What is deep sleep and how long does it last? How many hours should sleep last?

Daily healthy sleep is a physiological necessity for any person. It is necessary to take care not only about the duration of sleep, but also about its quality. Full-fledged. Nowadays everything more people have difficulty organizing healthy sleep due to leading a certain lifestyle.

Most scientists agree that lack of healthy sleep has the most adverse effect on health.

In addition, numerous studies suggest that women should sleep slightly longer than men.

How many hours do you need for healthy sleep?

How many hours does healthy sleep last for an adult? Some physiologists say that healthy sleep for an adult should last about 8 hours. It is this duration that makes it full and healthy. However, there is another opinion that the duration of good healthy sleep is different for age groups. So, for people aged 20-50 years, sleep should last at least 8 hours. For older people, due to physiological characteristics, 4 hours of sleep is enough.

It is important to observe the start time of sleep. It is believed that it should begin before midnight, ideally from 22 o’clock. The quality of sleep “before midnight” is several times different from sleep “after”. In addition, not only the total duration of night sleep is important, but also its continuous duration. Yes, the data World Organization Health experts say that it is more beneficial to sleep 6 hours in a row than to wake up for 8 hours. The following fact is interesting - scientists say that women need to sleep at least 8 hours, while a man needs 7 hours for healthy sleep. This is associated with increased emotionality women.

In order for healthy sleep and a person’s biorhythms not to be disturbed, it is necessary to go to bed at the same time, no matter whether it is a working day or a weekend. For healthy sleep, it is necessary to create suitable conditions, in particular, a suitable temperature in the room and the absence of electric light in it. In addition, there is the so-called law of three eights, according to which healthy sleep should last 8 hours, the length of the working day should be 8 hours, and rest, accordingly, should also be 8 hours.

Thus, systematic violations the duration of sleep is not the most in the best possible way will affect a person’s well-being and performance. It is unacceptable to get enough sleep on weekends, increasing the duration of sleep by several hours. After all, the regime is important. Research has shown that lack of healthy good sleep reduces immunity, impairs memory and attention, leads to cardiovascular diseases, chronic headaches, obesity and depression.

With all this, we must not forget about the individual characteristics of each person’s body. After all, if one person needs 8 hours to recover, then 4-5 is enough for another. Therefore, it is, of course, advisable to follow the recommendations, but if adhering to an individual regime does not affect your well-being and health, then why not continue to live in the same regime?

Sleep is a mandatory and irreplaceable process in the life of any person. With its help, relaxation of both body and mind is achieved. But many people complain that they can’t relax this way. Most likely, the reason lies in the fact that some simply do not know the rules of effective sleep.

Is effective sleep important?

Of course, it is important for any person. Those who get enough sleep are more productive, feel happier and rarely get sick.

Poor sleep provokes many unpleasant consequences:

  • fatigue;
  • headaches;
  • apathy;
  • cardiovascular diseases;
  • irritability;
  • development of insomnia and other sleep disorders;
  • depression;
  • obesity;
  • deterioration in appearance ( early wrinkles, bruises and bags under the eyes);
  • decreased testosterone levels in men;
  • deterioration of memory and performance;
  • decreased immunity.

Don’t think that if you don’t get enough sleep for a long time, you can easily make up for the lack of sleep. It happens that the body gets used to the fact that it is given very little time to rest. And he doesn’t allow himself to rest anymore. Because of this, serious sleep disturbances develop. Therefore, try to get enough sleep whenever possible.

Sleep standards

They can be individual for each person, but there is a range that includes the number of hours for normal sleep- This 6-9 hours. During this time, a person is able to get a good night's sleep. The only exceptions are any diseases and specific conditions of organisms, when necessary more hours, and this is confirmed by examining specialists.

Paradoxically, if you sleep more than ten hours, during the day you may feel like you haven't slept all night. This happens because the body is resting. longer time, than he should, and becomes lethargic and apathetic.

Number of hours of sleep for women and men

A healthy man can get about 6-8 hours of sleep. Considering that women have a stronger emotional load, it is better for them to sleep 7-9 hours. Pregnant women should not rest for less than 8 hours. Since fears and experiences provoked by the birth of a new life in the body are added to the innate emotionality, 8 hours is minimum rate for sleep.

