Don’t let insomnia spread

This is the 3760th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

The epidemic has struck again. People often ask me, besides the three-piece set and the five more, what other tricks do you have? Is this recipe good? Is that thing delicious? Some patients are even panicked. First of all, they are not infected by the virus, but are frightened by the so-called tense atmosphere, and "infected" with insomnia, anxiety, and depression!

Insomnia is a common clinical disease, but it is not contagious. Now a group of people have been infected due to the impact of the epidemic. The reason is still a mentality problem. There are many similar situations in clinical practice. For example, I recently met a middle-aged woman in clinical practice. Her husband is a public security cadre and her daughter is a medical staff, who are often not at home. At present, due to the impact of the epidemic, patients are often isolated and waiting at home alone. Whenever there is any disturbance, insomnia always accompanies them, as if it is faster than contracting the virus. After the author examined the cause and syndrome differentiation, he gave the patient liver-soothing and depression-relieving, mind-calming and psychological cognitive treatment. His family gave support, encouragement and companionship, and his condition improved day by day.

Today, when the epidemic has become normalized or recurred from time to time, some people seem to be easily frightened by the atmosphere, spread by rumors, and suffer from anxiety, insomnia and other pains. It is crucial to know how to prevent and control it and adjust your mentality.

01

Combine movement and stillness with regular work and rest. The main reason for the high level of insomnia today is irregular work and rest, which violates the principle of synchronization between man and nature. People do not sleep when they should sleep and do not wake up when they should wake up. Adjust your personal work and rest time and try to go to bed before midnight. Staying up late will hurt your body. Create a good sleeping environment, including keeping the sleeping environment quiet, paying attention to ventilation, and making bedding comfortable. At the same time, we should pay attention to the use of both body and brain. Physical and mental activities are both suitable, and neither should be neglected. Moderate physical activity is of great benefit. Nowadays, people are isolated at home, and it is easy to think too much when they are idle, especially physical activity. Reading books and newspapers to nourish the spirit, planting flowers and raising grass to adjust the temperament, and doing a temple in a nut shell are different. Appropriate outdoor activities, acting as a volunteer, and helping others are also a reasonable choice.

02

Fall asleep with a calm mind and wake up naturally. Usually, due to work or study pressure or frustration, you often have a lot of thoughts, become irritable and nervous, which can induce insomnia. So you have to learn to relax yourself. You can relax yourself by taking deep breaths and keep a relaxed and optimistic attitude. You can try lying on the bed, lifting your feet and leaning against the wall for a few minutes, which will help you calm down. Nowadays, we spend more time at home, and in the dead of night, we still use our phones, watch TV series, and play until we are too sleepy. So it is recommended to stay away from electronic devices one hour before going to bed. If you really can't fall asleep in bed, you can get up and sit for a while. Sleep your mind first, then your eyes, and go to bed and fall asleep when your mind is calm and you feel sleepy. Of course, the ideal is to sleep until you wake up naturally.

03

Reasonable diet and proper conditioning. Most people are still in quarantine at home, waiting for the virus to be cleared. Vegetables are in great demand, followed by medicine. You also need to pay attention to a reasonable diet, eat less greasy tonics and less salty and pickled delicacies. It is better to eat light vegetables and meat. There should be vegetarian dishes at every meal, fish and meat in moderation, seafood occasionally, and no wild goods. The author advocates the diagnosis and treatment, reasonable diet, and syndrome differentiation and medication.

During this extraordinary period, the number of patients with depression, anxiety and other emotional and psychological problems due to sleep disorders has increased, and TCM conditioning is a reasonable health care system project. The author advocates comprehensive TCM treatment, using decoctions, paste prescriptions, Chinese patent medicines and granule preparations based on syndrome differentiation, as well as characteristic therapies (acupuncture, aromatherapy, incense pendants, scraping, moxibustion, ear acupuncture and other TCM characteristic "external treatment" therapies), psychological counseling (health education, rehabilitation prevention), etc., through the model of both internal and external treatment, to provide continuous, standardized and personalized professional services for different groups of people, which is beneficial to the prevention and treatment of "infectious diseases" during the epidemic.

"Good sleep" is the cornerstone of health. Don't let the epidemic ruin your mood. Don't let anxiety, insomnia, and depression trip you up again. The dawn will come in May.

Author: Shanghai Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Xu Liang