After suffering from gynecological tumor, "I have poor sleep and don't want to take medicine! What should I do?"

Due to the physiological characteristics of women, many celebrities died young due to gynecological tumors, such as Chen Xiaoxu who died of breast cancer, Anita Mui who died of cervical cancer, and Gong Ruxin who died of ovarian cancer... The deaths of female celebrities have made people pay more and more attention to gynecological tumors.

Some people start to have poor sleep after they are diagnosed with gynecological tumors or undergo tumor surgery, such as difficulty falling asleep, waking up easily at night, waking up early, shallow sleep, and having many dreams at night. They are troubled by sleep problems, but do not want to take medicine, so what should they do?

This article will introduce some non-drug methods to help patients with short-term insomnia after suffering from gynecological tumors improve their sleep.

1. Identify the causes of insomnia, adjust and improve the sleeping environment, and cultivate good sleeping habits.

I have seen a patient who came to see a doctor because of poor sleep at night in the past month, which seriously affected his daytime work. After careful questioning, it turned out that this person had just changed to a job that required night shifts, and because he was in the probation period, he had to work night shifts quite frequently!!!

For this patient, the first thing to do is to improve the sleeping environment. Therefore, it is very important for the patient to clarify the cause of insomnia.

2. Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention

Cognitive-behavioral intervention is the most effective and long-lasting method besides drug treatment. The purpose of treatment is to help insomniacs get a satisfactory sleep by changing their bad habits that affect their sleep.

Cognitive-behavioral intervention mainly includes the following methods.

1. Stimulus control therapy

It uses behavioral principles to help insomniacs block the adverse conditioned reflexes formed between bed rest and insomnia, rebuild the benign conditioned reflexes between bed rest and sleep, restore normal sleep patterns, and get rid of insomnia.

① Go to bed only when you feel sleepy;

② Do not do anything other than sleep after going to bed;

③ If you still can’t fall asleep after lying in bed for 20 minutes, you can get up and go to another room to do something monotonous, and then return to the bedroom when you feel sleepy;

④ If you still cannot fall asleep or cannot fall asleep after waking up for 10 minutes at night, you can repeat the procedure;

⑤ No matter how long you sleep a night, use an alarm clock to get up on time every morning;

⑥ Do not take naps or power naps during the day.

2. Sleep restriction therapy

Sleep restriction therapy is to take various measures to consciously help insomniacs reduce the time they spend in bed (but it should be noted that the time they spend in bed should not be reduced to less than 5 hours), thereby increasing their desire for sleep and improving their sleep efficiency.

① Change wrong cognition. Insomniacs often believe that they should prolong the time in bed to increase effective sleep time due to poor sleep. Encourage them to appropriately reduce the time they stay in bed.

② According to your own situation, arrange appropriate sports and activities every morning. Take a 30-minute lunch break at noon, and in the afternoon, you can do painting, music, calligraphy, dance, play cards and other activities according to your previous interests and hobbies.

③ Only allow yourself to go to bed when you feel sleepy at night. It is not advisable to continue watching TV, reading newspapers or eating after going to bed.

④ Get up on time every morning to maintain the stability of your normal biological clock.

3. Relaxation training

By applying and mastering this relaxation technique after going to bed at night, you can put yourself in a state of physical and mental relaxation, which is conducive to falling asleep.

Procedure: Lie flat on your back, stretch your upper limbs naturally, extend your elbows slightly, stretch your lower limbs, separate them naturally, shoulder-width apart, and naturally spread your toes outward. Look upward for a moment, then bring your eyes back to the center, look toward the tip of your nose, and keep your eyes on the lower abdomen below the navel. Focus your mind on the lower abdomen, close your eyes, clench your teeth, press your tongue against the upper palate, and breathe deeply, mainly with abdominal breathing. After silently reciting 2 to 4 breaths, switch to natural breathing. If you cannot fall asleep, repeat 1 to 2 times.

4. Sleep hygiene education

① Understand the physiological knowledge of normal sleep and don’t be afraid of insomnia.

② Develop regular sleeping habits, go to bed and get up on time, and keep the sleep efficiency (sleeping time/time in bed) above 75%. If you cannot fall asleep within 30 minutes after going to bed, get up or do the following relaxation exercises.

③ Ensure that the bedroom is quiet and conducive to sleep, with appropriate light and temperature, etc. Avoid excessive exercise 1 hour before going to bed, and do not engage in non-sleep activities in bed (such as reading, watching TV), especially browsing on your mobile phone.

④ Correct the wrong understanding of insomnia, such as it does not matter if you sleep less, as long as you are clear-headed after getting up, you can work as usual; do not pay too much attention to the length of sleep, what is important is the quality of sleep.

⑤ Correctly understand insomnia and regard the lack of sleep in your life as a personal growth process.

⑥ Seek guidance from a professional doctor on the use of sleeping pills.

⑦ Treat insomnia with the spirit of Morita therapy, endure the pain, and let nature take its course.

5. Rebuild your sleep-related beliefs

Negative sleep cognitions can lead to sleep problems, and adjusting these negative beliefs can improve sleep.

3. Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy can help patients properly deal with conflicts in life and work, understand that sleep is a natural physiological process, and eliminate anxiety and fear of insomnia.

My friends, don’t feel like the sky is falling when you suffer from insomnia. It may take a very long time to relieve insomnia, but if you have firm faith, you will definitely overcome insomnia!

References

[1] Li Lingjiang. Psychiatry[M]. 3rd edition. People's Medical Publishing House, 2015:400,401.

[2] Luo Fengjiao, Song Huihong, Zeng Li, et al. Application of paradoxical intention training combined with sleep restriction therapy in patients with liver cirrhosis and sleep disorders[J]. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 2016, 23(1):16-18.

[3] Lan Shengzuo, Xiong Shengcai, Wan Chun. Evaluation and efficacy of sleep hygiene guidance and relaxation training on insomniacs[J]. Modern Preventive Medicine, 2010, 37(3): 507-508, 511.

Author: Wang Yun and Hu Yanran from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Mental Health Center

Wang Yun

Chief Physician of Shanghai Mental Health Center, Master. Has been engaged in clinical diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric diseases and teaching of medical students for a long time.

Expertise: Clinical diagnosis and treatment of depression and anxiety disorders, neurosis, schizophrenia, and consultation on general psychological issues such as study, work, marriage, etc. Excellent teaching teacher of Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University in 2019. Secretary of CSNP Chinese Depression Researchers Alliance, the first author has published more than ten papers in domestic and foreign journals.

Hu Yanran

Master of Medicine, resident physician at the Mental Health Center affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine.

Research direction: Diagnosis and treatment of psychosomatic diseases.

Funded by Shanghai Science and Technology Commission's Science Popularization Project

(Project No.: 20DZ2311100)