Lethargic sleep is an interesting case. Symptoms and course of lethargic sleep. The longest lethargic sleep

Lethargy is shrouded in numerous secrets and myths. Even in ancient times, cases of resurrection of the “dead” or burial alive were known. WITH medical point vision, Sopor relates to very serious illnesses. In this state, the body freezes, all metabolic processes are suspended. There is breathing, but it is almost impossible to notice. No reaction to environment. Let's try to understand the main causes of the disease and how it can be prevented.

According to modern idea, lethargy belongs to serious diseases with several clinical signs. Let's look at them in more detail:

1. Sudden slowdown in functions internal organs, as well as metabolism.
2. Breathing is not visually detected.
3. No or suppressed response to external stimuli(light, sound), pain.
4. The aging process slows down. But after waking up, a person quickly catches up biological age.

There is still no clear answer why a person falls into lethargic sleep. Let's 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. A study of the results of electroencephalograms showed that all biocurrents correspond to indicators in a state of wakefulness. In addition, the human brain is capable of reacting 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:

1. Imaginary death occurs after severe nervous shock. After all, people prone to hysteria overreact even to the most trivial everyday problems.
2. On initial stage the sympathetic nervous system (which is responsible for conducting impulses to various internal organs) responds to the process, as in normal stressful situation. Rising arterial pressure, body temperature, respiratory rate and heart function increase.
3. Statistical studies have found that lethargic sleep often occurs in young women. It is this category that is susceptible to hysterical neuroses.

Indeed, a woman named Nadezhda Artemovna Lebedina, who slept for 20 years, was included in the Guinness Book of Records. After awakening in 1974, she was declared completely healthy.

But there are also others worldwide famous representatives males who suffered a terrible fate. After the service, the English priest plunged into lethargy for 6 days. According to legend, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was found during reburial in an unusual position and with torn clothes. Scientists also explain the illness of these individuals by moral experiences associated with their occupation.

Not a single scientist undertakes to claim to have uncovered the secret of lethargy. There are people who have repeatedly fallen into hysterical sleep. They even learned to predict the condition in advance based on certain signs.

Basic theories and hypotheses

As a result of research, 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 irritants.

Animal experience has shown that when exposed to specific pathogen At the initial stage, the defense mechanism is activated. Then the subjects (dogs) froze motionless, as they lost their conditioned and unconditioned reflexes. All vital processes were fully 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 type inheritance) explains the rarity of the disease.

Proponents of the infectious theory are of the opinion that lethargic sleep is caused by bacteria, as well as exposure to viral particles. The culprits of the disease are considered to be diplococcus bacteria and the Spanish flu virus. The immune system In some individuals, it is built in such a way that protective cells allow infection into the CNS (central nervous system) at the site of inflammation.

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

The borderline between life and death

The existence of such a disease terrifies many people. For example, in England legislative level It was established to ensure the presence of bells in the morgue. 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.

Impressionable people are affected by the phobia of fear of death and the possibility of being buried alive. A condition such as taphophobia has become widespread. But the probability of burying a living person in modern world reduced to zero for several reasons. Let's look at them in more detail.

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

In severe cases, the person may appear to have died. It is quite difficult to determine the pulse and recognize breathing. The skin becomes pale and cold. There is no reaction of the pupils 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 sufficient equipment and knowledge to reliably confirm death. Doctors can conduct instrumental method assessing the vital activity of internal organs to record the biocurrents of the heart using an electrocardiogram. Brain activity is checked by electroencephalography.

By directly examining a person using a simple mirror, breathing can be detected. But this method does not always work. Heart sounds are also heard.

During lethargic sleep, a small incision or puncture of the fingertip 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 artificial nutrition. With proper care even after long sleep all functions of internal organs are able to fully recover.

Lethargic sleep and coma: the difference

These diseases can be confused. But they are very different. A comatose state occurs due to physiological disturbances (severe injuries or trauma). Nervous system does not work at full strength, but vital functions are supported special devices. In a coma, a person is unable to respond to external stimuli.

A person is able to independently emerge from lethargic sleep after some time. To restore consciousness after a coma, a long course of therapy will be required.

How to prevent lethargy?

Doctors cannot come to a consensus about the cause of the disease. Therefore, even now there is no uniform method of treating and preventing lethargy. According to reports, people should follow several rules to avoid apathetic as well as lethargic attacks.

