Sleeping is important for our physical and mental recovery. But sleeping properly is – it seems – an art: because for nearly 8 million Germans, nightly rest is a torment. All in all, physicians distinguish between 88 forms of sleep disorders, with sleep-through disorders being the most common. Sleep is like a kind of “stand-by function” of the television, in which breathing, circulation and metabolic functions are reduced. As we age, the average amount of sleep decreases physiologically, but prolonged sleep deprivation puts our health at risk.
Stress or urge to urinate at night
A distinction is made between problems falling asleep, sleeping through the night, waking too early on the one hand, excessive sleepiness, snoring, sleep apnea on the other, as well as waking disorders and nightmares. Stress and depression are the most common causes. At night we think about the problems accumulated during the day, possibly repressed. But disturbed sleep can also be an accompanying symptom of other diseases, e.g. of the respiratory tract or the heart. Increased blood pressure also frequently triggers sleep disturbances. Nighttime urination, such as occurs with an enlarged prostate, or itching as a result of skin diseases can also disturb sleep. In sleep apnea, short pauses in breathing occur in conjunction with snoring. People with restless legs syndrome (restless legs) have to walk around constantly at night. According to a study in a sleep laboratory at the University of Göttingen, the causes are distributed as follows:
- Psychological causes (anxiety neuroses, depression): 36%.
- Strain, stress: 24 %
- Organic diseases: 24 %
- Noise, shift work, etc.: 9%
- Addiction, drugs, alcohol: 7%
Sleep deprivation strikes mind and heart
Sleep disorders are not only the result of illness. If our sleep is disturbed for a long time, it can lead to poor performance, increased susceptibility to illness and depression, gastrointestinal problems, cardiovascular disease, neuroses, aggressiveness and anxiety disorders can also be the result. The need for sleep varies from person to person and changes with age: while a newborn baby sleeps an average of 16 hours, a 60-year-old gets by on 7 hours. According to experts, the lower limit of sleep requirements is five hours per night.
Counting sheep does little good
Not only serious diseases, but also everyday stress, unsteadiness in the daily routine, such as irregular meals, excessive alcohol and nicotine consumption, lack of exercise, long business trips or irregular going to bed disturb our biorhythms, which in the long run triggers disturbances of organ functions. The result: an increased release of stress hormones delays or prevents normal falling asleep and staying asleep. According to scientists at St. Anne’s College, Oxford University, imagining pleasant situations or places, such as in nature, helps us fall asleep better than the well-known “counting sheep,” and is even said to keep us awake longer. The explanation: “counting sheep” only adds stress. The important thing is to forget everyday worries and relax.
Sleep brothers from nature
The disadvantage of synthetic sleep aids is often that they are addictive and disrupt important deep sleep and dream phases. Natural sleep aids such as valerian, on the other hand, pose no risk of addiction.
- Valerian has a calming to sleep-promoting effect. Its ingredients only lower overexcitability in the nervous system, which occurs, for example, due to stress and everyday worries. Calming dragées from valerian root dry extract or even the combination with hops have a calming and stress-relieving effect during the day and prepare in the evening the process of falling asleep.
- For nervous exhaustion and depressive moods, the addition of St. John’s wort is helpful.
- Often sleepless nights are also caused by restless stomach complaints, which are alleviated by the calming and antispasmodic lemon balm.
- For nervous restlessness also comes the passionflower, often in tea blends with valerian and lemon balm.
Sleep and nervous teas are also available as ready-to-cup variants. Homeopathy understands sleep problems as a result of a disturbed mental balance. A general recommendation is difficult, however, because homeopathic substances act individually very different and require a longer conversation with the doctor.
