Sleep Well

17/12/2022

1. Overview of insomnia
Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that makes it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. It leads to sleepiness and not feeling relaxed or refreshed during the day when you wake up. Insomnia can affect anyone, but it is more common in women and the elderly. This condition can last from a few days, a few weeks, or continue for a long time. Stress, menopause, and certain health and mental health conditions are common causes of insomnia.
Insomnia can have a number of risks and side effects that affect your mental and physical health, affecting your ability to function.
The risks and side effects of insomnia include:
Reduced performance at work or school Increased risk of accidents Increased risk of depression and other mental health conditions . Increased risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease and stroke. SEE ALSO: Any solution for insomniacs?
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2. Insomnia is divided into what categories?
There are several different forms of insomnia, and each will be characterized by how long it lasts, how it affects sleep, and the underlying cause.
2.1 Acute Insomnia Acute Insomnia is a short-term insomnia syndrome that can last from a few days to several weeks. This is the most common type of insomnia. Acute insomnia is also known as corrective insomnia, as it often occurs when you're going through a stressful event, such as the loss of a loved one, or starting a new job. In addition to stress, acute insomnia can also be caused by some of the following:
Environmental factors that disrupt sleep, for example: light, noise,... Sleeping in bed or surroundings unfamiliar, for example a hotel or a new home. Physical discomfort, such as pain or inability to assume a comfortable position. Certain medications Due to medical conditions 2.2 Transient insomnia Transient insomnia lasting less than a week caused by other disturbances such as a change in sleeping environment, stress or depression. The first symptom of transient insomnia is difficulty falling asleep. This type of insomnia can be acute or chronic. Any cause of acute or chronic insomnia can make it difficult to fall asleep. Psychological or psychiatric problems are the most common causes, including stress, anxiety, or even depression.
According to a 2009 study, people with chronic-onset insomnia often have another sleep disorder, such as restless legs syndrome or cyclic limb movement disorder. Caffeine and other stimulants can also be to blame.
Mất ngủ
Khó bắt đầu giấc ngủ là triệu chứng điển hình của mất ngủ thoáng qua
2.3 Chronic Insomnia Insomnia is considered chronic if it occurs at least three days per week for at least one month. Chronic insomnia can be primary or secondary. Primary chronic insomnia, also known as idiopathic insomnia, has no obvious cause or underlying medical condition. Secondary insomnia is more common and is also known as comorbid insomnia. Chronic insomnia is chronic insomnia that occurs with another condition.
Common causes of chronic insomnia include:
Chronic conditions such as diabetes, hyperthyroidism, Parkinson's disease, obstructive sleep apnea and sleep apnea. Mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Medications include chemotherapy drugs, beta-blockers, and antidepressants. Caffeine and other stimulants, such as alcohol, ni****ne, and other drugs. Lifestyle factors, including frequent travel and plane delays, work rotation, and napping. 2.4 Sustained Insomnia Sustained Insomnia is a condition in which it is difficult to fall asleep or wake up too early and it is difficult to return to sleep. The sustained type of insomnia causes you to become anxious and unable to fall back to sleep leading to inadequate sleep. This interferes with deeper sleep and creates a vicious cycle that repeats itself. Sustained insomnia can be caused by mental health conditions, such as depression. Other medical conditions include:
Gastroesophageal reflux disease Sleep apnea Respiratory conditions such as asthma Restless leg syndrome Periodic limb movement disorder MORE: Insomnia is a sign Symptoms of what disease?
2.5 Childhood behavioral insomnia (BIC) affects 25% of children. It is divided into three sub-categories:
BIC at the onset of sleep: This category is the result of negative associations with sleep, such as learning to fall asleep by rocking or cuddling. They can also include being in the presence of a parent or watching TV while sleeping. Limit behavioral insomnia in childhood: This type of insomnia disorder involves children refusing to go to bed and repeatedly trying not to go to sleep. Examples of behavior children want to go to have a drink, go to the toilet or let a parent read to a story. Combined Childhood Behavioral Insomnia: This is a combination of two forms of childhood behavioral insomnia. This happens when a baby has a negative association with sleep and refuses to go to sleep, because a parent or caregiver doesn't set a limit. Behavioral insomnia in childhood can often be resolved with some behavioral changes, for example creating healthy sleep habits, learning self-soothing or relaxation techniques.
Mất ngủ kéo dài
Mất ngủ ít nhất 3 ngày mỗi tuần là tình trạng mất ngủ mãn tính
3. Diagnosis and Treatment of Insomnia
Diagnosis of insomnia may include a physical exam, taking a medical history to check for signs of an underlying condition. You may also be asked to keep track of sleep patterns and symptoms that occur in a sleep diary. Your doctor may refer you to a sleep research center to check for other sleep disorders.
Treatments for insomnia will vary depending on the cause. You can treat acute insomnia at home with over-the-counter sleep aids or by managing your own stress. Treatment for chronic insomnia needs to address any underlying conditions that are causing the insomnia. Your doctor may recommend cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), which has been shown to be more effective than medication.
In a nutshell, different forms of insomnia can interfere with your ability to function during the day. Acute insomnia can often be treated at home. If insomnia is left untreated, it can increase your risk of depression and other serious conditions. If insomnia makes it difficult to function during the day, or if it persists for more than a few weeks, seek medical attention to determine the cause of your insomnia and the most effective treatment.
Currently, to find the cause and determine the insomnia, Vinmec International General Hospital implements the sleep polysomnogram. This is a safe, non-invasive sleep disorder diagnosis similar to an electrocardiogram. The multi-sleep device is specifically designed to measure body activity during sleep, so it will help patients relax, pain-free while sleeping. The electrodes are glued to the scalp, near the eyes, near the chin, on the chest, near the nose and mouth....no pain. The patient is given a wireless transmitter and transmits the received signals to the server, without hindering travel. After the polysomnography was completed, the machine's electrodes were gently removed.
Through the indicators given by the sleep polygraph, it is possible to help doctors at Vinmec best diagnose different types of sleep disorders, know what kind of sleep disorder the patient is suffering from. for appropriate treatment guidelines.

