What does a lethargic dream mean. What is the difference between lethargy and coma? Borderline between life and death

Lethargy is shrouded in numerous mysteries and myths. Even in ancient times, cases of resurrection of the "dead" or burial alive were known. From a medical point of view, lethargic sleep is a very serious disease. In this state, the body freezes, all metabolic processes are suspended. There is breathing, but it is almost impossible to notice. There is no reaction to the environment. Let's try to understand the main causes of the disease and how it can be prevented.

According to the modern view, lethargy belongs to serious diseases with several clinical signs. Let's consider them in more detail:

A sudden slowdown in the functions of internal organs, as well as metabolism.
Breathing is not visually determined.
There is no or suppressed reaction to external stimuli (light, sound), pain.
The aging process slows down. But after waking up, a person rapidly makes up for biological age.

There is still no definite answer why a person falls into a lethargic sleep. Consider the main versions of scientists.

Causes of imaginary death

In fact, it has been proven that lethargy has nothing to do with physiological sleep. The study of the results of electroencephalograms showed that all biocurrents correspond to those in the state of wakefulness. In addition, the human brain is able to react in lethargy to external stimuli.

According to contemporaries, lethargy occurs at the extreme stage of hysterical neurosis. Therefore, the disease is also called "hysterical lethargy". This theory is supported by several well-known facts:

Imaginary death occurs after a strong nervous shock. After all, people prone to hysteria overreact even to the most trifling everyday problems.
At the initial stage, the sympathetic nervous system (which is responsible for conducting impulses to various internal organs) responds to the process, as in a normal stressful situation. Blood pressure rises, body temperature rises, breathing rate and heart work increase.
Statistical studies have established that lethargic sleep often occurs in young women. It is this category that is prone to hysterical neuroses.

Indeed, the woman Lebedina Nadezhda Artemovna, who slept for 20 years, got into the Guinness Book of Records. After waking up in 1974, she was declared completely healthy.

But there are also other world-famous males who have suffered a terrible fate. The English priest after the service for 6 days plunged into lethargy. According to legend, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was found in an unusual position and with torn clothes during the reburial. Scientists also explain the illness of these individuals with moral feelings associated with the occupation.

Not a single scientist undertakes to assert the disclosure of the secret of lethargy. There are people who repeatedly fell into a hysterical sleep. They even learned to predict the state in advance according to certain signs.

Main theories and hypotheses

As a result of research, the scientist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov came to the conclusion that lethargic sleep occurs as the body's response to overexcitation in the cerebral cortex, as well as subcortical formations. A weak nervous system is especially susceptible to the influence of an irritant.

Animal experience has shown that when exposed to a certain pathogen, a protective mechanism is activated at the initial stage. Then the subjects (dogs) froze motionless, as they lost their conditioned and unconditioned reflexes. Fully all vital processes were restored only after fourteen days.

There is also an alternative theory. The occurrence of lethargy is associated with genetics. Dysfunction of the aging gene (autosomal recessive inheritance) explains the rarity of the disease.

Supporters of the infectious theory are of the opinion that lethargic sleep is caused by bacteria, as well as exposure to viral particles. At the same time, the culprits of the disease are considered the bacterium diplococci and the Spanish flu virus. The immune system of some individuals is built in such a way that protective cells pass the infection to the CNS (central nervous system) at the site of inflammation.

You can learn medical facts about lethargic sleep from the plot:

Borderline between life and death

The existence of such a disease horrifies many people. For example, in England, at the legislative level, it is established to ensure the presence of bells in the mortuary. A person after waking up from a lethargic sleep will be able to call for help. In Slovakia, a cell phone is placed in the coffin of the deceased.

Impressive people are stricken with a phobia of fear of death and the possibility of being buried alive. A condition such as taphophobia is widespread. But the probability of burial of a living person in the modern world is reduced to zero for several reasons. Let's consider them in more detail.

A mild and severe form of hysterical sleep is known. In the first case, a person, despite the visible inhibition of important functions, can easily recognize signs of life. A decrease in muscle tone, as well as immobility, occurs against the background of even breathing.

In a severe form, it may seem that the person has died. It is quite difficult to determine the pulse and recognize breathing. The skin becomes pale and cold. There is no pupillary reaction to light. No response to painful stimuli. But deep lethargic sleep, despite the rarity of the phenomenon, is easily diagnosed by a doctor.

In modern medical institutions there is a sufficient amount of equipment and knowledge for a reliable statement of death. Doctors can conduct an instrumental method for assessing the vital activity of internal organs to register the biocurrents of the heart using an electrocardiogram. Brain activity is checked by electroencephalography.

When looking directly at a person with a simple mirror, breathing can be detected. But this method doesn't always work. Heart sounds are also heard.

In lethargic sleep, a small incision or puncture of the ball of the finger will cause capillary bleeding.

