dreaming achieves [nightmare disorder], it is a problem.
Nightmare obstacle, as its name implies, is the extent to which nightmares are achieved.
These people repeat long, well-remembered nightmares, usually involving safety, survival and other topics, which are very horrible. After waking up at that time or the next morning, the sleeper can describe the dream in great detail. They usually do not take in substances that cause nightmares, nor do they suffer from mental or physical diseases that may cause nightmares.
Moreover, this nightmare and the sleep disorder it causes can make people very painful, cause social, professional and other problems, and damage normal social functions.
In addition, sleep abnormalities caused by non-diseases include sleep movement, night terrors, rapid eye movement sleep behavioral disorders, etc., but they usually show behavioral abnormalities and are easy to identify.
How can sleep more soundly?
Step 1: Analyze the causes of dreaminess and poor sleep and make targeted treatment.
1. Avoid substances that affect sleep
(1) Alcohol, Caffeine, Tobacco
These substances will reduce sleep quality. Do not drink alcohol, coffee, strong tea and functional beverages containing stimulants such as caffeine for hours before going to bed, and do not smoke.
Alcohol on the surface makes some people fall asleep faster, which will actually inhibit you from entering the deep sleep stage. During sleep, people are also easy to wake up due to stomach discomfort, thirst and other reasons.
(2) Drugs
Cannabis, cocaine, etc. also have a great impact on sleep quality, and drugs are not only harmful to sleep.
(3) Certain drugs
Some drugs can also affect sleep. If you are taking drugs, please discuss with your doctor whether these drugs may cause sleep problems.
Step 2 See a doctor as soon as possible
In the absence of substances that affect sleep and mental and physical abnormalities, if sleep abnormalities often occur, such as sleepwalking, shouting in dreams or frequent nightmares of terror, and have a great impact on life and work, please go to the psychiatric department in time.
Step 2: After eliminating these, the most important thing is to straighten out the attitude towards dreams.
Dreaming is a good thing, don’t reverse the causal relationship between [dreaming] and [not sleeping well].
It is the daily dream that re-codes and integrates our daytime perception and behavioral experience into symbolic conscious knowledge, connecting old and new memories, further connecting emotions and events, and enabling us to have wisdom and abundant emotions.
Step 3: Let yourself get enough deep sleep.
It is easier said than done, and deep sleep does not mean that more can be said.
1. Peace of mind
Before going to bed, you can write a diary with a calm attitude, make a conclusion for today, and put down everything to sleep at ease. Of course, don’t start to struggle with trivial matters as soon as you write a diary, which makes your mood difficult to calm down.
Don’t pay too much attention to your sleep quality. No matter how healthy a person is, there will always be times when he is ill. You don’t have to worry too much about sleeping badly occasionally.
If you wake up and remember your dream, remember it without chagrin. Maintaining a stable mood makes it easier to get high-quality sleep.
2. Don’t take long naps during the day
People’s daily energy should be consumed. Therefore, in order to sleep smoothly at night, patients with long-term insomnia should not sleep during the day. Generally speaking, it takes less than half an hour to take a nap.
3. Adequate and regular exercise
Many people ask, after doing a lot of work and writing a lot of things during the day, I am almost tired to death. Why are I still dreaming?
This is actually because you are not tired. The [tired] here is physical tired, not mental tired. Both need to be consumed to achieve real tired and increase deep sleep time.
If your physical condition permits, it may be better to keep walking briskly for at least half an hour every day. However, please avoid strenuous exercise before going to bed.
Step 4: Eat a light diet
Don’t eat or drink or eat indigestible food before going to bed, which may affect sleep:
- Fatulence food: more gas is produced during digestion, which will cause abdominal distension and discomfort; Spicy food: easy to cause stomach burning sensation and dyspepsia; High salt food: easy to cause blood pressure rise; Greasy food: aggravate the burden on intestines, stomach, liver, gallbladder and other organs.
Dinner should be as light as possible, while midnight snack should be as few as possible, and it is better not to eat.
5. Regular work and rest time
Sleep on time and get up on time.
Can’t sleep, also close your eyes to rest. It’s time to get up, no matter how many hours or tens of minutes you sleep, you have to get up.
Even if I didn’t sleep well the day before, I still insist on getting up and starting my day’s life. Under normal circumstances, I will be very sleepy that day and it will be easier to sleep well at night.
6. Good Sleep Environment
The bedroom environment is best quiet, with appropriate light and temperature, so that you feel relaxed and comfortable.
Finally, I wish everyone a good sleep.
Responsible Editor: Yidan