Sleep is short, long, deep, shallow, frequent insomnia, fear of emotional illness | Good doctor

To help insomniacs, the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, CUHK developed the “Sleepcation” app, which includes questionnaires for users to assess their sleep conditions. About 300 people downloaded the app in the past week. About 230 of them completed the questionnaire, which covered sleep quality and impact on life. Half of them had moderate to severe insomnia severity index.

Chen Yinyan, a research assistant professor of the Department of Psychiatry at CUHK, said that users can choose one-on-one sleep guidance through the program, and 20 people have requested it. Among them, women in their 60s have suffered from insomnia since they were infected with the new crown virus.

Infection increases psychological stress of patients

She said that the proportion of those rated as moderate to severe is higher than expected. It is expected that these users are already troubled by insomnia. If they are not treated, long-term insomnia will increase the risk of developing mood disorders in the long run.

Rong Runguo, head of the Department of Psychiatry at CUHK, analyzed that citizens are under pressure from the fear of contracting the epidemic. At the same time, their daily routines have changed, leading to insomnia.

He said that the increased psychological stress of the patients and the abnormal sense of smell in some patients showed that the new coronavirus not only affects the brain, but may cause insomnia, but the details are yet to be studied.

Improve sleep quality and increase hours

Rong Runguo said that insomniacs usually wait until there is no other way to seek help, and it is expected that the number of help-seeking will continue to increase in the future.

He suggested that insomniacs should “prefer short to long, and deep to shallow”, and should not force to fall asleep for a long time, first improve the quality of sleep, and then slowly increase the number of hours. He recommends the following 3 tips for falling asleep:

1. Generally, you should maintain regular sleep

2. Go out in the sun as much as possible in the morning

3. Regular exercise can help prevent insomnia

Enhance immunity, organize memory, do 5 things to build a good sleep

Are busy urbanites getting enough sleep every night? Not to mention getting a good night’s sleep!

In addition to restoring physical strength, sleep is also helpful for enhancing immunity, organizing memory, brain development, emotions, etc. Therefore, having enough sleep is very important to the human body.

A complete sleep cycle is originally about 90 minutes, but how long should light sleep and deep sleep last night to have a good sleep quality? To establish good sleep habits, doctors remind you to pay attention to the following 5 things.

To have a good sleep quality, you need to increase the time of deep sleep as much as possible. If you only stay in the light sleep state, you will still feel tired the next day no matter how long you sleep!

4 to 6 sleep cycles for adults

Dr. Yuan Zhuowei from the emergency department of Sanatorium and Hospital said that a complete sleep cycle is about 90 minutes, and normal adults need about 4 to 6 sleep cycles a day, that is, 6 to 9 hours of sleep.

“If calculated by 8 hours of sleep time,

There will be about 5 cycles,

non-rapid eye movement period

(non-rapid eye movement)

and rapid eye movement

(rapid eye movement),

The non-rapid eye movement period is divided into light sleep period, light sleep period,

There are 4 stages of middle sleep and deep sleep. “

In the stage of deep sleep (middle sleep period, deep sleep period), the cerebral cortex is in a state of inactivity and complete rest, so it has a greater effect on eliminating fatigue. However, deep sleep only accounts for one to two hours of the overall sleep time, and the rest of the time is in light sleep (light sleep period, light sleep period) and rapid eye movement period.

He used the analogy of making ceramics. The process of deep sleep is used to select which memories to keep and remember, just like making a prototype; the rapid eye movement period is to connect these fragments into memories and related events, like doing post-processing, and most dreams occur during the rapid eye movement period.

He also pointed out that during the rapid eye movement stage, the eyeballs will move rapidly while the body muscles relax. This is a very important protective mechanism, because it can prevent the body from involuntarily moving and causing injury during sleep.

Light sleep and still tired the next day

In addition to having enough sleep, the quality of sleep is also very important. Try to increase the time of deep sleep, because if you only stay in the light sleep state, you will still feel tired the next day no matter how long you sleep.

To sleep well, Dr. Yuen recommends paying attention to the following 5 things to help establish good sleep habits:

1. Work and rest should be scheduled.

2. Establish the habit of regular exercise, preferably in the morning and in the sun, because the sun can help regulate the secretion of “melatonin” that helps you fall asleep.

3. It is best to avoid looking at electronic products such as phones two hours before going to bed, because blue light will inhibit melatonin and affect sleep.

4. Avoid drinking caffeinated or alcoholic beverages before going to bed.

5. Pay special attention to problems such as stress, drugs, and sleep apnea, which will affect the quality of sleep.