Milano, 13 Nov. (askanews) – In Italy 1 in 4 adults suffer from sleep disorders and 10-15% from chronic insomnia, but the problem often remains underestimated. It was discussed in Milan at “Hypnosis – Turning on a light on the night”, the event, promoted by Neopharmed Gentili, which proposed a journey through 15 works of art dedicated to the theme of insomnia to shed light on the topic. “Insomnia is a reduction in the duration or quality of night’s rest. The first symptom that should alert us is waking up in the morning, in any case getting up in the morning, having the sensation of not having slept enough, therefore having difficulty in dealing with our activities throughout the day”. Said Carolina Lombardi Director of the Sleep Medicine Center, Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS in Milan.
Sleep deprivation can generate numerous pathologies and trigger a series of physical and mental problems. “The psychological risks of insomnia are to stimulate the appearance first of all of anxiety disorders. Secondly of depressive disorders, we think that insomnia is fundamentally a predictive factor of the appearance of disorders that concern mental health, but also physical health, cardiological health, metabolic health and other pathologies” added Claudio Mencacci, psychiatrist and co-president of the Italian Society of Neuropsychopharmacology.
A real problem that also has distant cultural roots that are not easy to undermine. “Thinking that sleeping is a waste of time is an unhealthy concept that has established itself. This fundamental phase for our life, sleep, is the greatest protector of our brain but we should also say of our body” continued Mencacci.
Insomnia can have acute moments but can often become chronic. When faced with sleep disorders it is necessary to first contact your general practitioner. “This does not mean that we necessarily have to cosmeticize the duration of sleep, it means that we must expect to wake up rested and therefore be satisfied throughout the day. The solutions can be different. Depending on the clinical context we are faced with. We must never expect solutions that are too easy, so it is often a path, but it is always worth starting to undertake it” concluded Lombardi.
Science confirms that good sleep is an ally of health, prevention and social cohesion, and invites us to recognize and address insomnia, without trivializing it. This is why the awareness campaign “If you want to be awake, sleep” is online.
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