Contents of the article

The etymology of the word “lethargy” goes back to the Greek language: Lethe is the river of oblivion in the kingdom of death; "argia" - inaction. Lethargic sleep is defined as a deep stupor associated with depression of consciousness and the inability to move. The term appeared in the 18th - 19th centuries, when doctors discovered that many people who showed no signs of life were asleep, but were mistaken for the dead. It was difficult to distinguish lethargic sleep from death; taphophobia appeared - the fear of being buried alive.

Lethargy from a medical point of view

Today International classification diseases classifies lethargy as a sleep disorder with a diagnosis of “malaise and fatigue” (code R53). Its treatment is the responsibility of neurologists and psychiatrists. They call the pathology “hysterical hibernation,” a complication of neurosis.

Clinical signs of hysterical lethargy:

• hypobiosis – slowing down the functioning of all body systems;
• reduction in energy costs and reduction metabolic processes;
• muscle relaxation, lack of voluntary movements;
• weakening of the reaction to external stimuli (pain, sound, touch);
• the sleepy state lasts from several days to 1.5-2 decades.

Hysterical hibernation can be mild and severe form. In the first case, a person breathes calmly in his sleep, can chew and swallow, has normal temperature. In severe cases, the sleeper looks like a dead person: the body is cold, the pupils do not react to light, the heartbeat and brain function can only be detected with the help of instruments.

Symptoms and signs

Lethargic sleep begins unexpectedly, and awakening occurs just as suddenly. Distinguish an attack of lethargy from deep sleep allow the following symptoms:

• the sleeper does not wake up for many hours, and no one can wake him up loud noise, neither cold nor sudden movements;
• all muscles are extremely relaxed, the body and face are motionless;
• at mild form pathology, breathing, heartbeat, pulse are heard, eyelids tremble in response to a light signal;
• V severe cases signs of life are almost invisible: 2-3 pulse beats and 1-2 breaths occur per minute, body temperature drops to 34-35°, all life processes slow down 20-30 times;
• there is no reaction to all external stimuli, including pain.

Bioelectric activity of the brain shows that lethargy is not physiological sleep: the brain is awake and records all external stimuli. The sleeper hears everything, but does not control his body, and cannot wake up. This is the main difference between lethargic sleep and other disorders known to psychiatry. With diseases such as narcolepsy, sleeping beauty syndrome, and sleepy encephalitis, patients cannot hear what is happening around them while they sleep.

Everything slows down during sleep physiological processes in the body and the person does not change at all externally

A sign of lethargy is the phenomenon of “long youth” and “rapid aging”. During hibernation, the physical body slows down, intellectual development and the growth of the sleeper. Having slept for many years, he wakes up at the age at which he fell asleep, but then he quickly ages and catches up with his biological age. Augustine Leggard from Norway fell asleep after a difficult birth in 1919 and woke up 22 years later as young as she was before the dream. Her “baby” - a 22-year-old daughter - was an exact copy of her awakened mother. Five years later, Augustine aged catastrophically quickly and died suddenly.

In some cases, those who wake up after a lethargic sleep discover that they have abilities that are unusual for them. A four-year-old girl from Kazakhstan, Nazira Rustemova, fell asleep in 1969 and slept for 16 years - throughout her childhood and adolescence. After awakening, she gained the gift of reading other people's thoughts, healing people, and writing poetry in English, which she had never learned. A woman may not eat or sleep for days and does not need warm clothes. But she admits that these abilities are becoming weaker over the years.

Lethargy and coma: what's the difference?

Coma - dangerous pathology consciousness, in which the connection with the outside world is completely lost, all types of mental activity. As with lethargy, a person who has fallen into a coma does not respond to external stimuli, despite all types of medical stimulation. The duration of sleep during lethargy and the time to recover from a coma also do not depend on the efforts of doctors.

But coma poses a great threat to life; all vital functions of the patient can be lost without timely support from medical devices. Therefore, it is important to quickly identify the differences between lethargic sleep and coma and provide patients with the necessary care.