What time should you go to bed?

If you claim to get at least eight hours of sleep but feel tired when you wake up, you may be suffering from bad time for sleep.

Most effective sleep starts at seven o'clock in the evening. Further, with every passing hour, its effectiveness decreases. It turns out that sleeping at five or six o'clock in the morning has practically no special value.

Surely, you have heard about “owls” and “larks”. It turns out that “larks” sleep during the most productive hours, and “night owls” do the opposite. But the night owls manage to feel great. Therefore, if you belong to this category and early rises have a bad effect on you, you should not try to correct the regime.

One more thing important conditionsleep must be continuous. Even if you slept for ten whole hours, waking up several times during this time, you are unlikely to feel very good after waking up. Even if you sleep only six hours, but right time and without interruptions, you will feel many times better in the morning than in the first case.

It's worth noting that if you want to improve your productivity new level, you need to wake up at an earlier time. And, of course, you shouldn’t go to bed late either. If you realize that you don't get anything done and get tired quickly, try going to bed at ten o'clock in the evening and waking up at six in the morning. If you do this for a week, you will notice dramatic and quite positive changes.

If you still can't get enough sleep

This means that the reason lies in factors that have a sharply negative effect on the sleep process. Should be observed some rules before going to bed:

  • The main thing is that you should not try to fall asleep in an excited state. Therefore, an hour before rest, do not play loud music or be active.
  • Using any gadgets can have a negative impact on your sleep. You should not use a laptop, TV, tablet, or even a phone directly in front of him.
  • You should go to bed in a slightly cool and ventilated room. A night's rest in a hot and stuffy room will not be effective.
  • If you indulge in coffee, cigarettes and alcohol during the day and especially before bed, you are unlikely to get a great night's sleep.
  • A night's rest will not be possible even if you eat too much right before going to bed. In this case, the body will be carried away by digesting food, and there will be no time for rest.
  • You also need to wake up correctly. Lying in your bed for a long time after the alarm rings - bad idea. You need to get up immediately and abruptly, so as not to ensure yourself lethargy for the whole day.
  • You should sleep after lunch only in extreme cases and for no more than two hours, so as not to disrupt your nighttime routine.
  • A little about your sleep schedule - you definitely need to follow it. Try to go to bed around the same time every day.

Video - how much sleep do you need?

Sep 21, 2015 I'm Myself

It is impossible to imagine any human body no sleep. Sleep is natural physiological process necessary for everyone. How many hours does an adult need to sleep on average? feeling great And fruitful work? So, on the agenda is sleep, sleep norms and its effect on the body.

The dangers of lack of sleep

Lack of sleep is an insidious thing that negatively affects not only mood and ability to work, but also general condition health. Here are a few dangerous consequences developing as a result of chronic lack of sleep:

  1. Cognitive impairment - a broad term that refers to a decline in mental activity, as a result - deterioration of memory and attention. Majority emergency situations, both on the road, at work and in everyday life, according to statistics, occur precisely during such periods when a person is not able to fully control the events taking place around him.
  2. Weakened immunity - lack of sleep inevitably leads to vulnerability of the immune system, greatly increasing the risk of getting sick. Conditioned this fact because in the absence of proper sleep, the cytokine protein (the body’s natural defense against viruses and infections), necessary for the correct functioning of organs and systems, is not produced. Sleep heals - you shouldn’t forget about it.
  3. Eating disorders - frequent lack of sleep leads to problems with overweight. All this is due to the stimulation of the production of the hunger hormone - ghrelin. A tired brain that does not receive rest requires “feeding”, as a result of which - constant feeling malnutrition and extra pounds at the waist.
  4. Decreased productivity - lack of sleep makes a person lazy, slow, and lacking initiative. Any work is done much more slowly, taking even more strength and energy. As a result, a person loses the desire to motivate, develop himself and his business.
  5. Bad mood - a sleep-deprived person is more susceptible to the negative influence of the environment: he is quick-tempered, touchy and irritable.
  6. Bad appearance- bruises and bags under the eyes are another unpleasant “bonus” of lack of sleep.
  7. Development risk serious illnesses- systematic lack of adequate sleep increases the risk of developing diabetes mellitus, vascular and heart diseases.

