Are You Getting Sleepy?
Posted in Social Commentary on June 27th, 2007 by Erin DietrichWhat?!? You’re tired? How much sleep did you get last night? How about the night before? If you answered not much, you are not alone, 70 percent of the United States adult population qualify as “sleep deprived”. We are a country where bragging rights are won based on how few hours of sleep a person can function on. What does a country look like when most of its citizens (and children) are constantly tired?
First, let’s start with the facts. Sleep is essential. It boosts the immune system, aids neural processing (makes you smarter), and increases motor skills. More interesting, people think and problem solve when they sleep. Nobel laureate Otto Loewi gained inspiration for his design for the chemical basis of neurotransmission during a realization made while he was, well…sleeping! Recent studies reveal there are links between sleep and insight formation, as well as sleep and memory consolidation. On the other hand, not getting adequate sleep may lead to obesity, psychosis, depression, anxiety and a host of other mental disorders.
Knowing all this, why do we deny we need sleep? Some even extend this philosophy to their newborns, where the babies are intentionally kept awake, and out of deep sleep, in order to get them “on a schedule”. Why would depriving newborns of sleep, responsible for specific brain functions and development, ever be considered an acceptable idea? I have no idea. Not all countries live like this. In many countries even the adults take mid-day naps. I can only wonder at the difference in demeanor of their citizens.
Back to the question of what a country comprised of a bunch of sleep deprived citizens looks like. I have decided it is pretty much as you would expect. People are angry, aggressive, short tempered and half-awake. They survive on caffeine and fight to stay awake throughout the day, during meetings and even while driving. In fact, numerous studies compare the effects of driving while tired to driving while intoxicated. Obesity rates are soaring, memories are impaired, people are getting sicker and mental disorders are on the rise. I am not claiming that all the problems you are facing are due to sleep deprivation, but I’m also not proposing that many are not. How would it be diagnosed? By the very doctors who also are sleep deprived?
Let me challenge you, and myself, to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night this week. If you are serious, I found a nifty sleep diary to track the amount of sleep you get. Click here for the diary. Will you feel different after consecutive nights of adequate sleep? Can you get that spring back in your step that you have lost somewhere along the way? Will you have energy for the things you really care about? I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how much a few extra hours of sleep can change everything.
“…one of the most significant and overlooked public health problems…is that many adults are chronically sleep deprived, [and] most people who are sleep deprived do not even realize it.”
- American Psychological Association
June 27th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
It sure is a problem, and equal to the issue of quantity of sleep is *quality* of sleep. I’m in bed about eight hours each night, but I don’t often feel as if I get to the stage of deep sleep, especially after about 2am. And then I wake up every couple of hours until my alarm goes off. My eight hours is probably the equivalent of 5 hours of good sleep :/
June 28th, 2007 at 7:41 am
Oh Mark, that stinks. When I first started getting up at 4:30am to walk I had the same problem, starting at about 1:30am I would wake up every hour because I was scared of missing my alarm. I started going to bed earlier and found then I wasn’t so worried about being in such a deep sleep that I would not wake up. Have you found anything that helps you stay asleep?
June 28th, 2007 at 8:07 am
Hi Erin! Hi Jenny! Thanks, Jenny, for visiting my blog! Very sweet of you!
You two have one really cool blog over here! So many interesting articles. In regards to this article, not getting enough sleep is never a problem for me. In fact, I can usually fall asleep on a dime, though sometimes sleeping on a dime is very uncomfortable indeed.
I like your idea of … challenging … chall … ch …. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
June 28th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Hi Dan! Happy belated birthday! I checked out the hiking photos of Echo Lake, absolutely beautiful.
Thanks for visiting and commenting. See you over at your blog as you are one of my regular stops. I especially loved your post I Am Going Insane as I had just put down an article Mark (over at The Winding Path) had sent my way and was feeling about the dumbest person alive after yet another attempt at understanding a particular paragraph. It was good to know I wasn’t alone (but my cat wasn‘t so helpful as to maim the document for me…)!