In fact, a lethargic state should not be scary. Sleep does not pose a danger to human life. All organs continue to function. Prolonged lethargy leads to exhaustion. Therefore, such people are provided with artificial nutrition. With proper care, even after a long sleep, all the functions of the internal organs are able to fully recover.

Lethargic sleep and coma: difference

These diseases can be confused. But they are very different. A coma occurs due to physiological disorders (severe damage or injury). The nervous system does not work at full strength, and vital activity is supported by special devices. In a coma, a person is unable to respond to external stimuli.

A person is able to independently get out of a lethargic sleep after some time has passed. To restore consciousness after a coma, a long course of therapy will be needed.

How to prevent lethargy?

Doctors cannot come to a consensus about the cause of the disease. Therefore, even now there is no single method for the treatment and prevention of lethargy. According to reports, people should adhere to several rules to avoid apathetic as well as lethargic attacks.

Lethargic sleep is one of the sleep disorders that is extremely rare. The duration of such a state can last from several hours to several days, less often - up to several months. Only a few dozen cases have been recorded in the world when a lethargic dream lasted several years.

The longest "sleep hour" was recorded in 1954 by Nadezhda Lebedina, who woke up only twenty years later.

Causes

To date, medicine can not yet answer with certainty what is the cause of this condition. Based on many data, lethargic sleep is primarily due to the occurrence of a deep inhibitory process that occurs in the cut of the brain. Most often, such a disorder occurs after suffering severe and emotional shocks, nervous imbalance, hysteria, against the background of physical exhaustion.

Such a dream stops as suddenly as it began.

Symptoms of lethargic sleep

The symptoms of lethargic sleep disorder are quite simple. A person sleeps, while physiological processes do not bother him (I don’t feel like eating, drinking, getting up, and so on), the metabolism in the body decreases. The patient has practically no reactions to external stimuli.

Mild cases of lethargic sleep are characterized by the immobility of the patient, while his eyes are closed, breathing is even, not interrupted, the muscles are completely relaxed. In this form, this type of disorder has the appearance of just a full-fledged deep sleep.

The severe form has distinctive features:

Muscular hypotension;
Paleness of the skin;
There is no reaction to external stimuli;
Arterial pressure is lowered;
Some reflexes are missing;
The pulse is practically undetectable.

In any case, after waking up, a person should be registered with a doctor for further monitoring of his body.

Diagnosis of the disease

Lethargic sleep should be distinguished from narcolepsy, epidemic and coma. This is very important, since the methods of treatment for all these diseases differ significantly from each other.

It is not possible to conduct any research or laboratory tests. In this case, it only remains to wait until the patient wakes up and independently tells about his feelings.

Treatment Methods

Actually, the methods of treatment are purely individual. With lethargic sleep, it is not necessary to hospitalize the patient. It is enough just to leave him under the close supervision of relatives and friends. It is worth noting that a person with such a disorder should be provided with normal living conditions in order to avoid subsequent problems upon awakening. What does it mean?

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 drugs and alcoholic beverages at the same time.

Lethargic sleep is one of the most unknown and least understood phenomena of the human body. It is so rare that the very concept has acquired a magical halo. This phenomenon has a second name - imaginary death, and this is quite understandable. Despite the fact that the person is not dead, he falls asleep so deeply that it is almost impossible to wake him up. At the same time, all vital functions not only stop and cease their activity, but slow down so much that it can be very difficult to notice them. Basically, they freeze.

Outwardly and at first glance, lethargic sleep (lethargy) is no different from ordinary sleep. A sleeping person can cause concern to those around him only if he does not wake up during the day, especially if he does not even change his position all this time. Of course, if this is not the result of too much overwork, when a person is able to sleep for a day.

Scientifically, lethargy is a painful condition associated with:

emotional shock;
mental disorder;
severe physical (anorexia) or mental exhaustion.

A person stops responding to any stimuli, all processes in the body practically stop. Even the pulse and breathing become so weak and superficial that an inexperienced person can take such a state for death, although the brain continues to work actively.

More often, women fall into lethargy, and mostly young ones.

Scientists explain the “departure” into deep sleep as an attempt to isolate oneself from problems and experiences. That is, it is a kind of protective reaction of the body. Most likely, it is - there are many cases when, with strong emotional experiences, a person constantly sleeps (of course, in this case, not lethargic). Similarly, the body defends itself by trying to conserve energy during an illness. That is why it is believed that sleep is the best medicine.

These conditions are usually not treated. However, with prolonged inexplicable sleep, it is recommended to undergo a comprehensive examination to identify the true causes of such prolonged sleep.

Considering that the human brain is still very poorly studied, and all hypotheses are based mostly on assumptions and subjective interpretations of research results, the causes of lethargic sleep are still unknown. Scientists believe that this is the result of a strong slowdown in the processes in the cerebral cortex.

