2023-11-10 09:49:41
According to Bruno Comby, “the sleepless night must still remain exceptional”.
Atlantico: Dans a new study, it seems that occasional sleepless nights can combat some of the symptoms of depression. How to explain such a situation?
Bruno Comby : This article in fact underlines that sleepless night, of which we are well aware of the numerous disadvantages and harmful short-term consequences on health, concentration, memory, reflexes, does not only have disadvantages, but would also, at least sometimes, an advantage: that of helping to fight once morest depressive states, in this case by stimulating the production of dopamine. Let us first emphasize that this study is an occasional practice, under no circumstances should one regularly practice sleepless nights, which would be highly harmful to health, like all forms of lasting sleep deprivation. . As a general rule, we must give our body what it asks for: sufficient, healthy and restorative sleep. The sleepless night must remain exceptional. But, as with our diet (eating less from time to time, intermittent fasting, etc.), a small one-off and occasional deprivation of sleep constitutes a stimulus, a sort of training which can prove useful, provided you do not overdo it. .
What are the mechanisms that sleepless night activates, which allow the body to better fight depression? Do they also help fight other pathologies or health problems?
According to this study, it is by increasing the production of dopamine that a sleepless night partly promotes brain functioning and the fight once morest nervous depression. Too little dopamine production leads to chronic fatigue, demotivation, prevents concentration and promotes depressive states.
Conversely, greater dopamine production leads to more vitality and energy. Dopamine is both a natural neurotransmitter (it participates in the conduction of nerve impulses) and a hormone that regulates mood and vitality.
Note that the consumption of alcohol and drugs (obviously strongly discouraged) also leads to a drop in dopamine production and that, conversely, a healthy diet, sufficiently rich in magnesium and tyrosine (amino acid making it possible to produce dopamine) is useful. Meat, eggs and seafood such as fish, shellfish, etc. provide, among other things, tyrosine.
It is very possible and even probable, given these mechanisms, that well-supervised sleep deprivation makes it possible to fight not only once morest depression, but also once morest chronic fatigue, demotivation, impotence and burnout.
To what extent is stress necessary to enable the body to better adapt? Should we think that our new lifestyles, very sedentary and (to a certain extent) very preserved, make occasional sleepless nights necessary?
Stress is part of life! It is a natural and non-specific reaction of the body to any stimulation given to it. This is the definition of stress, stated by Professor Hans Selye, a Canadian physiologist, who thus defined stress regarding a century ago. In other words, in simpler terms, stress is a beneficial reaction of our body, a form of useful stimulation (notably hormonal), which pushes us to act in the event of danger to escape danger.
So yes, stress is natural, it is even a vital necessity. Life is movement, novelty and constant adaptation! However, the abuse of stress and various stimulations destroys our health (physiological stress with junk food, noise stress, environmental stress, hormonal stress repeated by dangerous lifestyle behaviors, the consumption of psychoactive drugs or the consumption of coffee, alcohol, drugs, excessive consumption of certain medications).
Sport, by increasing metabolism, helps compensate for the sedentary lifestyle that results from our modern lifestyle. Assisted by all kinds of robots that do everything for us: from the robot mixer for the kitchen to the cars to get us around, the elevator or the escalators to go up to altitude, we no longer use our muscles sufficiently, we don’t spend no longer enough energy.
Many of our contemporaries live as if in a cocoon, are excessively sedentary and too protected from everything. They then become fragile, and fall ill at the slightest change in climate, temperature, location or circumstances.
We need to become “anti-fragile” once more (a philosophy and lifestyle that is currently very popular in California) by remaining focused on a healthy lifestyle, but also by varying our sleep rhythms and our living conditions a little, with more physical activity, but also a healthy diet and stimulating (in moderation) our body in different ways (movement, dietary variations, occasional variations in sleep rhythm).
Apart from sleepless nights, what other behavioral attitudes can be useful to integrate into your habit?
The basic rules of preventive health are always the same: a healthy diet, as natural as possible (rich in raw vegetables, not too processed), avoid toxic foods and junk food (ultra-processed foods, overcooked foods, industrial sugar in powder, frying at high temperature), practice regular physical activity (with the opposite from time to time… rest). To restore balance and regain our natural health, we must do on a daily basis what is good for our body and, occasionally, abstain or even do a little of what disrupts balance, to stimulate our adaptation mechanisms. . We must combine the pleasures of a simple and healthy life, with the occasional stimulation of our defenses by not always remaining in our “comfort zone”. Our defense mechanisms and our immune system, like athletes and like an army, also need to train to be effective. We therefore also need (a little but not too much) adversity, and, when it comes to sleep, a little occasional (not too frequent) deprivation of our sleep will help our body function better and adapt well to the different circumstances of our lives. Varying the parameters (+ and -) to stimulate our defense and adaptation mechanisms is a way of developing our potential and our health. Always in moderation and without excess, whether it is sport (which, let us note in passing, is a way of tiring your body by over-stimulating it) or sleep deprivation/sleepless nights. Going to bed late or not sleeping from time to time, punctually and occasionally, in moderation: YES, every day: NO.
Sleepless nights, if repeated, can be dangerous. How not to take risks?
First, listen to yourself and don’t force yourself. Always respect the pain or the warning signals that our body gives us.
Indeed, sleepless nights can stimulate the brain functions of certain depressives. But, even more so if it is repeated, it is harmful to health at other levels.
It was observed following a single sleepless night a loss of efficiency, memory lapses, difficulty concentrating, etc.
Repeated sleepless nights lead to heart disease, high blood pressure and an increased risk of stroke. It is therefore not recommended to have a lot of sleepless nights, whether you are depressed or not!
On the other hand, learning better control over your sleep and doing “sleep gymnastics” by occasionally training yourself to sleep a little less or a little more than usual will strengthen your health, your ability to adapt and make you “anti -fragile” that is to say stronger, more resistant to the stresses of life, in better health!
As this article demonstrates, sleepless night does not only have disadvantages, but it still has many, so it should be used rarely and in great moderation!
The basis of prevention for your health remains eating well and sleeping better, neither too much nor too little, and above all at the right time. Take a nap to learn how to sleep better by breaking up your sleep!
Like intermittent fasting, all-nighters must remain a very occasional practice, for example, no more than once a year or each mid-season. The normal state for our physiology is to eat healthily and sleep well regularly, every day. The state of deprivation (fasting or sleep deprivation) can help strengthen our health, but if and only if it remains rare and controlled.
You will thus build optimal health in all circumstances and better sleep, deeper, more restorative, more flexible too, to live better, happier, longer and in great shape, by sleeping better, more regularly and, occasionally, differently !
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