Why do you constantly want to yawn what to do. Why does a person yawn

Yawning is an unconscious breathing act, a deep long inhalation and a rapid exhalation. At the same time, the mouth is open, and the process of yawning itself is accompanied by a characteristic sound. At first glance, yawning seems to be a natural process for the body, but in some cases, excessive yawning can become a symptom of the disease. There are several hypotheses that answer the question of why people often yawn. Doctors are studying why this process is necessary for the body, but they have not come to final conclusions.

Why do people yawn?

Consider the most common hypotheses that explain why people often yawn and how it affects the general condition of the body.

• Yawning as an aid to the body with a lack of oxygen in the brain tissues. During a deeper breath, more oxygen enters the bloodstream than during normal breathing. Saturation of the body with oxygen leads to accelerated blood flow and metabolism, which makes a person feel better and the whole body comes into tone. Therefore, in various situations when the oxygen balance is disturbed, a person yawns and becomes more cheerful. For example, yawning after sleep or long monotonous work.

• Yawning to cool the brain. Scientists were able to prove this effect by conducting an experiment in which two groups of people watched videos of yawning actors. Participants with a cold compress on their foreheads yawned less compared to people with or without a warm compress.

Useful properties of yawning

• Help for stuffy ears. Why do you often yawn when the plane changes altitude? Yawning helps relieve ear congestion, which occurs due to a sharp difference in pressure.
• Warm-up for muscles . During yawning, a person usually involuntarily stretches and kneads the frozen body. Thus, yawning prepares a person for action. So, students yawn, preparing for the exam, and artists - before the performance. This also explains the yawning of people when they are bored or want to sleep - yawning helps to cheer up and work with stiff muscles.

• Protection of the nervous system. During a serious conversation or an exciting situation, a person may ask himself: "Why do I often yawn?" Such a reaction will be a kind of sedative for the body, which will help to cope with stress.
• Relaxing effect . If a person, then yawning will help the body relax and prepare for sleep.

Yawning as a sign of illness

Frequent and prolonged yawning is a symptom of an unhealthy state of the body. This may be one of the signs of sleep problems, high blood pressure, depression, or severe anxiety. Therefore, in cases where yawning overcomes a person constantly, it is better to consult a doctor - to check your pressure, the state of blood vessels and the heart. And first you need to try to be less nervous, get enough sleep and replenish the supply of vitamins and minerals in the body.

The mirror property of yawning

Yawning is a phenomenon that can be "infected". Why do you often yawn when you see people with their mouths open in real life or on TV? In the cortex of our brain are which are the cause of the stickiness of yawning. It is enough for a person to read about yawning or think about it, and then he immediately begins to yawn. But not all people are susceptible to this “disease”. Children with autism can watch a provocative video without yawning. And children under the age of five are not capable of mirror yawning, since they still do not know how to empathize with other people's emotions.

The frequent yawning of the owners is transmitted to the dogs, and they also completely copy the physiological state of the owner, becoming relaxed and sleepy, like a yawning person. Dogs also see the difference: if the owner just opens his mouth wide, then the dog will not mimic his behavior, and the yawn will definitely copy.

Yawning as a sign of emotional intimacy

Frequent yawning occurs among relatives and close friends of the yawner. And distant acquaintances and strangers almost do not show mirror signs. Proximity is the only factor that scientists have been able to isolate, because both gender and nationality do not affect a person's need to yawn in response.

Yawning as a way to communicate

Scientists believe that even during the evolution of primates, yawning began to be used as an imitative action. The reasons were very different. So, at the sight of danger, one of the group members yawned, and his condition was transmitted to everyone else and put them on alert. And in order to convey a signal to people that it was time to go to bed, the leader yawned, and the tribe supported him with an appropriate reaction.

