TED | 害怕失眠，才是导致你失眠的罪魁祸首

原标题：TED | 害怕失眠，才是导致你失眠的罪魁祸首

视频介绍

是什么让你彻夜难眠？深思的问题？兴奋的一次大旅行？强调未完成的工作？如果让您保持清醒的是压力，那该怎么办呢？这个看似无法解决的循环，其实才是失眠的核心，失眠是世界上最常见的睡眠障碍。那么究竟什么是失眠呢？有没有办法打破这种循环？

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What keeps you up at night? Pondering deep questions? Excitement about a big trip? Or is it stress about unfinished work, an upcoming test, or a dreaded family gathering? For many people, this stress is temporary, as its cause is quickly resolved.

是什么导致你晚上睡不着？思考某些深刻的问题？为旅行感到兴奋？或者是因为各种压力，来自未完成的工作的、即将来临的考试的、或是来自可怕的家庭聚会的压力？对很多人来说，这种压力是暂时的。

But what if the very thing keeping you awake was stress about losing sleep? This seemingly unsolvable loop is at the heart of insomnia, the world’s most common sleep disorder. Almost anything can cause the occasional restless night - a snoring partner, physical pain, or emotional distress.

因为压力来源很快便会消失。但是，如果那个导致你失眠的原因正是害怕失眠的压力呢？这个看似无法解决的死循环是失眠的核心，世界上最常见的睡眠问题。几乎任何事情都可以造成一个不眠之夜：一个打呼噜的同伴，身体上的疼痛，或者情绪上的困扰。

And extreme sleep deprivation like jetlag can throw off your biological clock, wreaking havoc on your sleep schedule. But in most cases, sleep deprivation is short-term. Eventually, exhaustion catches up with all of us. However, some long-term conditions like respiratory disorders, gastrointestinal problems, and many others can overpower fatigue.

还有，像极端剥夺睡眠时差，还可以打乱你的生物钟，破坏你的睡眠时间表。但是在大多数的情况下，睡眠剥夺是暂时的。最终，疲劳会打败任何人。可是一些长期的症状，比如呼吸系统疾病，肠胃问题，还有很多其他原因，都给予疲劳打败我们的机会。

And as sleepless nights pile up, the bedroom can start to carry associations of restless nights wracked with anxiety. Come bedtime, insomniacs are stressed. So stressed their brains hijack the stress response system, flooding the body with fight-flight-or-freeze chemicals.

随着不眠之夜越来越多，卧室开始与那些未眠夜关联起来，被焦虑所充斥。每到睡觉时间，失眠患者便会感到压力。由于压力太大，患者的大脑开始干涉人体压力反应系统的运作，在人体产生大量抗击-逃避-或静止的化学物质。

Cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormones course through the bloodstream, increasing heart rate and blood pressure, and jolting the body into hyperarousal. In this condition, the brain is hunting for potential threats, making it impossible to ignore any slight discomfort or nighttime noise.

皮质醇和促肾上腺皮质激素在血液中流动，提高心率和血压，以及刺激身体进入过度清醒的状态。在这样的情况下，大脑搜索潜在的威胁，让大脑无法忽视任何不适或者噪音。

And when insomniacs finally do fall asleep, the quality of their rest is compromised. Our brain’s primary source of energy is cerebral glucose, and in healthy sleep, our metabolism slows to conserve this glucose for waking hours. But PET studies show the adrenaline that prevents sleep for insomniacs also speeds up their metabolisms.

当失眠患者最终睡着了，他们的睡眠质量已受到影响。我们大脑最主要的能量来源是脑葡萄糖， 在健康的睡眠中，我们的新陈代谢放缓，以保存脑葡萄糖供我们清醒时使用。但是，PET (正电子发射断层扫描) 研究显示，防止失眠患者睡眠的肾上腺素同样也加速他们的新陈代谢。

While they sleep, their bodies are working overtime, burning through the brain’s supply of energy-giving glucose. This symptom of poor sleep leaves insomniacs waking in a state of exhaustion, confusion, and stress, which starts the process all over again.

当他们睡觉时，他们的身体还在加班，消耗脑葡萄糖的能量。睡眠不好的症状使得失眠患者在疲惫，困惑和充满压力的状态下醒过来，这个过程一晚又一晚的重复。

When these cycles of stress and restlessness last several months, they’re diagnosed as chronic insomnia. And while insomnia rarely leads to death, its chemical mechanisms are similar to anxiety attacks found in those experiencing depression and anxiety. So suffering from any one of these conditions increases your risk of experiencing the other two.

当压力和疲劳的循环持续几个月后，他们会被诊断为慢性失眠症。虽然失眠症很少导致死亡，但它的化学机制与焦虑发作时产生的抑郁和焦虑的化学机制很相似。所以患上这些症状中的任何一种，会提高你患上另外两种症状的风险。

Fortunately, there are ways to break the cycle of sleeplessness. Managing the stress that leads to hyperarousal is one of our best-understood treatments for insomnia, and good sleep practices can help rebuild your relationship with bedtime. Make sure your bedroom is dark and comfortably cool to minimize “threats” during hyperarousal.

幸好，是有方法可以打破失眠的循环。管理导致高度觉醒的压力，是我们知道已知的治疗失眠的方法之一，而且好的睡眠习惯可以重建你的睡眠时间。确保你的卧室足够黑暗和凉爽，让高度觉醒中的“危险”达到最小。