What is the cause of insomnia and dreaminess?

Insomnia and dreaminess should be said to be one of the biggest problems that troubles modern people's sleep health. In fact, many people in life also have this trouble. In fact, one-third of a person's life is spent in sleep. If the quality of sleep is not guaranteed, then the quality of life cannot be fundamentally guaranteed.

Insomnia and dreaminess are precisely the reactions of many diseases. Chinese medicine believes that there are many reasons for insomnia and dreaminess, and no matter which aspect of these problems, they will bring a fatal blow to human health. So what is the reason for insomnia and dreaminess?

Insomnia and frequent dreams are just as stated in "Lingshu·Dahuo Lun": "Wei Qi cannot enter Yin, and always stays in Yang. If it stays in Yang, Yang Qi will be full, and if Yang Qi is full, Yang Qiao will be prosperous; if it cannot enter Yin, Yin Qi will be weak, so the eyes cannot close." "Lingshu·Xie Ke Pian" points out: "Now that Jue Qi invades the five internal organs and six bowels, Wei Qi moves alone outside, moves in Yang, and cannot enter Yin. If it moves in Yang, Yang Qi will be prosperous, and if Yang Qi is prosperous, Yang Qiao will sink. If it cannot enter Yin, Yin will be deficient, so the eyes cannot close." It can be seen that the disharmony of Yin and Yang is the key to insomnia and frequent dreams. Traditional Chinese medicine for treating insomnia and dreaminess has a history of thousands of years. From the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine to the Compendium of Materia Medica, there are records of relevant medicines and prescriptions. The biggest advantage of traditional Chinese medicine in treating insomnia and dreaminess compared to Western medicine is that it can cure the disease from the root. For example, traditional Chinese medicine has achieved good results in improving insomnia.

There are four main theories about insomnia in traditional Chinese medicine: the theory of the rise and fall of yin and yang, the theory of the circulation of nutrition and defense, the theory that the heart is the master of the spirit, and the theory that the brain is the master of the spirit. Although there is a debate in clinical practice about whether "the brain is the master of the spirit" or "the heart is the master of the spirit", many doctors, while acknowledging that the heart and brain are both masters of the spirit, often have different emphases based on clinical practice. Modern traditional Chinese medicine discussions on the mechanism of insomnia are based on this.

Traditional Chinese medicine sleep theory summarizes the Yin-Yang sleep theory, the Wei Qi circulation sleep theory and the Shenzhu sleep theory. Taking the Yin-Yang sleep theory as the general outline, it reveals the basic principles of sleep and wakefulness; the Wei Qi circulation sleep theory is the concretization of the Yin-Yang theory, which reveals the movement nature of sleep; and the Shenzhu sleep theory highlights the holistic view of sleep in traditional Chinese medicine, revealing that sleep is a form of life activity of the human body as a whole. He summarized insomnia as: insomnia due to yin deficiency, insomnia due to stomach disharmony, excessive sleep due to yang deficiency, and excessive sleep due to dampness. In his understanding of sleep, he also particularly emphasized the dominant role of yin and yang. Human emotional activities are the brain's reflection of objective things, and this reflection falls within the scope of heart and brain nerve activities. The liver is responsible for regulating mental and emotional states, so the heart, brain, liver and sleep are closely related.

There are many theories and treatments for insomnia. Many doctors have explored the mechanism of insomnia based on clinical practice. The famous traditional Chinese medicine doctor Li Shaohua has proposed some new ideas for diagnosis.

1. Treatment from the perspective of the five internal organs: Some scholars believe that the etiology and pathogenesis of insomnia mainly manifest in the liver, affecting the five internal organs and taking into account the actual symptoms of the five internal organs. It advocates the holistic view that "all five internal organs can cause insomnia", and adopts a treatment system that starts with the liver, takes other organs into consideration, and differentiates and adds or subtracts symptoms. Based on this, a treatment plan for insomnia is formulated according to the different organs.

2. Treatment from the perspective of mental emotions . Mental emotions are closely related to insomnia, and thus insomnia is divided into worry type, suspicious type, tension type, and depression type. They are treated with the methods of clearing heat and purging fire, soothing the liver and relieving adverse effects, nourishing yin and clearing heat, regulating qi and relieving depression, clearing the heart and calming the mind, and harmonizing the liver and spleen, and good results have been achieved.

3. Treatment based on circadian rhythm: Human sleep is a physiological activity with circadian rhythm, and insomnia is the result of the disorder of this normal sleep-wake rhythm. Following this rule, we propose to treat insomnia by “adapting measures to the circumstances”.

4. Treatment from the perspective of the interaction between the heart and the kidney: All insomnia is caused by "fire not returning to its roots". All treatment plans ultimately need to return to the issue of "guiding fire back to its roots and interacting with the heart and the kidney". Insomnia is divided into five types: liver qi stagnation type, kidney essence deficiency type, heart fire excess type, meridian stasis type, and phlegm-dampness blockage type.

5. Treat insomnia from the perspective of liver and spleen. Many causes and pathogenesis of insomnia are related to liver and spleen disorders. The selection of TCM theories, methods and prescriptions for treating insomnia should focus on regulating the liver and spleen on the basis of syndrome differentiation and treatment.

The quality of sleep determines the quality of life. Therefore, if you want to have a better quality of life, you must maintain a high-quality sleeping environment on a daily basis so as to better promote the health of your body. Of course, if there are problems in this regard, you must adjust them in time so as to reduce the occurrence of diseases.