1. Lethargic sleep begins suddenly and unexpectedly, without visible reasons. Coma develops under the influence of the following factors: physical damage to the brain (stroke, hemorrhage, head injury); internal or external intoxication (brain hypoxia, alcohol, drugs, etc.).
2. The second way lethargy differs from coma is character medical care. Lethargic sleep requires almost no special support for vital functions; the sleeping person is provided with nutrition through a tube, removal of excretory products and hygiene care. Breathing, cardiac activity, and nutrition of a patient lying in a coma must be maintained artificially and constantly monitored.
3. Often coma ends in death, despite all the efforts of doctors. Exit from a coma is possible only with proper therapy, followed by a long period rehabilitation. Lethargic sleep ends with natural awakening, a person is able to immediately join in daily life. A mortally dangerous situation during lethargy is when the person who has fallen asleep is considered dead and is hastened with burial.

How to distinguish between death and lethargy

There is a custom to bury the deceased on the third day after death - then traces of decomposition are obvious to everyone. According to the laws of medieval Italy, the dead were supposed to be buried faster - 24 hours after death, and this almost cost the life of 40-year-old Francesco Petrarca. He lay in a lethargic sleep for only 20 hours; no one had time to pay attention to the absence of traces of decay on his body. He woke up in the middle of his funeral, miraculously escaping a painful death.

Signs of death

ABOUT large quantities Doctors began to guess about burials alive in the 18th and 19th centuries. To recognize the difference between deep lethargic sleep and death was quite difficult at that time for those who were not familiar with medicine. In a severe form of lethargy, there is no pulse, no heartbeat can be heard, breathing leaves no trace on the mirror, the body remains cold - all this looks like death. But its onset is proven by other signs.

• Most reliable way make sure of death - examining the body in search of cadaveric spots; they appear 1.5-2 hours after cardiac arrest and show that vital processes in the body have stopped.
• 3-4 hours after death, rigor mortis develops - the muscles contract and fix the deceased in the position in which he was. Changing your posture requires significant effort.
• 2-5 days after death, signs of decay appear - a cadaverous smell and greenish spots on the stomach and throughout the body.

Many creative people who suffered from taphophobia: N.V. Gogol and M.I. Tsvetaeva, A. Nobel and A. Schopenhauer - knew well how to distinguish lethargic sleep from death. They insistently asked not to bury them without obvious signs of decay.

Signs of lethargic sleep

Only devices can capture life during deep lethargic sleep. An electrocardiogram is capable of recording weak and rare biocurrents of the heart. In the 60s of the 20th century, English scientists tested a similar device in one of the morgues: out of 100 dead, two were found to have fallen into a lethargic sleep, taking a cardiogram became their salvation. Brain activity is recorded by an electroencephalogram. By taking measurements throughout the day, you can even determine when someone who has fallen into lethargy is dreaming about something (phase REM sleep), and how long the waking phase lasts.

Doctors are confident that burying people in a state of lethargy is impossible today. However, even in the 21st century, fatal mistakes are made. At the end of 2011, in the capital of Crimea, musicians were rehearsing a hard rock concert... in a morgue. They hoped that heavy metal would not harm the dead. Their music woke up a sleeping man, who cried out for help from the refrigerator. Less fortunate was a resident of the Pskov region, who no one helped when he woke up in the morgue - he died there from the cold in February 2013.

Why do there be bouts of lethargy?

The phenomenon of lethargy is rare, the attack begins suddenly, and experts find it difficult to explain why it happens. One thing is clear so far: lethargic sleep is the result of the activity of the central nervous system. Its main task is to ensure the working condition of the body by regulating the effects of internal and external factors. When their balance is disturbed and the body is in danger, the nervous system turns on emergency rescue mechanisms. Today there are three versions about the causes of lethargic sleep.

Protective inhibition

This version explains lethargy as a protective reaction of the nervous system to stress. Physiologist I.P. Pavlov showed at the beginning of the 20th century that overexcitation nerve cells after severe irritation leads to complete braking and shutdown of all conditional and unconditioned reflexes. If life events take a turn that the individual cannot withstand, the brain switches the human “computer” to sleep mode. This is how one can explain the attacks of lethargy experienced by Praskovya Kalinicheva, a resident of the Volga region. She survived the loss of her husband, a clandestine abortion, her arrest and exile. While working hard in Siberia in 1947, she fell and fell asleep for a week. Later, many days of sleep overcame her throughout her life: at work, in a store, in a club.

