Miracle pill
Not getting enough sleep can cause severe damage. At the brain level, learning, memory,
mood, and reaction time are affected. At the body level, inflammation and increased blood
pressure can occur. When you do not get enough sleep, you may feel tired, affecting your
performance, including your ability to think clearly, react quickly, and form memories. This
can lead you to make poor decisions and put yourself in risky situations. I would not take
that pill. When I sleep, I feel happier, my body feels relaxed, and I concentrate more easily.
Sleep disturbances
Insomnia: it is a long-term condition in which a person has difficulty sleeping. People with
insomnia may also feel tired or sleepy during the day, have low energy, feel irritable,
anxious, depressed, and have difficulty concentrating. Often, the cause is a temporary
problem, such as short-term stress. In some other cases, insomnia stems from an underlying
medical condition.
Sleep apnea: it is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops
and restarts. It occurs when the muscles that support the soft tissues in your throat, such as
your tongue and soft palate, temporarily relax; so the consequence is that your airway
narrows or closes, and your breathing is momentarily cut off.
Night terror: interruptions of sleep that seem similar to a nightmare but are much more
dramatic. It includes frequent and recurrent episodes of screaming, crying, panic, and fear.
Night terrors are caused by an overexcitation of the central nervous system (CNS) during
sleep.
Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness or recurrent
and uncontrollable sleep attacks during daytime hours. Narcolepsy is diagnosed after a
complete medical and sleep history, a comprehensive physical examination, and sleep
testing.
Sleeptalkers and sleepwalkers occur when a person sits up or gets out of bed.
Sleepwalkers usually have no idea what they are doing. Their face usually has a blank
expression, they cannot be easily awakened, and they say incoherent sentences. In children,
it usually occurs between the ages of 4 and 6 years and seems to happen more in boys than
in girls.
Strategies to improve the sleep
Exercise during the day: Exercise supplies oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and helps
the cardiovascular system function more efficiently. It is a strategy that I will apply to reduce
the stress and tension level.
Avoid long naps: Long or frequent naps can interfere with nighttime sleep. In fact, I
sometimes have trouble sleeping at night when I take long naps during the day, so one of
the strategies to improve sleep will be to minimize the duration of naps.
Choose a regular bedtime and stick to it: Following a schedule helps us structure our
time and organize our habits. Routines bring significant benefits to emotional and
psychological well-being, so it is essential to maintain them even in vacations or
confinements such as the one caused by COVID-19.