17/12/2022

Anxiety Disorders
Overview
Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. Many people worry about things such as health, money, or family problems. But anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear. For people with an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time. The symptoms can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, schoolwork, and relationships.

There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and various phobia-related disorders.

Signs and Symptoms
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) usually involves a persistent feeling of anxiety or dread, which can interfere with daily life. It is not the same as occasionally worrying about things or experiencing anxiety due to stressful life events. People living with GAD experience frequent anxiety for months, if not years.

Symptoms of GAD include:

Feeling restless, wound-up, or on-edge
Being easily fatigued
Having difficulty concentrating
Being irritable
Having headaches, muscle aches, stomachaches, or unexplained pains
Difficulty controlling feelings of worry
Having sleep problems, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep
Panic Disorder
People with panic disorder have frequent and unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear, discomfort, or sense of losing control even when there is no clear danger or trigger. Not everyone who experiences a panic attack will develop panic disorder.

During a panic attack, a person may experience:

Pounding or racing heart
Sweating
Trembling or tingling
Chest pain
Feelings of impending doom
Feelings of being out of control
People with panic disorder often worry about when the next attack will happen and actively try to prevent future attacks by avoiding places, situations, or behaviors they associate with panic attacks. Panic attacks can occur as frequently as several times a day or as rarely as a few times a year.

Social Anxiety Disorder
Social anxiety disorder is an intense, persistent fear of being watched and judged by others. For people with social anxiety disorder, the fear of social situations may feel so intense that it seems beyond their control. For some people, this fear may get in the way of going to work, attending school, or doing everyday things.

People with social anxiety disorder may experience:

Blushing, sweating, or trembling
Pounding or racing heart
Stomachaches
Rigid body posture or speaking with an overly soft voice
Difficulty making eye contact or being around people they don’t know
Feelings of self-consciousness or fear that people will judge them negatively
Phobia-related disorders
A phobia is an intense fear of—or aversion to—specific objects or situations. Although it can be realistic to be anxious in some circumstances, the fear people with phobias feel is out of proportion to the actual danger caused by the situation or object.

