The Sleep of the Just: a blessing for the few
Ah, insomnia! This misfortune that is currently afflicting a large part of the world's population and driving the mattress trade into the ground... Studies by the Sleep Foundation show that 20% of the American population suffers from chronic insomnia. However, when you consider only large cities such as São Paulo, New York and London, this proportion can reach up to 30% of the adult population.
Only those who suffer from insomnia realize the extent to which this sleep dysfunction can disrupt daily life. However, insomnia is not the same for everyone: the causes of insomnia can vary from one person to another and it can manifest itself in two different ways. There are insomniacs who find it hard to fall asleep, and there are those who have fragmented sleep and find it difficult to get back to sleep after waking up in the early hours of the morning.
If you belong to the second group, those who suddenly lose sleep at three o'clock in the morning and spend hours rolling around in bed unable to get back to sleep, you've probably heard of the “dead hour”. Spiritualists believe that 3 a.m. is the time when the spiritual plane is most active, as this is when the energetic interference and noise of the material world is at its lowest. They argue that those who wake up at 3am are more sensitive to the influence of spirits and their attempts to communicate with the living.
Doctors specializing in sleep quality believe, however, that insomnia can be linked to a number of endogenous factors, such as stress, anxiety, depression, sleep apnea or irregular eating and sleeping habits. Awakening during the night may be linked to the presence of abnormal levels of different substances in the body: cortisol, which is the stress hormone; the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is the chemical precursor of the hormone melatonin, which regulates the sleep-wake cycle; and the neurotransmitter dopamine, which has a stimulating effect and is associated with states of wakefulness and alertness.
Normally, the release of dopamine in the brain decreases during the night, and this reduction is essential to promote the onset and maintenance of sleep. However, in depressed people, the circadian rhythm that regulates the release of dopamine may be dysregulated and this will cause irregular fluctuations in this neurotransmitter over the course of 24 hours.
It is possible that at 3am dopamine levels are abnormally low, contributing to night-time awakenings and difficulty maintaining sleep. However, if dopamine levels are too high due to stress, they can cause Restless Legs Syndrome during sleep and difficulty falling asleep.
Cortisol levels also tend to follow the circadian rhythm, dropping during the night and rising again in the morning. However, stress and poor diet can lead to a rise in cortisol in the early hours of the morning. The consequence of this is that you'll spend the early hours of the morning sleepless, mulling over your problems and turning everything into a daunting task. Your only consolation in these moments will be knowing that with the reduction in stress hormone levels during the day, your problems will shrink in proportion.
Today you can read about tips for improving sleep quality in the most exotic places (even here!). A quick search on TikTok will show you the tricks currently employed by Sleepmaxxers, those who care about maximizing their sleep. If you want to have a bit of fun, click here and see one of these people who, upon waking, removes the gadgets used to sleep well.
Whatever the topic of the moment, there will always be people who worry obsessively about the problem. Some of those who worry about sleep today are probably the same people who, a while ago, were obsessed with “eating clean food”. This obsession also has a name: orthorexia nervosa.
So stop and think before you spend your entire salary on buying an expensive mattress and a pair of pillows. It's best to look into the cause of your insomnia first.
But if you're one of those who don't like going to the doctor, take a look at the list of tips below:
1. meditating is an excellent way to combat depression, as it acts on the prefrontal cortex, the emotional regulation center
2. Going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day helps regulate the circadian cycle
3. Do aerobic exercise in the morning or afternoon to relax
4. Avoid exposure to blue light from cell phone and computer screens before going to sleep
5. Avoid consuming caffeine, alcohol and sugar in the evening
6. Eat foods rich in magnesium and tryptophan
7. Use lavender essential oil on the pillowcase and in the bath
8. Avoid arguing at night
Additional advice from Sleepmaxxers:
1. Use pillows and mattresses with cooling technology
2. Use machines that emit white noise or nature sounds to mask external noises
3. Use smartwatches, fitness bracelets or mattress sensors that monitor sleep patterns
4. Using jaw supports and mouth patches to force breathing through the nose
5. Use nostril dilators, eye masks and ear plugs.
And have sweet dreams!
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
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