Hardly anyone is spared from sleep disorders, but with increasing age, the problems with falling asleep and staying asleep accumulate. All too quickly one then reaches for sedatives and sleeping pills. Relaxation exercises can be a great help here. “Sleep is to the whole person what winding is to the clock.” How right Arthur Schopenhauer was with this saying can be confirmed by those 30 percent of Germans who lack healthy sleep.
But what is healthy sleep? An adult needs about 7 – 8 hours of sleep, seniors above retirement age usually need only 5 – 6 hours. During sleep, you go through several sleep stages that vary in depth: Deep sleep, light sleep and dream sleep alternate. In a normal sleep pattern, the depth of sleep increases sharply after falling asleep, then decreases and transitions to an average constant depth of sleep toward morning.
Symptoms of insomnia
Probably everyone has had this experience: thoughts and worries circle around in your head, you are downright exhilarated or nervous, you finally want to sleep and you can’t. Restless tossing and turning only makes matters worse.
There are different sleep disorders that are grouped under the term “insomnia“. But most can be divided into insomnia, when it takes more than half an hour to fall asleep. The other main cause is insomnia, when more than half an hour passes after waking up during the night before the person can fall asleep again.
One speaks of a real sleep disorder when the problem lasts at least three weeks and one feels shattered and exhausted the next day. Then one should visit the doctor and clarify the causes with him. Severe insomnia is treated in the short term with medication, but here the greatest caution is required with the chemical agents, as they can lead to dependence, among other things.
Causes of insomnia
The individual causes of sleep disorders are very different: family or professional worries and problems affect sleep in most cases, more so depression. Some diseases such as chronic liver inflammation and physical pain prevent a peaceful and healthy sleep.