However, the main factors that could provoke such a state can be identified:

mental disorder (hysteria, depression, nervous breakdown);
physical exhaustion (prolonged fasting, anorexia, severe blood loss);
a rare form of streptococcus that provokes a sore throat.

According to the observations of scientists, lethargy is often inherent in people who have had a sore throat, and the infection had a special, rather rare form. It is believed that this infection is the cause of lethargy.

Even though lethargy looks just like normal sleep, it is a completely different process. Until a certain time, it was impossible to distinguish between them - the only difference could be only the duration of such a "sleep", which sometimes cost people their lives. Fortunately, modern technology and advances in medicine make it possible to distinguish between ordinary sleep, lethargy, coma and death.

There are two ways to determine for sure that a person is at least alive:

Electroencephalogram.
Pupillary reaction to light.

The first case is more scientific and naturally more reliable. Its essence lies in the fact that the encephalograph captures nerve impulses in the brain. During normal sleep, the brain is at rest, or at least its activity is less active than in the waking stage. When a person dies, his brain dies, that is, no activity is recorded. But during a lethargic sleep, when a person, it would seem, is just sleeping, his brain works in the same way as in the active phase. It is in such a situation that one can state or at least assume lethargy.

Interestingly, awakening from a lethargic sleep is as sudden and unpredictable as "falling asleep".

The reaction of the pupils is the easiest way to understand if a person is alive. If he fell into a lethargic sleep, then, as already mentioned, the activity of the body does not stop, so the pupils will in any case respond to the stimulus, even if the rest of the receptors are turned off.

It is possible to clearly fix the symptoms of lethargic sleep mainly only when it manifests itself in an acute form.

The condition is characterized by the following features:

Cold and pale skin.
Hypotension of muscle tissue.
Reduced blood pressure.
Weak manifestation of the pulse (up to 2-3 beats per minute).
Metabolic processes slow down.

When such a condition occurs in a milder form, the person retains chewing reflexes, the eyelids twitch, reacting to light. The brain is in an active phase.

It is possible to distinguish lethargic sleep from coma only by instrumental methods. During a coma, the activity of the central nervous system and reflexes are suppressed, many body functions are blocked, breathing and blood circulation are disturbed. With lethargic sleep, even in severe form, this is not observed.

It is known that many famous people were very afraid of the state of lethargic sleep. This was mainly due to the fear of being buried alive. The most famous story of this nature tells about the famous mystic writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The writer bequeathed to bury him only when traces of decomposition of the corpse become visible. According to Gogol scholars, he really suffered from the fact that he periodically fell into a lethargic sleep, hence the fear. At one time, there was even a version that he really was buried, being in lethargy, and when he woke up, he suffocated in the grave from lack of oxygen.

But this is nothing more than a fictional, albeit interesting, story. The writer was a famous mystic and was not afraid to describe characters in his works that others were afraid to even mention in their thoughts. Such fame of the writer made this story more believable. In fact, Gogol died from a psychosis that overcame him, which he suffered from, probably because of his phobia.

Another well-known case is the awakening of the medieval poet Francesco Petrarca while preparing his own funeral. The poet, however, fell asleep for only 20 hours. After this incident, he lived another 30 years.

There are cases of the last decade when people came to life in the morgue or were buried alive, but removed from the coffin literally immediately, because they began to make sounds. The coffin was immediately opened, but in none of these cases could the person be saved. The main characters of such stories were people of different ages and different sexes.

Another interesting fact has been repeatedly used in cinema and literature. When a person fell asleep for several decades, and woke up in a completely new changed world. It is curious in this case that for all these years he did not turn into a decrepit old man, but woke up at the same age at which he fell asleep. In this phenomenon, obviously, there is some truth, at least this phenomenon can be explained - since all processes in the body slow down almost to a halt, it is logical that the aging process also dies down.

The longest sleep was recorded in a resident of the Dnepropetrovsk region. She quarreled with her husband and fell into lethargy for 20 years, after which she woke up. This incident occurred in 1954 and was listed in the Guinness Book of Records.

Some time later, the same phenomenon took place in Norway. The woman fell into a lethargic sleep after giving birth and slept for 22 years, and when she woke up, she looked just as young. However, a year later, her appearance changed and began to correspond to her age.

Another case occurred in Turkestan. The sleeping four-year-old girl was buried by her parents, deciding that she had died. But that same night they had a dream that their daughter was alive. So, the girl slept for another 16 years, being at the research institute all this time, after which she woke up and felt pretty good and could walk normally. According to the stories of the girl, she lived in her dream and communicated with her ancestor.

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 response 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 dramatically, a person can go without food for several days, urine and feces stop excreting, muscle hypotension sets in, blood pressure drops, 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 symptoms.

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.