What is a lethargic dream. A state of lethargy or a dream that is confused with death Is there a lethargic dream
Marina SARYCHEVA
“After severe suffering, death or a state that was considered death ... All the usual signs of death were found. His face was haggard, his features sharpened. Lips became whiter than marble. Eyes clouded. Rigor has come. The heart didn't beat. So she lay for three days, during which time her body became as hard as a stone.
You, of course, recognized the famous story of Edgar Allan Poe "Buried Alive"?
In the literature of the past, this plot - the burial of living people who fell into a lethargic sleep (translated as "imaginary death" or "little life") - was quite popular. Famous masters of the word addressed him more than once, describing with great drama the horror of awakening in a gloomy crypt or in a coffin. The state of lethargy for centuries has been shrouded in a halo of mysticism, mystery and horror. The fear of falling into a lethargic sleep and being buried alive was so common that many writers became hostages of their own consciousness and suffered from a psychological illness called taphophobia. Let's give some examples.
F. Petrarch. The famous Italian poet, who lived in the 14th century, fell seriously ill at the age of 40. Once he lost consciousness, he was considered dead and was about to be buried. Fortunately, the law of that time forbade burying the dead earlier than a day after death. The forerunner of the Renaissance woke up after a sleep that lasted 20 hours, practically near his grave. Much to the surprise of everyone present, he said that he felt great. After this incident, Petrarch lived for another 30 years, but all this time he experienced an incredible fear of the thought of being accidentally buried alive.
N.V. Gogol. The great writer was afraid that he would be buried alive. It must be said that the creator of Dead Souls had some grounds for this. The fact is that in his youth Gogol suffered malarial encephalitis. The disease made itself felt throughout life and was accompanied by deep fainting followed by sleep. Nikolai Vasilyevich was afraid that during one of these attacks he might be mistaken for the deceased and buried. AT last years of life he was so frightened that he preferred not to lie down in bed and slept sitting up so that his sleep would be more sensitive.
However, in May 1931, when the cemetery of the Danilov Monastery was destroyed in Moscow, where he was buried great writer, during the exhumation, those present were horrified to find that Gogol's skull was turned on its side. However, modern scholars refute the reasons for the writer's lethargic sleep.
W. Collins. The famous English writer and playwright also suffered from taphophobia. According to relatives and friends of the author of the novel "Moonstone", he experienced torments of such a strong form that he left a "suicide note" on his table by the bed every night, in which he asked to make sure of his death by 100% and only then to give the body to burial.
M.I. Tsvetaeva. Before her suicide, the great Russian poetess left a letter with a request to carefully check whether she really died. Indeed, in recent years, her taphophobia has become very aggravated.
In total, Marina Ivanovna left three suicide notes: one of them was intended for her son, the second for Aseev, and the third for the “evacuees”, those who will bury her. It is noteworthy that the original note was not preserved by the "evacuees" - it was confiscated by the police as material evidence and then lost. The paradox lies in the fact that it contains a request to check whether Tsvetaeva has died and whether she is in a lethargic sleep. The text of the note “evacuated” is known from the list that was allowed to be made by the son.
Lethargic sleep (lethargy, imaginary death) is a rare sleep disorder that manifests itself as a state resembling "deep sleep". In a state of this type of sleep, a person is completely motionless, he has no reaction to external stimuli and all his life processes slow down, in fact, a person resembles a “breathless body”. Lethargic sleep can last from a couple of hours, up to several years. There is even a case in which a person slept for decades. However, it is worth noting here that lethargic sleep is in itself an extremely rare disease, and its long-term manifestation is even much more rare.
CAUSES OF LETHERGIC SLEEP
To date, it has not been possible to establish the exact causes of the development of lethargic sleep.
Cases of the onset of lethargic sleep are not uncommon, after a person has experienced severe stress. Lethargic sleep often occurs in people who are more prone to stress and have a tendency to tantrums. Most often, this type of sleep occurs in hysterical women.
