Why Do We Want to Cover Up Even If We Are Not Cold?

From a logical perspective, you may think that this habit of ours is seriously unwarranted, because when we complain of sweat during the daytime, we go to bed at night. our tendency to cling to a blanket that will overwhelm us even more. quite surprising.

When one of us falls asleep, we make it a reflex to cover this behavior. why we insist on doing Let’s consider all aspects.

Although it is not possible to say that it is universal, the use of blankets is quite common.

If we take it historically, in 3500 BC Linen bed sheets in Egypt, cotton sheets in medieval Europe, and wool sheets in the Roman Empire It was in the position of valuable household items that were used quite a lot. After the Middle Ages, especially in Europe, due to the increase in production, middle class people began to be able to buy bedding.

Historian Roger Ekirch also noted that in Western European homes during the period, the most valuable item is almost bedding and even newly married couples allocate almost a third of the money they would spend to set up their houses to these teams.

Before these types of covers such as blankets and sheets became widespread, they were used to warm up in the bed. multiple people sharing the same bed or the same with some farm animals lying on the ground methods such as

Until today, the number of studies on beds is very few. The most notable among these was the compilation of sleep studies conducted in different parts of the world, published in 2002 by Carol Worthman and Melissa Melby.

This review basically leaves out that the time allotted to sleep is one-third of human life, It is a great loss that it is not studied as a discipline. It begins by emphasizing that

Through this work, people in the Equatorial region are subject to scrutiny and, apart from the nomadic ones, Almost everyone uses a veil in some way. detected. In different parts of the world, everyone actually prefers a cover in some way. Even in tropical climates such as Africa and Papua New Guinea, the sleep ritual does not take place without a veil.

This cover is not just a blanket or pique. Besides, surprisingly plants is also used for this purpose.

So why do we insist so much on using cover in general terms?

Director of the Sleep Disorder Center, Dr. Alice Hoagland behavioral and psychological It states that there are two different components that cause the need for cover.

About 60-90 minutes before the time we are used to going to bed, our body temperature begins to drop and secretion of the hormone melatonin starts. In addition, a relaxation is felt when the body cools down. Contrary to popular belief, when body temperature increases, people feel more alert.

In a study related to the subject, when the body temperature drops a little, It is stated that the subjects have a healthier sleep process.

Our body’s ability to regulate its temperature becomes quite complex at night.

For example, if an 8-hour sleep period is taken into account, the body temperature drops an average of one degree in the first 4 hours. In the second four-hour period, rapid eye movements (REM sleep) are active and dreams begin to appear. a series of physical changes it occurs.

One of these physical changes occurs in the heat regulation system. At this point, Dr. Alice Hoagland described the behavior of humans to regulate their body temperature by rolling over in bed. It resembles the thermal regulation system of reptiles.

The reason why this situation is named this way is that reptiles, lack of body temperature regulation systems such as sweating and shivering like mammals originates. Reptiles flee to cool shadows to control their body temperature or vice versa.‘finds it reaching under.

For this reason, instead of sweating and trembling like mammals during REM sleep, humans; moving like lizardstries to regulate their body temperature.

Even in warm climates, the temperature tends to drop at night, and it is the coldest time of night before dawn.

It is characteristic of mammals that humans sleep REM sleep in the morning. the heat regulation system does not work and they try to maintain their body temperature just like lizards. In fact, even though we know that we are never cold when we go to bed, we think that we will need a blanket in the morning for this reason.

In addition, we almost all agree on the relaxing effect of lying on the bed with a blanket or pike, but the need for cover is not just that. During REM sleep, the serotonin in our body tends to decrease rapidly and As a serotonin neurotransmitter, it makes us feel happy and good while staying calm. also contributes.

Again, many studies on the subject reveal that sleeping with a heavy and thick blanket increases the production of serotonin in the brain. in other words The brain that doesn’t know what to do during REMthat blanket or pike on us helps.

From another point of view, another element in the emergence of the need for covering is pure conditioning.

A person who is covered with a blanket when he is going to sleep since infancy, involuntarily associates sleep and covering. Just like Pavlov’s dogs’ mouths water when they hear the bell, we actually start our sleep process when we see the blanket.

Many studies in the last ten years have shown that heavy blankets are on humans. calming effect has revealed. It is known that a kind of blanket called an anxiety blanket is used in the treatment of anxiety and autism with a weight of about 13 kilograms.