Help with sleep onset problems and nightmares

You toss and turn restlessly in bed, change your sleeping position, drink some milk or water, lie back down in bed, perhaps count sheep or count backwards from 100 – but nothing helps. You simply cannot fall asleep, even though you are tired. In most cases, a doctor is consulted for advice and a sleeping pill is requested, if this condition persists over a longer period of time. However, one cannot and should not rely on medication in the long term. Doctors and experts recommend behavioral therapy methods. These do not harm your health and help you fall asleep better.

Home remedies for sleep disorders

Warm milk with honey

Anyone who falling asleep problems has, or suffers from nightmares, should try drinking some warm milk with honey and anise before going to bed.

Tea with lemon balm and valerian

If you don't like milk with honey, you can also try a cup of tea with lemon balm and valerian.Examinations for clarification

Thyroid problems or depression?

Often, simple things can be the cause of insomnia. Doctors therefore often examine their patients for hyperthyroidism or try to rule out depression. However, if these findings are negative, further research is conducted.

Psychoeducation

In psychoeducation, a behavioral therapy conversation is often very useful. Sleep-wake monitoring is also a way to get to the bottom of insomnia. For this, a detailed conversation before the monitoring is of course necessary, in which patients learn what normal sleep is and how much we actually sleep at night.

Expert tips: avoid heavy food, alcohol, and horror movies before going to sleep.Relaxation therapies

Autogenic training, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, yoga, or Tai-Chi: all these methods can help to work against sleep disorders.

The effect does not occur immediately, but is achieved little by little. It is important here, of course, that the patient performs the therapies regularly, as otherwise a positive effect can hardly be achieved.The only drawback:Sleep restriction

With this method, the time the patient sleeps is significantly shortened for a certain period. As a rule, this method is tried for about 2 weeks. The sleep time is reduced, for example, from 8 to 5 hours. If success is achieved, the sleep time should be slowly extended. Through this training, many patients return to

regular sleep times.Stimulus control

With this procedure, it is important that people with sleep problems only go to bed when they

really feel tired. You should not get up immediately or constantly. Ruminating and reflecting are also sometimes reasons why people with sleep disorders simply cannot fall asleep. Those affected should always go to bed at the same time, be really tired, and avoid naps during the day.Cognitive techniques

Many people lie in their beds, dwell on their thoughts, and rack their brains. This can certainly rob you of the sleep that every one of us urgently needs. It is important, however, to

interrupt the carousel of thoughts and try to detach yourself from the problems. Experts recommend cognitive techniques for this: unpleasant thoughts are let go, calming images are evoked in order to reach a restful sleep.Did you know?

No one really sleeps through the night completely. We all wake up briefly several times during the night, but we hardly remember any of it in the morning. Our body only really recovers properly in the deep sleep phases, while during the REM cycles (when our brain is working harder, processing experiences, etc.), sleepers move more or less, turning and tossing several times.

The duration of sleep also varies:

Short sleepers get by with five or six hours of sleep, while long sleepers need up to ten hours of sleep. Those who have trouble falling asleep can also do a little exercise in the evening. The body is in motion, releases stress hormones, which in turn make you tired. on help with falling asleep and nightmares

Read also: Is sleeping in a Swiss pine bed healthier?

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