The causes of lethargic sleep also include:
- sleeping sickness;
- stress, hysteria, physical exhaustion;
- hypnosis;
- head injury;
- brain diseases;
SYMPTOMS AND COURSE OF LETHARGIC SLEEP
The symptoms of this disorder do not shine with variety. Before falling into a lethargic sleep, people observe a slowdown in metabolic processes, breathing slows down so that it is not visible at a glance, a lack of reaction to pain and other external stimuli.
During a person's stay in a lethargic dream, he is not an old woman, but upon awakening, he quickly catches up with all his biological years.
People who are in a lethargic sleep, under certain circumstances, perceive the events taking place around them, but cannot react to them. This condition should be distinguished from and encephalitis.
With a mild form of lethargy, the patient looks like a person sleeping in a deep sleep. He has easy breathing, relaxed muscles, a slightly lower temperature, but he retains swallowing and chewing functions.
In a severe form, a person's temperature drops sharply, a person can go without food for several days, urine and feces stop excretion, muscle hypotension sets in, decreases arterial pressure, the pulse is poorly felt, the skin turns pale, there is no reaction to painful stimuli, the reaction of the pupils to light disappears, dehydration and other signs occur.
If feeding the patient in the usual way is impossible, then a special probe is used.
Due to a long sleep, a person waking up receives a whole bunch of various negative consequences caused by prolonged immobility.
TREATMENT OF LETHARGIC SLEEP
Lethargic sleep does not require immediate hospitalization of the patient. The patient must be kept under constant supervision in order to provide him with all the conditions of life. It is extremely important to provide the patient with proper nutrition and the amount of fluid consumed, isolate him from extraneous annoying noises, change bed linen, maintain a comfortable temperature, warm in cold weather, and avoid overheating of the patient in hot weather. The fortified food should be given to the patient in liquid form. Also, do not forget about hygienic care for the sick.
BURNING ALIVE
In lethargic sleep, a person is immobilized, does not respond to stimuli, it is almost impossible to feel the pulse, breathing slows down and even the heartbeat is almost not noticeable.
People who lived in ancient times had a fear of being buried alive. In 18th century Germany, the Duke of Mecklenburg even imposed a ban on the burial of a person in his domains, less than three days after death. After a short time, this rule went beyond the domain of one duke, and began to spread across the continent.
Over time, or rather already in the 19th century, special coffins began to appear, which were so designed that a person could survive in them for some time and give a signal through a special tube that came out of the coffin to the surface that he was alive. Also, some time after the funeral, the graves were visited by priests. Their duties included sniffing the pipe that came out of the coffin, and if he did not smell cadaveric decomposition, then the grave was opened in order to make sure that the person had really died.
Also, sometimes a bell was attached to the tubes in the coffins, so that a person who woke up in the coffin could give a signal by calling them.
Description:
Lethargy (ancient Greek λήθη - "oblivion", and ἀργία - "inaction") - a painful condition similar to sleep and characterized by immobility, lack of reactions to external irritation and a sharp decrease in the intensity of all external signs of life (the so-called " small life", "imaginary death"). Lethargic sleep, as a rule, lasts from several hours to several weeks, and in rare cases - even months. It is also observed in the hypnotic state.
Causes of lethargy:
Why some of us are able to fall into a deep and serene (at first glance) sleep. Modern medicine calls such a reason as the consequences of severe mental trauma. Lethargic sleep in this case acts as a special kind of self-defense. The body needs to survive the peak stressful situation, and it includes defense mechanisms. Such dreams are usually short-lived and short-lived.
Another cause of lethargy is organic disease brain. A special form of such sleep is observed in the so-called neuropsychiatric disease, which occurs in patients with schizophrenia.
Not a single person is immune from stress and strong nervous experiences. There are really very "thick-skinned" people, but they also have their own "Achilles heel", the defeat of which can lead to a serious mental shock. So what happens is that we are all potentially prone to lethargy?