Hysterical lethargy

In the 20th century, doctors began to notice that people with mental disorders, suffering from hysterical neurosis. They tend to be dramatic life situations and respond to them with increased activity. When mental capabilities are exhausted, the patient falls into hysterical hibernation, very similar to catatonic stupor. During such a schizophrenic attack, all the patient’s muscles are extremely tense; he cannot control them, although he maintains clarity of consciousness. A classic example of hysterical lethargy is the story of I.K. Kachalkin, who spent 22 years in a dream under the supervision of I.P. Pavlova. Being an ardent monarchist, Kachalkin took fate to heart Russian emperors what caused mental disorder. Since 1896, he lay without speech or movement, but understood everything that was happening around him. Hearing the news of the shooting royal family in 1918, he emerged from his sleepy state, but soon died of a heart attack.

Are bacteria to blame?

In the decade from 1916-1927. hundreds of thousands of people in Europe began to fall into multi-day sleepy state, many died without waking up. Scientists could not explain the reason for the widespread nature of lethargy. 80 years later, the Englishmen R. Dale and E. Church hypothesized that the diplococcus bacterium could be the cause of the lethargy epidemic at the beginning of the 20th century. It first causes a sore throat, and then affects parts of the midbrain and provokes lethargy.

Examples of lethargic sleep

Many cases of lethargic sleep in the 20th and 21st centuries fall into the category of hysterical hibernation.

Record

The Guinness Book of Records includes the case of the longest stay in lethargic sleep. It happened in Dnepropetrovsk in 1953. A young woman, Nadezhda Lebedina, could not bear her husband’s reproaches, and after a quarrel with him, she fell asleep for 20 years, never having washed her soaked laundry. All these years her mother took care of her. On the day of her mother’s death, Nadezhda was brought to the coffin to say goodbye - screaming, she came out of her stupor. The woman lived another 20 years and recalled that a year before the lethargic sleep, she felt terrible fatigue, loss of strength, and fell asleep on the move.

I don't want a brother

An 11-year-old girl from Slovakia, Nizreta Mahovic, upon learning that she had a brother, suddenly screamed: “ I don't want any brother! I won't love him!"In despair, she fell on the bed and fell asleep for 3.5 weeks. Neither her father nor the doctors could wake her up. She woke up herself - at the hour when her brother died. First of all, the girl asked: “ Where is my mom?».

Don't rush to bury me

Statistics show that the number of cases of lethargy in last years is growing, there is also a danger of being buried alive, despite all the advances in medicine.

• 2014 Greece: in the city of Perea, a 45-year-old woman who had been suffering from cancer for a long time was hastily buried. The doctor, having certified death, could not think that a cancer patient could fall into a lethargic sleep. The mourners did not have time to leave the cemetery when they heard her cries for help. The grave was dug up, but it was too late.
• 2015 Honduras: A young pregnant woman was buried alive here. Her husband heard muffled screams from underground, but they did not have time to save the unfortunate woman.

It is difficult to imagine a situation where every deceased person would have an ECG or brain activity measured to confirm death. It is much easier to take your time with the funeral of loved ones in order to avoid a tragic mistake.

Is it possible to master lethargic sleep?

People do not yet know how to induce lethargic sleep or bring them out of it at will; this requires special spiritual gifts.

Interesting facts related to lethargic sleep are contained in the New Testament. Jesus Christ, about to raise the daughter of Jairus, warned those around him: “The maiden is not dead, but sleeps,” and then cried out in a loud voice: “Maiden, arise!” (Matt. 9:23-26). The resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain occurred during funeral procession, the words of Christ brought him out of his lethargic stupor: “Young man! I tell you, get up!” (Luke 7:11-17). There is evidence in the Bible that the prophet Elijah and the apostle Peter had the same gift.

An almost biblical incident occurred today in Milan. The head of the family fell into a lethargic sleep, but the doctors pronounced him dead. The widow hurried to deliver the “deceased” to the church for the funeral service. An inspired priest, retelling the story of the resurrection of Lazarus, turned to the man lying in the tomb: “Lazarus, arise!” - the “dead man” came to life and, in front of the mourning public, rose from the grave. This fact once again proves that those immersed in a lethargic sleep hear everything and can come out of their stupor under the influence of events that are significant to them.