Sleep phases

There are two types of sleep: slow and fast. It is known that every day during one sleep cycle a person is in these two phases: slow-wave sleep lasts on average an hour and a half, fast sleep - from 2 to 30 minutes.

Let's take a closer look at this classification:

  • Slow sleep.

Coming after falling asleep, slow wave sleep includes 5 stages:

  1. Zero - drowsiness, slow movement eyeballs, decline in mental activity. Electroencephalography (EEG, a research method that reflects changes in the functioning of the cerebral cortex) registers the presence of alpha waves.
  2. The first is a decrease in attention to irritating factors and falling asleep.
  3. The second is the onset of shallow sleep. The EEG notes sigma waves and “sleep spindles” (a state in which consciousness is dulled).
  4. The third and fourth phases are the so-called “deep” sleep. The EEG records the appearance of delta waves: almost all dreams that occur occur during these phases. The stage is characterized by dreams. The fourth stage “transitions” into REM sleep.
  • Quick sleep.

Stage REM sleep replaces the slow one. On average, its duration is 10-20 minutes. At this time, a sleeping person experiences an increase in blood pressure and body temperature, an increase in heart rate, and an acceleration in the movement of the eyeballs. Only the muscles responsible for breathing and heartbeat remain active. In addition, REM sleep is accompanied by active work brain, the occurrence of dreams is another feature.

How much sleep does a child need?

So, there is a distinction between slow and fast sleep. Sleep standards exist for every age. How younger age, those more sleep required by the body to maintain normal functioning. Let's consider sleep standards for children and adults separately.

1. Children (0 to 3 years old).

The table of sleep norms will clearly show how many hours a day a child needs to sleep:

Child's age

Daytime nap

Night sleep

Daily sleep norm

Newborn

The intervals of wakefulness are minimal, sleep lasts on average 1-3 hours

Without a break, a newborn is able to sleep 5-6 hours, sleep is interrupted only by eating

The sleep norm for a newborn is 16-19 hours a day. Up to the age of 1 month, a child’s life passes almost in sleep (about 20 hours)

On average, a child should sleep 4-5 times, which is a total of 5-7 hours

On average 8-11 hours, waking up for feeding is acceptable

The norm of sleep hours decreases slightly, amounts to 14-17 hours

3-4 sleeps, 4-6 hours in total

10-12 hours, with breaks for feeding

14-17 hours

The number of times a child “agrees” to sleep at this age is about 2-3, for a total of nap Allotted from 2 to 4 hours

10-12 hours

Total about 15 hours a day

2 naps, total 2-3 hours

10-12 hours

12-15 hours

One or 2 naps, a total of 2-3 hours per daytime nap

The norm for nightly sleep is still 10-12 hours

12-14 hours a day

One nap, lasting from 1 to 3 hours

10-11 o'clock

11-14 hours

At this age large number children go without sleep. In this case, during the night the child must “make up” for lost daytime hours;

1 nap for 1-2 hours

10-11 o'clock

11-13 hours

2. Children (4-17 years old).

What should sleep be like for children over 3 years old? Sleep standards for children over 4 years old are somewhat different from those discussed above. The fact is that by the age of 4, a grown-up body is able to do without daytime rest. But, as in the case of a three-year-old child, at the same time night sleep must be complete. So, children under 10 years old should sleep at least 10 hours at night, at an older age - at least 8.

How much sleep does an adult need?

Now let's look at an adult's dream. Sleep norms in this case are no longer so different depending on age, however, they also have different indicators. For an adult healthy person from 18 to 64 years old, at least 7-9 hours of proper rest are required.

For older people over the age of 65, the sleep norm is slightly reduced: to keep the body in good shape and stay in an excellent mood, 7-8 hours of nightly dreams are needed.