Healthy people with a certain mindset can fall into a lethargic sleep. If a person has a very vulnerable and easily excited psyche, increased suspiciousness, uncertainty about the near future, constant nervousness and obsessive black thoughts, then with a probability of one in a hundred thousand, an imaginary death can be provoked by a continuous series of events that require enormous nervous tension.
An example of this is the image of the great Russian writer Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich (1809-1952). There are persistent rumors that during the reburial of his body in 1931, when the coffin was opened, those present saw a strange picture: the body lay on its side, the head rested on the side wall, two fingers on right hand the writer were broken, and there were old ones on the inside of the coffin lid.
Symptoms of lethargy:
It occurs with general exhaustion, after strong unrest. The attack is sudden, lasts from several hours to several years (a case of 22 years is known). Consciousness is usually preserved - patients perceive and remember the environment, but do not react to it. Hibernation with encephalitis or should be distinguished from lethargic sleep.
Lethargic sleep can manifest itself in two forms: heavy and light.
A person suffering from a severe form of lethargy, according to external signs, becomes like a dead person: cooling of the skin, pallor, lack of response to light and pain, a pulse that cannot be felt; heartbeat slows down to 2-3 beats per minute, superficial imperceptible breathing. A person loses weight, biological secretions practically stop.
A patient with a mild form also remains motionless, relaxed, however, maintains even breathing and incomplete perception of the surrounding world.
Academician I.P. Pavlov described the sick Ivan Kuzmich Kachalkin, who slept for 22 years - from 1896 to 1918. He was in a catatonic state - "lying like a living corpse without the slightest voluntary movement and without a single word." He had to be fed with a tube. In the last years until his 60th birthday, he gradually began to make some movements, eventually he was able to get up to use the toilet and sometimes eat without assistance. Regarding his past state, Ivan Kachalkin explained that “he understood everything that was happening around him, but he felt a terrible, irresistible heaviness in his muscles, so that it was even difficult for him to breathe.” He died in September 1918 from .
Diagnostics:
If doctors have suspicions about the possibility of lethargic sleep, then they:
Take an electrocardiogram or an electroencephalogram;
- make a thorough examination of the body, trying to detect injuries that are clearly incompatible with life (for example, craniocerebral), or obvious signs of death (for example, rigor mortis);
- check with a slight incision;
- Carry out a blood test.
Treatment for lethargy:
This disease does not require immediate hospitalization (unlike coma), and the patient prevails under the regular supervision of relatives and friends at home. It is very important to ensure all living conditions in order to avoid serious health problems in the future.
First of all, it is important to take care of the comfort of a characteristic patient, to allocate a separate room for him, to protect him from extraneous sounds and noises, and also to change bed linen regularly. In cold weather, warm the body with a blanket, and in hot weather, avoid overheating, thereby maintaining a normal temperature regime.
In addition, it is very important to provide proper nutrition. That is, by artificial means to avoid the final depletion of the body. Food should be served exclusively in liquid form, while it should be fortified and balanced. Also, do not forget about the danger of dehydration, providing sufficient volumes of fluid consumed. The range of acceptable products should be discussed with the attending physician on an individual basis, after which all medical recommendations should be strictly followed.
Additional drug therapy is not required at all, although in some cases clinical pictures immunotherapy becomes superfluous. However, again, all their actions in relation to the patient, relatives and friends must first coordinate with a specialist qualified in this matter.
It is also important not to forget about high-quality hygienic care, which will noticeably stop irreversible aging processes and keep a well-groomed and tidy appearance of a sleeping person. Such responsibility is placed on the shoulders of relatives and friends who should not leave their infirm relative in such a state.
After his awakening, life returns to its previous course, and the patient himself does not suspect that he has suffered a sufficiently long illness.
A special painful condition of a person, reminiscent of deep sleep. A person can be in a state of lethargic sleep from several hours to several weeks, and in exceptional cases it can drag on for years.