Ways to deal with yawning

The periodic occurrence of yawning is natural for the body, but if a person constantly asks the question “Why do I yawn often?”, This may mean that some kind of malfunction has occurred in the body. Simple recommendations will help to defeat yawning:

1. Healthy sleep . It is necessary to determine how much time a person needs to sleep in order for the body to recover. Also, with severe fatigue in the daytime, you can afford a small 20-minute rest. This will help the body relax, but will not allow you to switch to a full sleep.
2. Straight posture . A bent back can cause frequent yawning. The reasons for this effect is that the hunched state does not allow the diaphragm to fully work and causes its involuntary contractions. Whereas an even posture will reduce the desire to yawn.
3. Fresh air and sports. A person is saturated with oxygen during exercise, and this allows him to remain alert throughout the day. An even better option would be to spend more time outdoors, taking walks or arranging light workouts in the fresh air.
4. Nutrition . Good nutrition will help bring the body in order and get rid of frequent yawning for no reason. You should try to take vitamins, remove unhealthy foods from your diet and drink more fluids.

Popular questions about yawning:

• during a yawn? Yawning, a person closes his eyes, which compresses the lacrimal sac, and the vessels in the lacrimal ducts contract. Because of this, tears spill out, as they did not have time to get into the nasopharynx.
• Why do small children yawn? Children yawn when they want to sleep, this process calms them down. If the baby yawns too often, it is possible that he does not have enough oxygen, and then it is worth walking more with him in the fresh air.

• Why do people often yawn in church? This is a normal phenomenon due to human physiology. The service takes place in the morning, when the human body has not yet woken up, and with the help of yawning, it is enriched with oxygen, helping to cheer up. Also, the room is usually stuffy, and the lights are dimmed, which slows down the blood flow and there is a lack of oxygen.
• Why do people often yawn when talking? This does not mean at all that the person is bored or indifferent to the topic of discussion, but on the contrary, yawning overcame the interlocutor due to the active work of the brain. He listened to the story so attentively and thoughtfully that his oxygen metabolism was disturbed, so the body replenished its strength with the help of a yawn.

The simple process of yawning has important functions for the proper functioning of the whole organism. It is worth paying attention if yawning has become unusually frequent and prolonged, and help the body recover.

Have you ever thought about why it happens that you often yawn a lot? This article is an attempt to explain what is going on and give you an idea of ​​where frequent yawning comes from. Curiously, frequent yawning is our body's involuntary response to fatigue as well as boredom. When you yawn, your mouth opens wide and your lungs fill with air. A yawn can be short or long, sometimes tears come along with yawning, and sometimes a runny nose. Yawning is normal, but it happens that a person yawns too often. Below you will find explanations for the causes of frequent yawning.

Physiological causes of frequent yawning

Physiological causes of frequent yawning include:

• tiredness or drowsiness;
• changes associated with sleep patterns: change of work schedule, lack of sleep, travel associated with the crossing of several time zones;
• a disorder such as narcolepsy, which can lead to daytime sleepiness;
• sleep apnea, a disorder that restricts breathing for short periods of time;
• side effects of drugs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which are used to treat depression and anxiety;
• problems with the functioning of the vagus nerve, which can be caused by bleeding in or around the aorta, or in severe cases due to a heart attack.

In some cases, frequent or excessive yawning may be an indicator of:

• epilepsy;
• stroke or brain tumor;
• liver failure;
• cardiovascular disease;
• chronic venous insufficiency;
• electrolyte imbalance;
• an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto's thyroiditis (leads to hypothyroidism and low levels of thyroid hormones);
• hypothyroidism;
• multiple sclerosis.

Psychological and Emotional Causes of Excessive Yawning

Excessive yawning can be caused by emotional or psychological reasons. These include:

• stress,
• depression,
• anxiety.

Yawning can occur when a person feels anxious or has anxiety attacks. As a rule, during such episodes, the body requires hyperventilation of the lungs, which causes bouts of yawning. Hyperventilation makes it feel like there is not enough air to breathe, in response, the body sends a command to the brain what needs to be done to get more oxygen, so involuntary excessive yawning occurs. Through this process, the brain tries to oxygenate the lungs.