June 28th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Erin, I will accept your challenge. Might be hard with a 6 month old still waking up at unpredictable times in the night, but I’ll attempt to get close to the 8 hour a night mark. I was just at the Dr. for some things, including a persistent headache. She asked me about my sleep, of couse. Seems like more than ever I am coming across sleep articles these past few years. Getting our society to sleep is big business these days.
June 28th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
I am in 110% agreement with the headache and sleep link. About 13 years ago I used to get horrible headaches that no doctor could figure out. Looking back it is blindingly clear that it was because I wasn’t getting even close to an adequate amount of sleep.
June 28th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
I haven’t found anything that *reliably* helps me stay asleep. Any time I start exercising more, or in a different way, I sleep better for a little while, then it gradually gets worse even though my exercise routine stays the same.
I guess I could keep trying new forms of exercise every month or so
I’ve always had headaches regularly too. First due to sinus issues (got that under control), and now eye strain (will hopefully have that under control when I return to uni and don’t have to be infront of the computer so much).
How are you going with getting your 8 hours each night?
June 29th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Okay, scratch last night. Why is it that when I make a decision to do something (eat better, sleep more), I often do worse than before I made the decision to change? My goal was lights out at 10. I didn’t get to the bed until 11 and then was awake until 12:30. So, maybe tonight will be the start of my 8 hours. We’ll see.
June 29th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Mark, I think you’re on to something - a new exercise every month could rack you up a few very cool hobbies. You have limitless possibilities - pilates, fencing, belly dancing, rock climbing. Boy, you would have a very fun life - and busy…
Shannon, bummer about the sleep. It’s almost like life throws one a curve ball once you set a goal. It’s sometimes seems like you really have to prove you want to get there and once you get over the first couple of hurdles things will theoretically get easier. And usually, if you are on the right path it does. How are your headaches?
As far as my sleeping goes, this walking thing really threw me a curve ball. To beat the heat for our long walks Jenny and I met this morning at 4:45am and tomorrow at 4:30am. That means to get 8 hours I need to be sleeping by 8pm. That’s tough, but not really an excuse. So last night I got 7.5 hours and tonight it’s going to be closer to 7. I’m amazed at how hard reaching the 8 hour goal is. I WILL get there. I guess this is my hurdle too.
July 3rd, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Here’s an article about how our body adjusts to lack of sleep, and may inhibit us from getting back into a good sleep routine.
…Sorry, did you say belly dancing?! Hahaha now there’s a scary image!
July 4th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Hey Erin,
I’m slightly worried that your competitive streak is going to kick in and turn this into an 8-hr a night competition type of thing. If so, I’m pleading with you (seriously!) to reconsider!
Already a lot of dares and competition going on - could you consider “progress not perfection” as an option for the short term? Please??
Hi Mark and Shannon!!
July 4th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Well, seeing I’m already 3 days into my success, I’m going to round out the week solid. I’m still getting my work done Jenny, so no worries!
September 16th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
So, two months later and I’m still stuck on this sleep thing. I was reading the latest edition of Psychology Today and they had two separate blurbs about the importance of sleep that was new to me:
1. Sleep deprivation leads to more risky behavior and a lower understanding of the behavior’s impacts. Not good news for gamblers, but then again, maybe they already know this; and
2. After smoking, the amount of time you spend sleeping is the biggest lifestyle impact that affects tooth decay. Periodontal disease afflicts people who sleep less than six hours signficantly more than those who sleep more than seven hours.
September 17th, 2007 at 1:16 am
Wow, I didn’t know that second one! Though it makes me wonder if that wouldn’t apply to *all* diseases (i.e, are people who sleep less than six hours significantly more likely to contract any disease?)
September 17th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Mark, good question. One would have to guess that is likely the case. Maybe your next research project?!?