Norm of deep sleep

In order to rest overnight from the past day and properly prepare mentally and physically for the day ahead, you need to “sleep” for a while. required quantity hours, and spend enough time in the deep sleep phase. So, for an adult, this period normally occupies from 30 to 70% of total sleep.

There are several rules for increasing the percentage of stay in the deep sleep phase:

  • Maintaining a routine - it is recommended to go to bed and get up at the same time.
  • Physical stress on the body for 2-3 hours of falling asleep.
  • Ignoring bad habits and overeating.
  • Maintaining an optimal climate in the bedroom (humidity 60-70%, air temperature 18-20°C).

With age, the time people spend in the long sleep phase decreases noticeably. Due to this, the aging process accelerates.

The secret to performance

In order to feel great, keep up with work and get up with ease every morning, you need little: you just need to follow the regime, stay as long as possible and more often fresh air and, most importantly, get enough sleep. Then any seemingly insurmountable obstacle will be manageable, and everyday trips to work will not be a burden. Be in harmony with yourself and others!

Sleep is an integral part of a person’s life, in which he spends 1/3 of his total time. This is the period of life during which a person can fully relax and recharge with the energy necessary for further life activities.

It has been established that if a person does not sleep for 2 weeks, a structural change in the functioning of the entire organism occurs, and he dies. If there is no sleep for more than 85 hours in a row, changes in mental and physiological regulation occur, sometimes even hallucinations and structural changes personality.

Thus, our physical and psychological well-being depends on the duration of sleep. However, researchers have differing opinions on how much sleep a person should get per day. On average, this figure is equal to 8 hours of continuous sleep.

Let's take a closer look at why sleep is so important and how much sleep a person needs per day to feel alert.

Why sleep is important

Sleep is a protective function of the body in response to the need for rest and recovery, caused by complex psychophysiological processes.

During sleep, the information received by the brain throughout the day is processed. Thanks to this, cause-and-effect relationships of the received information are formed, the unnecessary part of it is forced out into the subconscious, making room for new information. Phases slow sleep contribute to consolidation of what has been learned during the day, and REM sleep forms images and experience of behavior in the unconscious.

Healthy sleep helps restore the myelin sheaths of nerve fibers, resulting in normalization of the functioning of the entire nervous system: innervation of organs, improvement cognitive processes(attention, memory).

During sleep, the functioning of the cardiovascular system is normalized: the heartbeat slows down, as a result of which the speed of blood movement through the vessels is normalized. Bouncing back blood pressure. Blood washes away excess deposits from the walls of blood vessels, including harmful cholesterol.

During the deep phase of slow-wave sleep, the hormones leptin and ghrelin are produced, which regulate appetite and are responsible for metabolism. During good sleep the body receives energy not by receiving food from the outside, but by breaking down the body’s own fat tissue under the influence of these hormones. Due to which there is a slight loss of fat mass in the body.

During sleep, insulin production decreases and blood sugar levels normalize.

During sleep, the immune system produces special proteins - cytokines, which stimulate immune reactions, increasing protective functions body and immunity in general. Lymph increases the speed of its movement and, under pressure, flushes out toxins accumulated during the day from organ cells. During the day they are excreted through the kidneys and urine.

During sleep, increased synthesis of collagen and elastane occurs, which help maintain normal skin turgor, making it firm and elastic. Lack of sleep leads to a decrease in these components and the appearance of wrinkles and sagging.

During sleep, the synthesis of cortisol, the stress hormone, decreases, so what you experience during the day negative emotions processed and repressed into the subconscious, providing psychological stability.

Only in a dream does the synthesis of growth hormone occur, under the influence of which an increase in muscle mass, replacement of keratinized hair and nails with a new one.

It is during night sleep that the specific hormone melatonin is produced, which suppresses the emergence and development of cancer cells.

As you can see, the benefits of sleep are huge. However, it is important not only to sleep, but also to maintain a certain sleep schedule in order to maintain the body in a normal physiological and psychological state.

Let's figure out how much sleep a person needs in order to feel cheerful and at ease.

How much sleep do you need

American scientists from the National Sleep Foundation set out to find out how many hours a person should sleep a day. In the course of research, it was found that sleep norms varied depending on individual, age and social indicators test groups.