People with a phobia:

May have an irrational or excessive worry about encountering the feared object or situation
Take active steps to avoid the feared object or situation
Experience immediate intense anxiety upon encountering the feared object or situation
Endure unavoidable objects and situations with intense anxiety
There are several types of phobias and phobia-related disorders:

Specific Phobias (sometimes called simple phobias): As the name suggests, people who have a specific phobia have an intense fear of, or feel intense anxiety about, specific types of objects or situations. Some examples of specific phobias include the fear of:

Flying
Heights
Specific animals, such as spiders, dogs, or snakes
Receiving injections
Blood
Social anxiety disorder (previously called social phobia): People with social anxiety disorder have a general intense fear of, or anxiety toward, social or performance situations. They worry that actions or behaviors associated with their anxiety will be negatively evaluated by others, leading them to feel embarrassed. This worry often causes people with social anxiety to avoid social situations. Social anxiety disorder can manifest in a range of situations, such as within the workplace or the school environment.

Agoraphobia: People with agoraphobia have an intense fear of two or more of the following situations:

Using public transportation
Being in open spaces
Being in enclosed spaces
Standing in line or being in a crowd
Being outside of the home alone
People with agoraphobia often avoid these situations, in part, because they think being able to leave might be difficult or impossible in the event they have panic-like reactions or other embarrassing symptoms. In the most severe form of agoraphobia, an individual can become housebound.

Separation anxiety disorder: Separation anxiety is often thought of as something that only children deal with; however, adults can also be diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder. People who have separation anxiety disorder have fears about being parted from people to whom they are attached. They often worry that some sort of harm or something untoward will happen to their attachment figures while they are separated. This fear leads them to avoid being separated from their attachment figures and to avoid being alone. People with separation anxiety may have nightmares about being separated from attachment figures or experience physical symptoms when separation occurs or is anticipated.

Selective mutism: A somewhat rare disorder associated with anxiety is selective mutism. Selective mutism occurs when people fail to speak in specific social situations despite having normal language skills. Selective mutism usually occurs before the age of 5 and is often associated with extreme shyness, fear of social embarrassment, compulsive traits, withdrawal, clinging behavior, and temper tantrums. People diagnosed with selective mutism are often also diagnosed with other anxiety disorders.

Risk Factors
Researchers are finding that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the risk of developing an anxiety disorder.

The risk factors for each type of anxiety disorder vary. However, some general risk factors include:

Shyness or feeling distressed or nervous in new situations in childhood
Exposure to stressful and negative life or environmental events
A history of anxiety or other mental disorders in biological relatives
Anxiety symptoms can be produced or aggravated by:

Some physical health conditions, such as thyroid problems or heart arrhythmia
Caffeine or other substances/medications
If you think you may have an anxiety disorder, getting a physical examination from a health care provider may help them diagnose your symptoms and find the right treatment.

Treatments and Therapies
Anxiety disorders are generally treated with psychotherapy, medication, or both. There are many ways to treat anxiety, and you should work with a health care provider to choose the best treatment for you.

Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy or “talk therapy” can help people with anxiety disorders. To be effective, psychotherapy must be directed at your specific anxieties and tailored to your needs.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an example of one type of psychotherapy that can help people with anxiety disorders. It teaches people different ways of thinking, behaving, and reacting to situations to help you feel less anxious and fearful. CBT has been well studied and is the gold standard for psychotherapy.

Exposure therapy is a CBT method that is used to treat anxiety disorders. Exposure therapy focuses on confronting the fears underlying an anxiety disorder to help people engage in activities they have been avoiding. Exposure therapy is sometimes used along with relaxation exercises.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Another treatment option for some anxiety disorders is acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). ACT takes a different approach than CBT to negative thoughts. It uses strategies such as mindfulness and goal setting to reduce discomfort and anxiety. Compared to CBT, ACT is a newer form of psychotherapy treatment, so less data are available on its effectiveness.