Serious and life-threatening causes of excessive yawning

Excessive yawning can sometimes be a sign that the condition a person is in is life threatening. Such symptoms should be considered an emergency. This happens with a sudden deterioration in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as well as in chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

What to do to control yawning

Here are some tips on what to do to control yawning and avoid excessive yawning.

Get enough sleep

The advice is pretty obvious. However, when a person gets enough sleep, they are better rested and therefore able to control yawning. If you do not get enough sleep, you will yawn, as you will not be able to overcome drowsiness.

Try to control yawning like this:

• inhale deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth;
• when you realize you're about to yawn, try drinking a cool or chilled drink (if you have one on hand);
• eat vegetables with a high water content, such as cucumbers or watermelons, if you want to avoid excessive yawning;
• if you feel like yawning, go to a cool place or ventilate the room thoroughly to lower the temperature and add oxygen to the room;
• if you have an important meeting ahead of you, during which you should never yawn, put a wet compress on your head for a few minutes before going to such a meeting. This measure will prevent yawning until you have finished your negotiations.

How to treat excessive yawning

If medications such as SSRIs are found to be the cause of your frequent yawning, your doctor may prescribe lower doses of them. Studies show that lowering the dosage can eliminate excessive yawning, but leave the desired effects of taking these drugs. In any case, the doctor must decide.

If you have a sleep disorder that has resulted in excessive yawning, your doctor can advise on medications to take to improve sleep and methods to use to help you sleep better. One example of a disease that causes excessive yawning is sleep apnea, which is associated with persistent airway pressure. This means that you will need to normalize breathing and make sure that the airways are open.

If you have other medical conditions that cause frequent yawning, such as tumors, kidney failure, liver or heart problems, or stroke, you should contact your doctor immediately.

When to see a doctor for frequent yawning

It makes sense to consult a doctor with a complaint of frequent yawning if:

• there is no explanation why you often yawn,
• your frequent yawning is associated with daytime sleepiness.

Article author : Kristina Sumarokova, Moscow Medicine ©
Denial of responsibility : The information provided in this article about why you often yawn is for informational purposes only. However, it cannot be a substitute for consulting a professional doctor.

The appearance of moles, redness of the eyes, frequent yawning - these and other "little things" can cause serious diseases. Therefore, noticing that the body is a little "jumping", do not expect that everything will go away by itself. After all, in such a clear way, your body tells you about the danger. And you, in turn, must inform the doctor about this!

Any disease at an early stage is easier and cheaper to treat. Therefore, it is so important to know the dangerous symptoms in order to take adequate measures to eliminate them in a timely manner.

Frequent yawning during the day

You sleep enough and get enough sleep, but you suddenly pesters frequent yawning? Scientists have found that this physiological process helps to reduce nervousness and mobilize the body.

It is for this reason for yawning often overcomes skydivers before jumps, athletes before the start, musicians before a concert ... Perhaps you have an exam, a public speech, or some other kind of serious test? involuntary yawning increases the readiness of the body to act in critical situations.

According to other theories, yawning is a complex process of regulating the temperature of the brain. Yawning brings in blood and cooler air, which improves brain function. It usually accompanies fatigue, drowsiness, boredom, a depressed, despondent state. If the mood is cheerful, joyful, upbeat, you don’t want to yawn.

To stop frequent yawning, as a rule, it is enough to change the position, straighten up and square your shoulders, take a few deep breaths and sharp exhalations, if possible, walk around or do some simple physical exercises.

If you yawn frequently, you should see a doctor. When?

unstoppable constant yawn may be a symptom of some disease states requiring medical attention. Frequent yawning, combined with excessive weakness and drowsiness, may indicate hormonal changes, chronic fatigue syndrome, or burnout syndrome.

Yawning attacks are observed when