This was justified by the theory that sleep duration is regulated by a special gene hDEC2. The mutation of this gene allows some people to sleep for short periods of time and feel cheerful, while others, on the contrary, need more time to get enough sleep.

It was experimentally proven that with an average sleep duration of 8 hours, the subjects woke up independently after 7.23, 6.83, 6.51 hours. EEG indicators the phases of slow-wave sleep also differed for everyone, they were within the limits: 118.4, 85.3 and 84.2 minutes, respectively. Time to fall asleep was a difference of 8.7; 11.5; 14.3 minutes between different age groups.

In 2008, Professor Dake and his colleague Elizabeth Klerman from Harvard established a new experimental finding about how much sleep a person should have. They placed various age groups(one person at a time) into a dark room for 16 hours, and were given the opportunity to independently go to sleep and wake up. It was found that older people woke up 1.5 hours earlier than younger people. Children, women, men and teenagers also showed different results among themselves.

Based on research, with the involvement of specialized specialists: anatomists, physiologists, pediatricians, neurologists, gerontologists, gynecologists, the concept of healthy sleep for various groups population. As a result, the National Sleep Foundation published recommendations last February in the journal Sleep Health for sleep duration based on... age characteristics and provided a number of recommendations for maintaining normal sleep quality.

Sleep norms for people of different ages

AgeRecommended number of hoursPossible number of hours
Newborns 0 – 3 months14 – 17 11 – 13 / 18 – 19
Infants 4 – 11 months12 – 15 10 – 11 / 16 – 18
Children 1 – 2 years old11 – 14 9 – 10 / 15 – 16
Preschoolers 3 – 5 years old10 – 13 8 – 9 / 14
Schoolchildren 6 – 13 years old9 – 11 7 – 8 / 12
Teenagers 14 – 17 years old8 – 10 7 / 11
Young people 18 – 25 years old7 – 9 6 / 10 – 11
Adults 26 – 64 years old7 – 9 6 / 10
Seniors 65 and older7 – 8 5 – 6 / 9

Thus, the sleep norm for adults is reproductive age and maintaining working capacity until advanced age, has an arithmetic mean value of 8 hours of continuous sleep per day.

  • You shouldn't go to bed until you really want to sleep. If you lie down and cannot fall asleep within 20 minutes, you need to get up and do distracting monotonous work (reading a book, listening to soft, slow music). As soon as drowsiness appears after this, you need to go back to bed.
  • Avoid using various gadgets before going to bed. The light flux emanating from their screens irritates the fiber of the eye, signaling to the brain about bright light, and therefore the wakefulness phase associated with it.
  • It is necessary to avoid drinking coffee and other energy drinks in the afternoon. They have a stimulating effect on nervous system and prevent you from achieving the slow-wave sleep phase at night.
  • It is necessary to go to bed at the same time in the evening, so as not to disturb.
  • The atmosphere in the bedroom should be calm in the interior, minimum noise and maximum comfort of the bed.

Thus, the data obtained showed that sleep duration norms are conditional and arithmetic average, determined by a number individual characteristics. On average, an adult should sleep 8 hours a day according to their needs. And knowing your needs, you need to adhere to a regime for healthy and full sleep.

Night rest is a natural component of every person’s life, both for adults and children. When people get adequate sleep, they not only improve their mood and well-being, but also show significant improvements in mental and physical performance. However, the functions of night sleep do not end only with rest. It is believed that it is during the night that all information received during the day passes into long-term memory. Night rest can be divided into two phases: slow-wave sleep and fast sleep. Particularly relevant for humans deep sleep, which is part of the slow phase of night rest, since it is during this period of time that a number of events occur in the brain important processes, and disruption of this phase of slow-wave sleep leads to a feeling of lack of sleep, irritability and other unpleasant symptoms. Understanding the importance of the deep sleep phase allows us to develop a number of tips for normalizing it for each person.

Sleep includes a number of stages that regularly repeat throughout the night.

