Treatment of sleep disorders
The treatment of sleep disorders is slightly different for each disorder and requires a specific approach. However, you should start from adjusting sleep hygiene and making sure its rules are followed and that bad habits are corrected. Psychotherapies also have a place in the treatment of sleep disorders themselves as well as other psychiatric disorders that occur with them.
If various disorders related to insomnia or sleep arrhythmias cannot be overcome with the help of sleep hygiene and / or psychotherapy, different opioids are also used as treatment. However, the use of opioids is usually the last step and the period of their consumption is kept to a minimum so that the person does not become addicted.
Low-dose antidepressants with derogation effects on psychiatric activity are also used, especially in chronic insomnia.
Melatonin is also used to treat sleep disorders. It helps people become drowsy when they need it. However, it should also be borne in mind that melatonin can be addictive, and the consumption of long-term supplemental melatonin will reduce the production of melatonin by the body itself, which may result in exacerbation or return of sleep disorders if the melatonin intake is stopped abruptly.
Bright light therapy can be used to affect a person’s sleep-wake cycle in the short term.
Sleep apnea is treated with a special device CPAP, which helps the patient to reduce the night’s oxygen deficiency, prevent a life-threatening condition and improve the quality of sleep.
