Sleeplessness in America

Odds are you didn't get enough sleep last night.

Call us the land of the tired, the sleepy, the exhausted. A recent major story on the CBS news program Sunday Morning (05/05/02) [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/03/sunday/main508021.shtml] surveyed sleeplessness in America. We get less sleep than the people of any industrialized nation.

New studies reveal we get too little sleep. But even twenty years go, Melvin Konner, now a doctor but then a biological anthropologist, concerned about the possibililties of world peace, worried that “most people who run the world -- its politics and its armies -- do so on a chronic insufficiency of sleep.” He argued the health of government heads, generals, and major executives declines faster than that of their age-mates in other walks of life; that they live in a world of high density social interactions, exposed to constant extreme stress, and to fear -- from fear of loss of influence to fear of assasination. Konnerís concern? ìThese and other features of their personal biological lives are not without known effects on the biological tendency to violence and threats of violence.î (Konner, p. xix)

Now itís happening to most of us. Most of us live lives like that: pressured, stressed, intense, hugely busy.

In our lives, the clock is central. 24/7 rules our world. Our lives are dictated by speed, intensity, a world in which employers easily demand, and get, 110% effort. We have blurred night and day for all activities: work, play, shopping, eating, sleeping. Our lives run non-stop. Commuters catch the train to work and then sleep they are so tired.

In the past, we got 9 hours sleep. Today, we get 7 hours, two hours less. We live with a myth that sleep deprivation has no consequences. But sleeplessness brings "escalating impairments" of concentration, well-being, memory. And 42% of adults claim they are not getting enough and 56% say they have trouble sleeping. One investigator found that after a week of only 4 hours sleep a night college students were in a pre-diabetic condition. America is experiencing an epidemic of adult-onset diabetes and diabetes in teen-agers and young people -- what if one of the causes is not only bad diet and lack of exercise but also lack of sleep -- the failure to get enough rest? Sleeplessness has also been linked to other phsyical consequences: high blood pressure, and weakened immune systems.

We face real and serious dangers from sleeplessness: it can literally kill us. People die, from increased body stress, from falling asleep at the wheel of a car and killing themselves (and maybe others). Death and injury result from exhausted carelessness while working around dangerous, complicated machines or equipment.

Fatigue, especially chronic fatigue, affects the quality of our lives. Without enough rest, we become irritable, moody, our outlook darkens, our energy and ambition are reduced, our sense of our own capability shrinks, we get blue or become depressed. After a good nightís sleep, we ìfeel better.î Without a good nightís sleep, we feel worse.

One director of a sleep disorder clinic says our attitude about sleeplessness is that it's a badge of honor -- people brag about making it through on little sleep or only getting a couple of hours. In fact, one major problem in this 24/7 world is keeping people awake, and so the drug modafinil is being used. Originally a medication for people who suffer from narcolepsy, it has just now been approved by the FDA as a wakefulness drug that can fool the body clock for people who do shift-work and have trouble waking up or staying awake.

Getting a good night's sleep is not always an easy thing. Sleep disorder clinics have cataloged over 80 different sleep disorders, ranging from occasional and temporary bouts of insomnia to parasomnias -- things like sleepwalking or night terrors. Three kinds of insomnia have been identified. The prevalence of sleep problems has resulted in a number of clinics for help and research. In addition, the sleeping pill industry is alive and well.

The solution to sleeplessness is a tight sleep regimen.

• get your exercise 4-6 hours before bed
  
• go to bed at same time every night
  
• get up at same time every morning
  
• don't worry in bed -- put your worries aside; experts recommend writing them down in a book and then closing it until morning
  
• don't take naps
  
• avoid stimulants -- caffeine, sugar -avoid alcohol
  
• don't go to bed too hungry
  
• don't go to bed too full
  
• establish a regular and relaxing pre-sleep routine
  
• make your bedroom dark and quiet
• find and use your optimum sleep temperature and humidity -- some sleep better in a cooler environment and the air in most bedrooms is too dry
  
• sleep only in bed -- don't nap on the couch or fall asleep in front of the tv in your recliner in the livingroom
  
• itís probably not a good idea to watch the eleven oíclock news (or the ten oíclock news) just before you go to bed -- it may not be conducive to your peace of mind since there isnít very much you can do about any of it

The bad news is you have to recognize that if youíre sliding by on six hours sleep a night, you will have to change your lifestyle and your schedule to get more sleep. Examine your life and your priorities. Find out what the pay-off is for getting too little sleep. Afraid you'll miss something? Afraid to let go of the day? Insecure, and so you have to try harder? Have just too many obligations and must-doís in your life that wonít let you stop? Low self-esteem says you don't deserve to be good to yourself? Being awake eighteen hours a day is just so much fun? The ego-arrogance of thinking you are the exception and you don't need all that time asleep? Being exhausted and groggy most of the time is such a turn-on?

If you feel youíre being victimized by your own life, your responsibilities, your obligations, perhaps you should examine the choices you have made, examine your responsibilities, examine your obligations, challenge them and see if you canít change some of them. Many people lead lives so compressed and scheduled that they stay up later than they should just to get some quiet time or a tiny reward. Uncompress your time some, build in your rewards -- make what you are doing covertly overt. If youíre into sneaking rewards, your schedule is out of whack. It is ironic that when people get stressed and pushed, the very first thing they give up are the activities that take care of themselves, from exercise to rewards.

If youíre going to be serious about changing your sleep habits, invest in making your bedroom and your bed an inviting, cozy, and comfortable place. Get a good mattress with the appropriate level of support. Have a good pillow for your head. Invest in some nice sheets for your bed. Make sure you have the right blankets in the right weight so you are warm and comfortable enough. Get the right curtains or drapes so you can keep the room dark enough. If your neighborhood is noisy, maybe you need a sound machine to mask external sounds like cars or people. Discover and find ways to maintain your optimum room temperature for sleeping -- most people sleep better cooler but wake up groggy with warmer. Choose an alarm system that can wake you but wonít jangle your nervous system -- there are those who say the first three minutes youíre awake set the tone for the entire day. Some people can learn even to program their dreams so they awaken in a good mood and not a bad one. Some argue you should lie quietly in bed for a few minutes and think good thoughts and not think about this dayís major challenge or biggest problem. With a positive emotional gyropscope going inside you, then think about the problems.

You wouldn't choose to breathe fewer than twenty-four hours a day. Don't choose to sleep less than eight hours a night. Your sense of well-being, your health, perhaps even your life depends upon it. As one investigator put it, ì...we are trying to live outside the boundaries of our biology.î