Periods of night rest

The entire period of human dreams can be divided into two main phases: slow and fast. As a rule, falling asleep normally begins with the slow-wave sleep phase, which in its duration should significantly exceed fast phase. Closer to the awakening process, the relationship between these phases changes.

How long do these stages last? The duration of slow-wave sleep, which has four stages, ranges from 1.5 to 2 hours. REM sleep lasts from 5 to 10 minutes. It is these numbers that determine one sleep cycle in an adult. In children, the data on how long the nightly rest cycle should last differs from in adults.

With each new repetition, the duration of the slow phase continues to decrease, while the fast phase, on the contrary, increases. IN total amount During a night's rest, a sleeping person goes through 4-5 similar cycles.

How much does deep sleep affect a person? It is this phase of rest during the night that ensures our restoration and replenishment of physical and intellectual energy.

Features of deep sleep

When a person experiences slow-wave sleep, he sequentially goes through four stages, which differ from each other in the features of the pattern on the electroencephalogram (EEG) and the level of consciousness.

  1. In the first phase, a person notices drowsiness and half-asleep visions, from which one can easily awaken. Typically, people talk about thinking about their problems and looking for solutions.
  2. The second stage is characterized by the appearance of sleepy “spindles” on the electroencephalogram. The sleeping person has no consciousness, however, he easily awakens under any external influence. Sleepy “spindles” (bursts of activity) are the main difference between this stage.
  3. At the third stage, sleep becomes even deeper. On the EEG, the rhythm slows down, slow delta waves of 1-4 Hz appear.
  4. The slowest delta sleep is the deepest period of night rest, which is required for the rest of sleeping people.

The second and third stages are sometimes combined into the delta sleep phase. Normally, all four stages should always be present. And each deeper phase must come after the previous one has passed. “Delta sleep” is especially important, since it is it that determines the sufficient depth of sleep and allows you to move on to the REM sleep phase with dreams.

The stages of sleep make up the sleep cycle

Changes in the body

The norm for deep sleep for an adult and a child is about 30% of the total night's rest. During delta sleep, significant changes occur in work internal organs: heart rate and breathing rate decrease, relaxation skeletal muscles. There are few or no involuntary movements. It is almost impossible to wake a person - to do this you need to call him very loudly or shake him.

According to the latest scientific data, it is during the deep sleep phase that normalization occurs in the tissues and cells of the body. metabolic processes and active recovery, allowing the internal organs and brain to be prepared for a new period of wakefulness. If you increase the ratio of REM sleep to slow-wave sleep, the person will feel unwell, feel muscle weakness, etc.

Second most important function delta period – transfer of information from short term memory into the long term. This process occurs in a special structure of the brain - the hippocampus, and lasts several hours. At chronic disorder night rest, people note an increase in the number of errors when testing the efficiency of memory, speed of thinking and others mental functions. In this regard, it becomes clear that it is necessary to get enough sleep and provide yourself with adequate night rest.

Duration of the deep phase

The average amount of sleep a person gets usually depends on numerous factors.

When people ask how many hours a day you need to sleep to get enough sleep, this is not a completely correct question. Napoleon could say: “I sleep only 4 hours a day and feel good,” and Henry Ford could argue with him, since he rested for 8-10 hours. Individual night rest norms vary significantly between by different people. As a rule, if a person is not limited in the recovery period at night, then on average he sleeps from 7 to 8 hours. The rest of most people on our planet fits into this interval.

REM sleep lasts only 10-20% of the entire night's rest, and the rest of the time the slow period continues. It’s interesting, but a person can independently influence how long he will sleep and how much time he needs to recover.

Increasing delta sleep time

  • Every person should strictly adhere to the regime of falling asleep and waking up. This allows you to normalize the duration of night rest and make it easier to wake up in the morning.

It is very important to maintain a sleep-wake schedule

  • Eating before rest is not recommended, just as you should not smoke, drink energy drinks, etc. It is possible to limit yourself to a light snack in the form of kefir or an apple a couple of hours before going to bed.
  • In order for the deep phase to last longer, it is necessary to give the body 3-4 hours before falling asleep physical activity adequate intensity.
  • Provide more falling asleep quickly and quality sleep is possible with using easy music or sounds of nature. For example, cricket singing is known to be very beneficial for deep sleep. This means that listening to music while relaxing is recommended by doctors, however, it is very important to choose it wisely.
  • Before going to bed, it is best to ventilate the room well and eliminate any possible sources of noise.