Should I fall into lethargy?

It is known that Indian yogis self-hypnosis can slow down breathing, the work of consciousness and provoke lethargic sleep. With wax plugs in his nostrils and his mouth gagged, a yogi can lie in a coffin underground for up to a month and a half, and then recover normal functions body. In this way he demonstrates his power over the body.

Trying to fall into lethargic sleep on your own at home is dangerous. Metabolism during lethargy slows down to extreme rhythms; one can cross the line separating “imaginary” death from real one and die completely. It is dangerous to induce a state of lethargy through hypnosis. When a person falls into a state of lethargy, the hypnotist risks losing control of his consciousness and will not be able to bring him out of sleep.

Lethargy is a reaction human psyche to unfavorable situations in the outside world. The most we can do for people who have fallen into a lethargic sleep is not to expose them to the danger of intravital burial.

Several centuries ago, a nightmare for humanity was lethargic coma. Almost everyone was afraid of being buried alive. fall into similar condition- means to resemble the deceased so much that the relatives had no choice but to prepare to see him off on his last journey.

What is lethargic sleep

Translated, the word “lethargy” means hibernation, lethargy or inaction. A person falls into a deep sleep, then stops responding to stimuli from the outside, he is as if in a coma. Vital functions are preserved in full, but the patient is almost impossible to wake up. In severe cases there isimaginary death, at which the body temperature decreases, the heartbeat slows down and disappears breathing movements. Sometimes catatonic stupor is mistaken for lethargy, in which a person hears and understands everything, but he does not have enough strength to move and open his eyes.

There are several types long sleep:

• medicinal (under the influence medicines);
• secondary (consequence past infections nervous system);
• true (in the absence of obvious reasons).

Lethargic sleep - causes

No specialist can give an exact answer to the question of what lethargy is and what are its causes. According to existing hypotheses, people who are at risk of falling into a prolonged sleepy state are:

• moved severe stress;
• are on the verge of strong physical and nervous exhaustion;
• often suffer from sore throats.

The disease often appears after blood loss, head injuries or severe poisoning. With the syndrome chronic fatigue Some people periodically fall asleep for a long time. According to psychologists, the world of oblivion awaits people with increased emotionality; for them it becomes a place without fears and unresolved life problems.Causes of lethargic sleepmay be hidden in some unknown modern medicine a virus that attacks the brain.

How long does lethargic sleep last?

The illness continues in different ways: someone may fall into an unconscious state for several hours, for others the illness lasts days, weeks and even months. Therefore, it is impossible to say for sureHow long does lethargic sleep last?Sometimes pathology has precursors: constant lethargy and headache. When trying to enter a state of hypnosis, a semblance of deep sleep is observed, which lasts for the time set by the hypnotist.

The longest lethargic sleep

Medicine knows of cases where awakening occurred after several decades of observation. Peasant Kachalkin was in the power of Morpheus for 22 years, and resident of Dnepropetrovsk Nadezhda Lebedina for 20 years. It is difficult to predict how long a patient's oblivion will last. The disease is still one of the interesting riddles for humanity.

Lethargic sleep - symptoms

External lethargic sleep symptomsare the same for all forms of the disease: the patient is in a sleeping state and does not respond to questions or touches addressed to him. Otherwise, everything remains the same, even the ability to chew and swallow is preserved. Severe form of the disease is characterized by pallor skin. In addition, the human body stops taking in food and excreting urine and feces.

Prolonged immobility does not go unnoticed for the patient. Vascular atrophy, diseases of internal organs, bedsores, metabolic disorders - this is far from full list complications of the disease. There is no treatment as such; hypnosis and the use of drugs with stimulant effects are used with varying success.

Distinctive feature people after a long rest is rapid aging. Literally before our eyes, a person’s appearance changes, and soon he looks older than his peers. It is not uncommon for a patient to die for real shortly after awakening. Some people acquire the rare ability to foresee the future and speak previously unfamiliar languages. foreign languages, heal the sick.

How to distinguish lethargic sleep from death

Cases of lethargic sleep occur to this day. There is no need to worry about premature burial; now experts have already learneddistinguish lethargic sleep from deaththanks to new diagnostic rules. Methods such as the EEG, which records brain activity, and the ECG make it possible to quickly and accurately recognize whether this is true death or whether oblivion is temporary.

