Dreaming of Mental Stress Leading to Insomnia

In modern society, people are experiencing increasing levels of stress, leading to heightened mental tension. When faced with academic, work, family, and other issues, individuals often feel overwhelmed, constantly preoccupied, and trapped in a cycle of anxiety. As a result, their sleep quality is inevitably affected, manifesting in symptoms such as difficulty falling asleep, early awakening, and vivid dreams. Patients suffer greatly and urgently seek psychological help.

So, what should be done about insomnia caused by mental stress? How can it be treated quickly?

1. Engage in relaxation exercises regularly, two to three times a day, for about five minutes each time. The method involves sitting in a chair, maintaining proper posture of the head and back, and sequentially relaxing the muscles in different parts of the body, starting from the neck, back, arms, legs, and feet. Another method is to massage the feet: Sit on a cushion and use your thumbs to make circular motions on the soles of the feet, massaging the entire foot, followed by gently patting the muscles of the calves and thighs.

2. Lie in bed, place a folded towel over your eyes, and completely relax your body. Try not to think about anything for about ten minutes, and you will feel refreshed afterward.

3. Listen to soothing music, such as "The Blue Danube," "Hungarian Dances," "Bamboo Tune," and others.

4. Laughing heartily in a healthy and carefree manner is the best way to relieve mental stress and an enjoyable way to vent.

5. Vitamin C is an ideal substance for alleviating daily emotional stress. Taking an appropriate amount of vitamin C in the morning and noon is beneficial for maintaining a positive mood. Vitamin B helps maintain mental balance, and you can consume foods rich in vitamin B, such as dried vegetables, animal liver, and bread.

How to improve insomnia caused by mental stress?

In the busy life, people have basic material and spiritual requirements. These needs often create a certain level of pressure, making it difficult for some individuals to relax from their demanding work and life, resulting in sleepless nights.

Insomnia is not just a single night of sleeplessness. It also affects one's mental state the next day, causing fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and anxiety about struggling to fall asleep the following night, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle.

After experiencing several days of insomnia, individuals may feel overwhelmed by the heavy tasks they face, unable to overcome difficulties, and constantly in a state of mental tension. To treat and improve insomnia caused by stress, the following methods can be adopted:

1. First and foremost, it is essential to relieve excessive emotional tension. Sleep is an active inhibition process of the central nervous system. The inhibitory process generated in any cortical area spreads extensively and diffuses to the subcortical region, which then induces sleep. If there is excessive emotional tension, anxiety, and constant worry, a strong excitatory focus will form in the corresponding cortical area, interfering with the spread of the inhibitory process of falling asleep, making it difficult to sleep. Regardless of how important an exam, competition, or other significant events are, after careful and repeated preparation until the eve of the event, it is important to have full confidence in one's work and preparation, maintain a firm belief in success, engage in light exercise or entertainment to relax the mind, and eliminate concerns and distractions related to success or failure. This is an important prerequisite for achieving restful sleep.

2. Correct any misconceptions about sleep and eliminate the fear of insomnia. Some people believe that if they sleep less for a certain period, they must compensate for the lost time; otherwise, it will affect their energy levels. However, many individuals have experienced that during war or other critical periods, even with less sleep, they still feel energetic. This indicates that humans have great potential. Both mental and physical energy have certain reserve capacities. Therefore, even if you have trouble falling asleep temporarily, do not be anxious; on the contrary, the more anxious you become, the more difficult it is to fall asleep.

3. Some individuals have concerns about dreaming, thinking that dreaming is also "insomnia." This is a misconception about dreams. Psychological observations have confirmed that people experience dreaming (referred to as "dream sleep") for about 5 to 6 periods during their nightly sleep, with each period lasting from 5 to 30 minutes.