Medication
Medication does not cure anxiety disorders but can help relieve symptoms. Health care providers, such as a psychiatrist or primary care provider, can prescribe medication for anxiety. Some states also allow psychologists who have received specialized training to prescribe psychiatric medications. The most common classes of medications used to combat anxiety disorders are antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications (such as benzodiazepines), and beta-blockers.

Antidepressants

Antidepressants are used to treat depression, but they can also be helpful for treating anxiety disorders. They may help improve the way your brain uses certain chemicals that control mood or stress. You may need to try several different antidepressant medicines before finding the one that improves your symptoms and has manageable side effects.

Antidepressants can take several weeks to start working so it’s important to give the medication a chance before reaching a conclusion about its effectiveness. If you begin taking antidepressants, do not stop taking them without the help of a health care provider. Your provider can help you slowly and safely decrease your dose. Stopping them abruptly can cause withdrawal symptoms.

In some cases, children, teenagers, and adults younger than 25 may experience increased suicidal thoughts or behavior when taking antidepressant medications, especially in the first few weeks after starting or when the dose is changed. Because of this, people of all ages taking antidepressants should be watched closely, especially during the first few weeks of treatment.

Anti-anxiety Medications

Anti-anxiety medications can help reduce the symptoms of anxiety, panic attacks, or extreme fear and worry. The most common anti-anxiety medications are called benzodiazepines. Although benzodiazepines are sometimes used as first-line treatments for generalized anxiety disorder, they have both benefits and drawbacks.

Benzodiazepines are effective in relieving anxiety and take effect more quickly than antidepressant medications. However, some people build up a tolerance to these medications and need higher and higher doses to get the same effect. Some people even become dependent on them.

To avoid these problems, health care providers usually prescribe benzodiazepines for short periods of time.

If people suddenly stop taking benzodiazepines, they may have withdrawal symptoms, or their anxiety may return. Therefore, benzodiazepines should be tapered off slowly. Your provider can help you slowly and safely decrease your dose.

Beta-blockers

Although beta-blockers are most often used to treat high blood pressure, they can help relieve the physical symptoms of anxiety, such as rapid heartbeat, shaking, trembling, and blushing. These medications can help people keep physical symptoms under control when taken for short periods. They can also be used “as needed” to reduce acute anxiety, including to prevent some predictable forms of performance anxieties.

Choosing the Right Medication

Some types of drugs may work better for specific types of anxiety disorders, so people should work closely with a health care provider to identify which medication is best for them. Certain substances such as caffeine, some over-the-counter cold medicines, illicit drugs, and herbal supplements may aggravate the symptoms of anxiety disorders or interact with prescribed medication. People should talk with a health care provider, so they can learn which substances are safe and which to avoid.

Choosing the right medication, medication dose, and treatment plan should be done under an expert’s care and should be based on a person’s needs and their medical situation. Your and your provider may try several medicines before finding the right one.

Support Groups
Some people with anxiety disorders might benefit from joining a self-help or support group and sharing their problems and achievements with others. Support groups are available both in person and online. However, any advice you receive from a support group member should be used cautiously and does not replace treatment recommendations from a health care provider.

Stress Management Techniques
Stress management techniques, such as exercise, mindfulness, and meditation, also can reduce anxiety symptoms and enhance the effects of psychotherapy. You can learn more about how these techniques benefit your treatment by talking with a health care provider.

17/12/2022

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or cause you to wake up too early and not be able to get back to sleep. You may still feel tired when you wake up. Insomnia can sap not only your energy level and mood but also your health, work performance and quality of life.

How much sleep is enough varies from person to person, but most adults need seven to eight hours a night.

At some point, many adults experience short-term (acute) insomnia, which lasts for days or weeks. It's usually the result of stress or a traumatic event. But some people have long-term (chronic) insomnia that lasts for a month or more. Insomnia may be the primary problem, or it may be associated with other medical conditions or medications.

You don't have to put up with sleepless nights. Simple changes in your daily habits can often help.

17/12/2022

17/12/2022

17/12/2022

17/12/2022