Video: lethargic sleep - interesting facts

Lethargy comes from the Greek lethe "oblivion" and argia "inaction." This is not just one of the types of sleep, but real illness. In a person in lethargic sleep, all vital processes of the body slow down - the heartbeat becomes rare, breathing is shallow and unnoticeable, and there is almost no reaction to external stimuli.

How long can lethargic sleep last?

Lethargic sleep can be light or heavy. In the case of the first, the person is noticeably breathing, he retains a partial perception of the world - the patient looks like a deeply sleeping person. In severe form, it becomes like a dead person - the body becomes cold and pale, the pupils stop reacting to light, breathing becomes so invisible that even with the help of a mirror it is difficult to determine its presence. Such a patient begins to lose weight, and biological secretions stop. In general, even on modern level medicine, the presence of life in such a patient is determined only with the help of an ECG and chemical analysis blood. What can we say about the early eras, when humanity did not know the concept of “lethargy”, and any person who was cold and unresponsive to stimuli would have been considered dead.

The length of lethargic sleep is unpredictable, as is the length of coma. An attack can last from several hours to decades. There is a well-known case observed by Academician Pavlov. He came across a patient who “slept through” the revolution. Kachalkin was in lethargy from 1898 to 1918. After waking up, he said that he understood everything that was happening around him, but “felt a terrible, irresistible heaviness in his muscles, so that it was even difficult for him to breathe.”

Causes

Despite the case described above, lethargy is most common in women. Especially those who are prone to hysteria. A person can fall asleep after severe emotional stress, as, for example, happened to Nadezhda Lebedina in 1954. After a quarrel with her husband, she fell asleep and woke up only 20 years later. Moreover, according to the recollections of her loved ones, she reacted to what was happening emotionally. True, the patient herself does not remember this.

In addition to stress, schizophrenia can cause lethargy. For example, the Kachalkin we mentioned suffered from it. In such cases, according to doctors, sleep can become natural reaction for illness.

In some cases, lethargy resulted from serious head injuries, severe poisoning, significant blood loss and physical exhaustion. Norwegian resident Augustine Leggard fell asleep after giving birth for 22 years.

Can lead to lethargic sleep side effects and overdose with strong medicines, for example, interferon - an antiviral and antitumor drug. In this case, to bring the patient out of lethargy, it is enough to stop taking the medicine.

IN Lately opinions are increasingly heard about viral reasons lethargy. Thus, doctors of medical sciences Russell Dale and Andrew Church, having studied the history of twenty patients with lethargy, identified a pattern that many of the patients, before “falling asleep,” had a sore throat. Further searches bacterial infection allowed us to identify rare form streptococci in all these patients. Based on this, scientists decided that the bacteria that caused sore throat changed their properties, overcame immune protection and caused inflammation of the midbrain. Such damage to the nervous system could provoke an attack of lethargic sleep.

Taphophobia

With the awareness of lethargy as a disease came phobias. Today, taphophobia, or the fear of being buried alive, is one of the most common in the world. She's in different time such people suffered famous personalities, like Schopenhauer, Nobel, Gogol, Tsvetaeva and Edgar Allan Poe. The latter dedicated many works to his fear. His story “Buried Alive” describes many cases of lethargic sleep that ended in tears: “I looked closely; and by the will of the invisible, who was still clutching my wrist, all the graves on the face of the earth were opened before me. But alas! Not all of them fell into a sound sleep; there were many millions more others who did not sleep forever; I saw that many, seemingly at rest in the world, somehow changed those frozen, awkward positions, in which they were interred."

Taphophobia is reflected not only in literature, but also in law and scientific thought. As early as 1772, the Duke of Mecklenburg introduced a mandatory delay of funerals until the third day after death to prevent the possibility of being buried alive. Soon this measure was adopted in a number of European countries. Since the 19th century, safe coffins began to be produced, equipped with a means of escape for those “accidentally buried.” Emmanuel Nobel made for himself one of the first crypts with ventilation and alarm (a bell that was driven by a rope installed in the coffin). Subsequently, inventors Franz Western and Johan Taberneg invented protection for the bell from accidental ringing, equipped the coffin with an anti-mosquito net, and installed drainage systems to avoid flooding with rainwater.