Causes.
Transferred severe emotional stress;
Some features of the human psyche;
Head injuries, severe brain bruises, car accidents;
The stress of losing loved ones.
There are cases when people were introduced into a state of lethargy through hypnotic influence.
Some doctors believe that the cause is a metabolic disorder, while others see here a kind of sleep pathology.
Possible Complications. If the immovable state lasted for a long time, then the person returns from it, having received such complications as vascular atrophy, bedsores, septic lesions of the bronchi and kidneys.
Symptoms. Lethargic sleep is characterized by:
lack of response to any external stimuli,
complete immobility,
a sharp slowdown in all vital processes.
Human consciousness in a state of lethargy, he usually persists, he is able to perceive and even remember events around him, but he is not able to react in any way. This condition must be distinguished from narcolepsy and encephalitis.
In the most severe cases, there is a pattern imaginary death: the skin turns pale and cold, the reaction of the pupils to light stops, the pulse and breathing are difficult to determine, blood pressure drops and even strong pain irritations do not cause a response. For several days, a person cannot eat or drink, the excretion of feces and urine stops, there is a sharp dehydration of the body and weight loss.
In milder cases of lethargy, the breathing is even, the muscles relax, the eyes sometimes roll back and the eyelids twitch. But the ability to swallow and make chewing movements is preserved, and the perception of the environment can also be partially preserved. If feeding the patient is impossible, then it is done using a special probe.
Diagnostics. Many are afraid of being buried alive, but modern medicine knows how to prove whether a person is alive. To do this, the doctor electrophysiological studies of the heart and brain, so you can learn about the work of the heart and brain activity. When a person is in a lethargic sleep, the indicators involve the weak functioning of the organs.
Medical experts must carefully examine the patient, looking for signs that are characteristic of death - rigor mortis, cadaveric spots. If there are no signs described above, they can make a small incision, examine the blood, check its circulation.
Treatment. Lethargic sleep does not require treatment. The patient, as a rule, does not need to be hospitalized, he remains at home, among relatives and friends. No need for medicines; food, water, vitamins, it is administered in dissolved form. The most important thing in this state is the care that relatives must carry out: hygiene procedures, compliance with the temperature regime.
The patient should be in a separate room so that he is not disturbed by the surrounding noise - most of those who came out of a lethargic sleep say that they heard everything, but could not answer. Any action in caring for a patient should be considered by a doctor - this is a very unusual disease, little studied and incomprehensible even to the scientific world, so even the smallest care, such as temperature, environment, lighting, must be taken into account.
Prevention. A single method for the treatment and prevention of lethargy has not been developed. According to reports, people should adhere to several rules to avoid apathetic as well as lethargic attacks:
1. Avoid exposure to direct sunlight in hot and humid weather;
2. Drink a sufficient amount of liquid (preferably plain boiled water);
3. Limit the intake of sweet foods and foods containing starch, include as much vegetable fiber in the diet as possible;
4. Avoid sleep deprivation and do not sleep too long;
5. Do not use at the same time medications and alcoholic drinks.
Lethargic sleep is a serious disease. With lethargic sleep, the body freezes, stops working, metabolic processes stop. There is breathing, but it is weak and not noticed. A person does not react to the environment, nothing can wake him up.
Causes of lethargic sleep
Until now, medical scientists are figuring out the reason why lethargy appears. We only noticed that this condition is associated with a severe mental state - it occurs after a severe hysterical fit, when a person is very worried, has experienced a stressful situation, if the patient's body is exhausted.
Recently, scientists have seen the connection of lethargy with a bacterial infection, which is caused by streptococcus, diplococcus. Those who suffer from lethargic sleep have an unusual and rare form of streptococcal bacteria, they appear because of them, then they mutate and lead to this terrible disease.
