Sleep

Sleep is inextricably linked to consciousness, being its flip side, defined as the antipode of consciousness. That is, it is not defined at all, just like consciousness itself. Understanding sleep is as difficult a problem as the difficult problem of consciousness.

 

In sleep, consciousness leaves the person, and the senses lose touch with reality. On the face of it, sleep is a more than questionable endeavor from an evolutionary perspective, especially for those not at the top of the food chain. The conscious choice of sleep conditions and its restorative effects are crucial to natural selection.

 

Sleep is an absolute physiological necessity for humans: sleep deprivation or restriction leads inevitably to death.

 

Humans sleep according to circadian rhythms. They do not hibernate like bears, nor can they sleep separately with left and right hemispheres like dolphins or seals.

 

Humans have not learned how to regulate the transition from wakefulness to sleep, nor have they found a recipe for quality sleep. To date, there are no safe drugs, devices or apps to fall asleep quickly and improve sleep quality.

 

There are ways related to breathing control that provide calming, relaxation and reduction of psycho-emotional tone for quick transition from wakefulness to sleep, but not all people have the patience and will to acquire such skills.

 

During night sleep each person goes through four to six complete cycles of slow and rapid (or paradoxical) sleep, and if during slow sleep brain activity decreases, then during rapid sleep, when dreams are dreamed, its intensity does not differ from the brain activity of the awake person.

 

Night and daytime sleep differ significantly: most adults do without daytime sleep. Daytime sleep is restorative in nature, contributing to increased performance and improved cognitive abilities, so many people like to sleep in the afternoon, and in the offices of some companies there are “quiet rooms” in which you can nap for 20-25 minutes during the working day, there are “quiet capsules” and hotels for short-term daytime sleep for all comers.

 

A good night's sleep is taken for granted, but a bad night's sleep becomes a nightmare for its possessor. Long-term observations have shown that poor sleep leads to an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes, negatively affecting immunity, memory and cognitive abilities, psychological well-being and, in general, the quality and duration of life.

 

It is safe to say that there is a direct link between sleep quality, productivity and human longevity.

 

Sleep breathing disorders - from mild snoring to severe forms of obstructive sleep apnea - are the most common causes of poor sleep that reduce sleep quality, cause blood pressure spikes, spontaneous awakenings and poor well-being.

 

Most often, prolonged tedious falling asleep and poor sleep are not associated with diagnosable diseases, the treatment of which requires medication and medical procedures, but with the natural process of aging and associated neurodegenerative changes, the effects of excitement and stress of everyday life, individual characteristics of the nervous system, flights between different time zones.

 

Regardless of the nature of poor sleep, its consequences are always negative. People have realized the importance and value of sleep, created a huge market of sleep products with hundreds of billions of dollars, invented Sleep Tech and Consumer Sleep Technology, but have not started sleeping better. Because there are no simple ways to get a good night's sleep.

 

A good mattress and a comfortable blanket are important - they have a psychosomatic effect on the user, making them feel good in bed through the release of pleasure hormones. But they do not help you sleep better or prevent spontaneous awakening, snoring or sleep apnea. And when falling asleep, psychosomatics does not always and not everyone works. A good mattress and a comfortable blanket have no functional mechanism of influence on a sleeping person with a high feedback rate, capable of improving the breathing of the sleeper or improving the quality of his sleep.