Safety coffins still exist today. Modern model invented and patented in 1995 by Italian Fabrizio Caseli. His project included an alarm, an intercom-like communication system, a flashlight, Breathe-helping machine, cardiac monitor and pacemaker.

Why do sleepers not age?

Paradoxically, in the case of long-term lethargy, a person practically does not change. He doesn't even age. In the cases described above, both women, Nadezhda Lebedina and Augustine Leggard, corresponded to their previous ages during sleep. But as soon as their lives acquired a normal rhythm, the years took their toll. Thus, Augustine aged sharply during the first year after awakening, and Nadezhda’s body caught up with its “fifty dollars” in less than six months. The doctors recall: “What we were able to observe was unforgettable! She grew old before our eyes. Every day I added new wrinkles and gray hair.”

What is the secret of the youth of those who sleep, and how the body so quickly regains the lost years, scientists have yet to find out.

From a medical point of view, lethargic sleep is a disease. The word “lethargy” itself comes from the Greek lethe (oblivion) ​​and argia (inaction). In a person in lethargic sleep, the vital processes of the body slow down - metabolism decreases, breathing becomes shallow and unnoticeable, reactions to external stimuli are weakened or completely disappear.

Scientists have not established the exact causes of lethargic sleep, but it has been noted that lethargy can occur after severe hysterical attacks, anxiety, stress, or when the body is exhausted.

Lethargic sleep can be either light or heavy. A patient with a severe “form” of lethargy may look like dead person. His skin becomes cold and pale, he does not respond to light or pain, his breathing is so shallow that it may not be noticeable, and his pulse is practically not palpable. His physiological state worsens - he loses weight, biological secretions stop.

Mild lethargy causes less radical changes in the body - the patient remains motionless, relaxed, but he retains even breathing and partial perception of the world.

The end and beginning of lethargy cannot be predicted. However, as does the duration of being in sleep: cases have been recorded when the patient slept for many years. For example, the famous academician Ivan Pavlov described a case when a certain sick Kachalkin was in a lethargic sleep for 20 years, from 1898 to 1918. His heart beat very rarely - 2/3 times per minute. In the Middle Ages, there were many stories about how people who were in a lethargic sleep were buried alive. These stories often had a basis in reality and frightened people, so much so that, for example, the writer Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol asked to be buried only when signs of decomposition appeared on his body. Moreover, when the writer’s remains were exhumed in 1931, it was discovered that his skull was turned on its side. Experts attributed the change in the position of the skull to the pressure of a rotten coffin lid.

Currently, doctors have learned to distinguish lethargy from real death, but they have not yet been able to find a “cure” for lethargic sleep.

What is the difference between lethargy and coma?

Distant properties of these two physical phenomena exist. Coma occurs as a result physical influences, injuries, damage. At the same time, the nervous system is in a depressed state, and physical life is maintained artificially. As with lethargic sleep, a person does not respond to external stimuli. You can get out of a coma in the same way as with lethargy, on your own, but more often this happens with the help of therapy and treatment.

Burial alive - is it real?

First of all, let's determine that deliberate burial alive is criminally punishable and is regarded as murder with particular cruelty (Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

However, one of the most common human phobias, taphophobia is the fear of being buried alive unintentionally, by mistake. In fact, the chances of being buried alive are very low. Modern science There are known ways to determine that a person has definitely died.

Firstly, if doctors suspect the possibility of lethargic sleep, they must take an electrocardiogram or electroencephalogram, which records the activity human brain and cardiac activity. If the person is alive, such a procedure will give results, even if the patient does not respond to external stimuli.

Next, medical experts conduct a thorough examination of the patient's body, looking for signs of death. This can be either obvious damage to body organs that is incompatible with life (for example, traumatic brain injury), or rigor of the body, cadaveric spots, and signs of decay. In addition, a person lies in the morgue for 1-2 days, during which visible cadaveric signs should appear.

If doubts arise, capillary bleeding is checked with a light incision, and a chemical blood test is performed. In addition, doctors check the general picture of the patient's health to see if there are any signs that may indicate that the patient has fallen into a lethargic sleep. Let's say, did he experience hysterical fits, did he lose weight, did he complain about headaches and weakness, or low blood pressure.