What will save you, the sleep of the you who work everyday

 "Very sleepy, but the eyes stare like copper bells" "Eat the most expensive health care products, stay up the deepest night" ...... With the arrival of International Sleep Day on March 21, a number of research reports on sleep The reports are fresh.

These reports show that sleep difficulties have become a common problem faced by contemporary workplace people.

　　The China Sleep Research Report (2022), jointly released by the Institute of Sociology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Social Science Literature Publishing House, shows that over the past 10 years, Chinese people have fallen asleep more than two hours later, with the length of sleep decreasing by 1.5 hours, and only 35% of the country's population can get enough sleep for eight hours, with new mothers, students and workplace workers having particularly prominent sleep problems.

　　 "The more I try to fall asleep, the less I can sleep"

　　 "I usually go to bed at around 2am and get up at 9am, and I can keep my sleep at around seven hours." Xiao Zhang, who works for an internet company in Beijing, told reporters that going to bed before 24:00 is almost an "impossible task" for him because of the need to follow up on work projects at all times.

　　A report entitled "2022 China Workplace Youth Sleep Quality Report", which was formed by a random survey of users in the websites of Zhi Lian Recruitment and a social application, shows that 52% of young people in the workplace go to bed later than 24:00.

　　Wang Yu (a pseudonym), a 38-year-old civilian police officer, also suffers from the difficulty of falling asleep. "I'm afraid of missing police calls, and I can't sleep when there are no police calls." Wang Yu told reporters, "The more I want to fall asleep, the more I can't."

　　 "Nearly three quarters of respondents have had trouble sleeping." The 2022 China National Healthy Sleep White Paper, jointly launched by the China Sleep Research Association and Muse, shows that the percentage of respondents who have trouble sleeping every day, often, or occasionally is over 73%.

　　Nearly 70% of late sleep is related to mobile phones

　　 "I don't know if this counts as bedtime OCD, I'm definitely looking at my phone before I go to bed." Mr Jiang, who works in IT (information technology) in Fuzhou, told reporters. Xiao Zhang is also highly dependent on his mobile phone. He told reporters that he often plays with his phone at night while charging, "brushing short videos, reading microblogs, and then chatting with friends, sometimes falling asleep while doing so."

　　The 2022 China National Healthy Sleep White Paper shows that nearly 70% of late sleep is related to mobile phones, with playing on mobile phones, playing games and catching up on drama becoming the top three reasons for sleeping late.

　　Mr. Jiang told reporters that sometimes he would suddenly wake up, "like there was something left undone, and somehow he fell into anxiety".

　　Fan Tengteng, deputy director of the Department of Sleep Medicine at Peking University's Sixth Hospital, told reporters that playing with mobile phones before bedtime can indeed lead to insomnia.

On the one hand, when people brush videos and play games on their phones, the cerebral cortex is in an excited state, while going to sleep requires the cerebral cortex to be in a relaxed state; on the other hand, the blue light released from the phone screen will inhibit the pineal gland from secreting melatonin, affecting the quality of sleep.

Therefore, it is advisable not to play with mobile phones for 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime to create a good sleeping environment.

　　 "In fact, it's not just mobile phones, but prolonged exposure to electronic screens before bedtime, such as using laptops and tablets, can also lead to delayed secretion of endogenous melatonin (your own secretion of melatonin), which can take longer to fall asleep and make you more sleepy the next day." Van Tenteren says.

　　What can be done to save sleep?

　　Mr Jiang told reporters that in order to improve the condition of light sleep and easy waking, he purchased a bottle of 60 capsules of melatonin products online and insisted on taking it daily.

　　In the interview, the reporter found that many people who are troubled by sleep problems in the workplace, are choosing to "prescribe treatment", taking melatonin and other health products, hoping to improve the quality of sleep.

　　So, will taking melatonin really make people sleep better?

　　According to Van Temten, there are many different causes of insomnia, and only a small percentage of them are related to insufficient melatonin production. Melatonin is still classified as a "health supplement" or "dietary supplement" rather than a prescription drug.

It can be taken for a short period of time in cases of jet lag, night shifts and in some elderly people where melatonin production is significantly reduced. However, if melatonin is used in large quantities over a long period of time, it can increase the burden on the liver and lead to disruption of the body's own hormone secretion.

There are a variety of melatonin available on the market today, so it is important to pay attention to the dosage when taking it and seek guidance from a medical professional if necessary.

　　 "If you are a working person who occasionally stays up late, it is recommended that you do not take the next day to try to 'make up' for the missing sleep on the first night, which can easily lead to a vicious cycle."You can adjust your sleep rhythm back to a normal routine by taking moderate breaks and keeping the light on," said Van Tengten.

He also suggests that people with severe insomnia at night are not advised to take a lunch break during the day, as sleeping too long during the day may lead to worse sleep quality at night. If you are in the habit of taking a lunch break all year round, it is advisable to take a lunch break of no more than 40 minutes at the most.