Symptoms of lethargic sleep
The signs depend on the form of the disease, it can be mild or severe, the latter is dangerous because many confuse it with and can bury a person alive. His skin is white, cold, his pulse and breathing are not heard, he does not respond, there is no reaction to pain, light and sounds. Over time, the patient's state of health may worsen, he abruptly begins to lose weight.
With a light lethargic sleep, the patient does not move, is in a relaxed state, breathes evenly and can partially perceive the world. The disease is dangerous because no one knows when lethargy will begin and end. Some may sleep for years. There were cases that patients were in such a dream for about 25 years, while the heartbeat was slow.
Modern medicine can distinguish lethargic sleep from death, but so far no drug or other method has been developed for this disease.
Examples of lethargic sleep
1. Many soldiers fell asleep during the war, it was impossible to wake them up.
2. A nineteen-year-old girl, having survived a strong one, fell asleep in a lethargic dream for 8 years.
3. A resident of India experienced constant nervous tension, stress, then fell ill with lethargy and fell asleep for 7 years. At the same time, he did not open his eyes, did not speak, looked like a dead man. He was carefully cared for, vitamins were injected into his body through tubes, nutrients, they were inserted into the nose. To avoid bedsores, the position of the patient's body was constantly changed, in order to eliminate blood stagnation, muscle massage was performed. In a dream, he fell ill, his temperature rose sharply to 40 degrees, then dropped to 34 degrees. The patient at first was able to move his hand, then he began to open his eyes only after one month he sat down. Vision appeared after 6 months, from a lethargic sleep it completely disappeared a year later.
4. The famous poet Francesco Petrarca fell into a lethargic sleep for three days, everyone thought that he had died, and when they kept him, he woke up near the grave, after that this did not happen to him, he lived normally for another 40 years.
What happens to the patient during lethargic sleep?
A person who has fallen asleep is conscious, can perceive and remember everything, but cannot react to the environment and cannot wake up. It is important to distinguish this type of disease in time from a disease such as encephalitis.
Due to the fact that a person does not eat or drink for a long time, he does not urinate, does not defecate, noticeably loses weight, dehydrates the body. If a lethargic dream proceeds in a mild form, a person is motionless, breathes evenly, his muscles are relaxed, his eyelids may tremble, his eyeballs are rolled up. At the same time, a person can swallow and chew, perceives the environment a little. In this situation, the person is treated with a probe.
Some doctors refer to lethargic sleep as mental illness, others with metabolism. Lethargic sleep is most often associated with superficial sleep, due to the fact that it is motionless for a long time, it has a large number of diseases - sepsis in the renal, pulmonary system, bedsores, vascular atrophy.
Coma and lethargy, what's the difference?
Although the two diseases are very similar, they are different. provoked by physical disorders - trauma, severe damage. Wherein nervous system works incompletely, the physical condition of a person is supported with the help of special devices. In a coma, a person also cannot respond to various stimuli around him.
If you can get out of lethargy on your own, after some time, you can get out of coma only after a long course of therapy.
Diagnosis of lethargic sleep
Many are afraid of being buried alive, but modern medicine knows how to prove whether a person is alive or dead, especially if he had cases of lethargic sleep in his family. To do this, the doctor conducts an ECG and ECF, so you can learn about the work of the heart and brain activity. When a person is in a lethargic sleep, the indicators involve the weak functioning of the organs, if a person dies, everything freezes in him.
Medical experts must carefully examine the patient, looking for signs that are characteristic of death - the body stiffens, begins to rot, cadaveric spots appear. All these signs are visible in the morgue.
In the event that there are no signs described above, they can make a small incision, examine the blood, check its circulation. It is also necessary to investigate what could lead to lethargic sleep - a seizure, low blood pressure, frequent headaches, great weakness, seizure.
So, lethargic sleep is a dangerous disease, because many people confuse it with death and can bury a person alive. AT modern medicine there are a large number of innovative methods by which you can find out whether a person is alive or dead. Most often, lethargy occurs after experienced stress, a serious illness.