Sleep disorders

Woman suffering from insomnia

What percentage of people experience sleep disorders? Statistics in our country show that every fourth person experiences certain problems associated with night rest. However, the differences between countries are minimal.

All violations in this area human life can be divided into three large groups:

  1. Problems falling asleep;
  2. Violations of the process of night rest;
  3. Problems with well-being after waking up.

What are sleep disorders? These are temporary disorders of any phase of night rest, leading to disorders in various areas human psyche during the waking period.

All three types of sleep disorders lead to general manifestations: during the day there is lethargy, fatigue, decreased physical and mental performance. A person has Bad mood, lack of motivation for activity. At long term, depression may develop. At the same time, it is very difficult to identify the main cause of the development of such disorders, due to their large number.

Sleepiness during the day, insomnia at night

Causes of deep sleep disorders

Within one or two nights, a person’s sleep disturbances may not have any serious cause and go away on their own. However, if violations persist long time, then there may be very serious reasons behind them.

  1. Changes in the psycho-emotional sphere of a person, and, first of all, chronic stress leads to persistent sleep disturbance. As a rule, for such psycho-emotional overstrain there must be some kind of psycho-traumatic factor that led to disruption of the process of falling asleep and the subsequent onset of the delta sleep phase. But sometimes it's mental illness(depression, bipolar affective disorder etc.).
  2. Diseases of the internal organs play an important role in disrupting deep sleep, since the symptoms of diseases can prevent a person from fully resting during the night. Various painful sensations in patients with osteochondrosis, traumatic injuries cause constant awakenings in the middle of the night, causing significant discomfort. Men may have frequent urination leading to frequent awakening to go to the toilet. It is best to consult your doctor regarding these issues.

However, most often the cause of problems falling asleep is related to the emotional side of a person’s life. It is the causes of this group that occur in the majority of all cases of sleep problems.

Emotional disorders and night rest

Sleep and stress are interconnected

People with emotional disorders cannot sleep because they have symptoms increased level anxiety and depressive changes. But if you manage to fall asleep quickly, then the quality of sleep may not suffer, although usually the delta sleep phase in these cases is reduced or does not occur at all. Intrasomnic and post-somnic disturbances may additionally appear. If we talk about major depression, then patients get up early in the morning and from the very moment of awakening are immersed in their negative thoughts, which reach a maximum in the evening, leading to disruption of the process of falling asleep. As a rule, deep sleep disorders occur together with other symptoms, however, in some patients they may be the only manifestation of the disease.

There is another category of patients experiencing the opposite problem - initial stages slow-wave sleep can occur during wakefulness, leading to the development of hypersomnia, when a person constantly notes high sleepiness and can fall asleep in the most inappropriate place. If this condition is hereditary, a diagnosis of narcolepsy is made, which requires special therapy.

Treatment options

Identifying the causes of deep sleep disorders determines the approach to treatment for a particular patient. If such disorders are associated with diseases of internal organs, then it is necessary to organize appropriate treatment aimed at full recovery patient.

If problems arise as a result of depression, then the person is recommended to undergo a course of psychotherapy and use antidepressants to cope with disorders in the psycho-emotional sphere. Typically, use sleeping pills limited due to their possible negative influence on the quality of recovery itself at night.

Sleeping pills should only be taken as prescribed by a doctor

Accept medicines to restore the quality of night's rest, it is recommended only as prescribed by the attending physician.

Thus, the deep sleep phase has a significant impact on a person’s waking period. In this regard, each of us needs to organize optimal conditions to ensure its adequate duration and full recovery body. If any sleep disturbances occur, you should always seek help from your doctor, since full diagnostic examination allows you to detect the causes of disorders and prescribe rational treatment, restoring the duration of delta sleep and the patient’s quality of life.