Anyone suffering from a lack of sleep would wish for 'a good night' of sleep.
Sleep, which accounts for one-third of life, plays an important role in restoring the energy consumed during the day (non-REM sleep) and integrating memories and senses (REM sleep).
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Recent studies have reported a higher prevalence of obesity, hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline (dementia), and Parkinson's disease in patients with sleep problems.
Insomnia symptoms refer to inability to start or maintain sleep or wake up at dawn and do not fall asleep again. About 1/3 of the total population experiences insomnia, of which only 10 to 15% are actually diagnosed as "insomnia".
Insomnia, referred to by the Department of Psychiatry, is not just a sleeplessness, but is diagnosed when insomnia symptoms persist for more than three months, causing fatigue, wantlessness, depression, and immersion or anxiety in sleep during the day.
If you can't sleep, you should distinguish not only insomnia, but also various sleep disorders such as sleep apnea (nosebleed), lower extremity anxiety syndrome, or mental disorders such as "anxiety disorder" and "depression." In the case of physical diseases accompanied by pain or difficulty in breathing, the disease should be treated first.
Therefore, simply being prescribed sleeping pills because you have insomnia symptoms can result in no effect or misuse of sleeping pills, and can make insomnia symptoms worse.
Among those who complain of insomnia, more people complain of discomfort in their legs than they think. △ There are ambiguous discomfort expressed in various forms such as tickling, electricity-receiving, relief, and pain, or △ If you feel it while lying down and move or massage it, it is called lower extremity anxiety syndrome.
It is frequently seen in patients with iron deficiency, anemia, pregnancy, decreased kidney function, and rheumatoid arthritis, and in this case, it is treated with drugs such as dopamine hygroscopic drugs, Gabapentin, and carbamazepine, not sleeping pills.
One of the most frequently asked questions in outpatients is, "Is there any other way than sleeping pills?" Sleeping pills are addictive and resistant, but not severe. Insomnia symptoms that occur in situations that cause anxiety such as tests and interviews or stressful situations accompanied by rapid changes such as bereavement are usually temporary and do not necessarily need to be treated.
However, if subjective stress is high, short-term sleeping pills within two weeks are effective. In addition, if you get an accurate diagnosis from a psychiatrist, and receive the necessary treatment by discriminating the aforementioned diseases, you can reduce or stop using sleeping pills.
Sleeping pills may be abused or withdrawal symptoms may be a problem. In this case, 'cognitive behavioral treatment' is performed as a treatment. It takes at least one month and requires the patient's own efforts, but it is as effective as medication and lasts longer.
Various techniques are used, and first, write a sleep diary to analyze sleep habits and set the time to lie down according to the actual sleep time to reduce the time you try to sleep unnecessarily.
In addition, stimulation control methods (beds are used only for sleeping, and come out immediately when you can't sleep), sleep restriction therapy (setting a constant time to wake up), relaxation training (focusing on breathing), and sleep hygiene (forming conditions to sleep comfortably).
According to statistics from the National Health Insurance Service, the number of patients treated for insomnia has already exceeded 500,000. Including the case of not receiving medical treatment, there will be a lot more people who actually have trouble sleeping.
Insomnia, which increases every year, can be sufficiently solved by properly knowing about insomnia and improving sleeping habits. Nevertheless, if it is not resolved, I hope you will accurately diagnose it through consultation with a specialist and receive safe treatment, so that everyone can sleep well and have a happy year.
Writer: Yeyoung Jeon
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