What is the treatment for anxiety and lack of sleep ?

Anxiety is a psychological state that appears in the form of constant tension as a result of the individual feeling that there is a danger threatening him, and this danger may actually exist or be imagined and does not exist in reality. Anxiety becomes in need of treatment and follow-up if it has no logical cause or exceeds its normal level. Causes of pathological anxiety include exposure to repeated frustrations and bad experiences, childhood problems and bad experiences, psychological preparation, or physical harm.

Symptoms of anxiety:

There are several symptoms that accompany a state of anxiety , and they can happen to a person who is always exposed to severe stress depending on the individual’s personality and health, and the symptoms can be summarized as follows:
Feeling tired.
Rapid heartbeat.
Feeling nauseous.
shortness of breath.
Chest pain.
headache.
Collywobbles.
High blood pressure and increased sweating.
Tension in social gatherings and settings.
Feeling nervous and angry.
Difficulty concentrating.

There are two ways in which anxiety is treated, and the two methods may be used together, which are:
Medication treatment : by taking anti-anxiety medications and sedatives that reduce anxiety, but these medications may cause addiction if taken for a long time. There are also anti-depressant medications . The role of these medications is to influence the work of neurotransmitters, which have an important role in the emergence of anxiety and stress disorders. Medications should not be taken except after consulting and following up with a specialist doctor.
Psychological treatment: It is done by specialists in the field of mental health, by setting up psychological sessions that use cognitive behavioral therapy and psychological treatment methods.

A person may experience sleep problems that affect him, such as taking hours before going to sleep, or constantly falling asleep and waking up, or sleeping for only a few hours, or feeling as if he has not slept at all. There are many reasons that may cause lack of sleep; Such as anxiety or depression, and hormonal changes during menstruation in women. There are some people who suffer from lack of sleep or lack of sleep due to a change in place. Whereas, if he moves from one place to another, or travels to a country or place, changing his biological clock leads to difficulty sleeping, which affects him negatively, so he loses the ability to concentrate, and becomes tired and exhausted. The reason may also be the unsuitability of the sleeping place, so it becomes It includes technology that affects sleep or inappropriate lighting that prevents sleep.

Behavioral therapy: There are several types of effective behavioral treatments for sleep problems: Where the person with the problem can treat himself by himself or through a specialist, and an example of behavioral therapy is what is called “stimulus control” by Professor Richard Butzen, which are rules that re-adapt and eliminate habits related to sleep problems in the sleep environment, so he associates the bed or bed with sleep, such as going Go to bed only when feeling sleepy , use the bed only for sleeping, do not read or watch TV in bed, do not eat in bed, do not worry and avoid it when lying in bed.

This treatment helps to modify wrong thoughts and learn new ways of thinking. Wrong ways of thinking include:

Misunderstanding the reason, and the person believes that if he experiences anxiety during the day, it is due to not getting enough sleep, even though the reason may be a problem other than insomnia.
Despair , and the person expects that he will never be able to sleep enough and therefore he is subconsciously preparing himself for not sleeping.
Unrealistic expectations, such as a breastfeeding mother expecting to sleep for long hours without her baby being accustomed to waking up at night.
Exaggerate the consequences of not sleeping well; For example, the person believes that he will be embarrassed in the work meeting and will fail the next day if he does not sleep that night.
Anxiety about the sleep process and the individual’s performance in it; For example, the person tells himself that it will take hours for him to fall asleep. All of these thoughts are modified in the person who suffers from sleep problems because of them, and cognitive behavioral therapy may be used to make it more effective.

In some cases, the doctor may resort to prescribing medications that help sleep, especially in severe cases of insomnia. The doctor prescribes effective medications in small doses for a period of a few days, but some doctors hesitate to use them because they may not serve the purpose in the long term, so they should be used for a short period of time. One of its disadvantages is that it does not solve the causes of the problem, and may cause drowsiness during the day. Types of medications prescribed to treat sleep problems include:

Some types of special medications and tranquilizers for anxiety that are only available with specific medical prescriptions.
Some medications that specifically treat insomnia and sleep problems. Some types of antidepressants , especially used for patients who have a history of depression.
Some medications that contain the hormone melatonin to regulate sleep hours, especially in the elderly.
Some complementary treatments may help regulate sleep and solve insomnia problems, such as using acupuncture.