A Letter From Sleep

Dear Reader,

This is a threat. I’ve been feeling neglected. I often hear you bragging about not getting enough of me. Let me lay this out for you, you are inviting trouble. 

Yours truly, Sleep

Do you value sleeping?

Takeaway: From this article, I hope you gain confidence in saying, ”Yes, I prioritize sleep” based on your learning of its significance, yield, and dangers-if deprived.

The science of sleep has taken shape and advanced extensively in the last two decades. Fascinating results from studies make the gateway for its wide scope. There is not one part of the body that remains unaffected by sleep loss. While asleep, the body relaxes and the brain refuels. Our brains are remarkably active during the period of sleep-an activity we engage in, hopefully, every night. 

The Sleep Affair

There are two stages of sleep, the Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) and Rapid Eye Movement (REM); both being equally important. Normally, sleep begins with NREM phases followed by REM. These stages alternate in a cyclical manner throughout the night. One cycle nears completion in approximately 90 minutes. This is why sometimes waking up at 6:30 a.m feels easier than at 7:00 a.m. Having gone to bed by 11:00 p.m, I complete around five cycles by 6:30 a.m but would have been in the middle of the next cycle by 7:00 thereby making it difficult to get out of bed. 

The Architecture of Sleep

Excerpt From: Matthew Walker. “Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams”

What does sleep do?

During the NREM stage, the body builds muscle, repairs tissues, and strengthens the immune system. Most dreaming occurs during the REM stage which is believed to process emotions, memories, and even stress. It is observed that the brain makes numerous and random neural links here, thereby connecting past experiences and new learnings and integrating a sense of innovation.

Mental Wellness: Sleep is vital in maintaining and enhancing mental health. In fact, disrupted sleep is not just an underlying symptom or consequence but may also be a causal factor in the occurrence of mental health problems.  Sleep deficiency leads to increased delusional and hallucinatory experiences. Sleep quality is instrumental in determining one’s mental state, be it mood swings, paranoia, or cognitive functions like learning and thinking. Research takes only three days of sleeplessness for participants to show signs of psychosis. Perhaps this is why the Guinness Book of World Records has stopped accepting attempts to break the sleep deprivation world record.

Memory: Encoding of memories from the short term to long term memory is processed while sleeping. Sleep boosts memory, both pre- and post-learning sleep has shown to improve recognition and recall. This, in turn, kindles creativity by restructuring the learned data and providing insights aka the ‘aha’ moments. Sleep has sparked many ideas and epics.

Emotions: Fine-tuning and recalibration of emotions is an active function of the sleep, proven by the lighting up of the amygdala- a region associated with emotional operations. This prepares the organism to undertake the next-days’ emotional journey. This is why, after being awake for a long stretch of time like 18+ hours, we become irritable and snap at everything that comes our way because we’re acting on impulsivity of the reactive sympathetic nervous system. The ‘sleep on it’ phrase is much more meaningful than we give it credit. With an emotionally stable and strong brain, we’re better capable of problem-solving and critical thinking.

Fascinating fact: Did you know some birds like the pigeon and aquatic mammals like the dolphin sleep with one half of the brain at a time? Yes, half the brain sleeps while the other half is alert, perhaps to watch out.

Sleep and Stigma

Ridiculing individuals who prioritize sleep is a recurring phenomenon at work, in college, at home even. Individuals are diffident in owning up to anything more than 6 hours of sleep. Those who barely sleep, sometimes a meager 3-4 hours per night, say this with a tinge of pride. This is not cool. It is scientifically proven that we operate better after a good night’s sleep, i.e. in both productivity and efficiency. Depriving oneself of sleep due to workload is a paradox, not sleeping well due to lots of work and later not working well because of lack of sleep. It is a vicious cycle that degrades bodily functions, affects mood, and induces stress.

In the U.S., the death rate due to drowsy-driving accidents is more than deaths due to alcohol and drug abuse combined! The frequency is alarming. The scary learning of this study is that when an individual is sleep-deprived, one does not react at all i.e in a state of a micro brain shutdown in contrast to late responses when driving under the influence of a substance while driving.

The Time Inadequacy Misconception

I’m excited to debunk this for it’ll pave the way to say, “Oh, that’s not bad, I can sure schedule sleep efficiently.” We don’t have less time at hand if we sleep more, or rather enough. Here’s the time story, in short, we have 24*7 i.e 168 hours every week; even with a 50-hour workweek and eight hours of sleep every night [8*7=56], you still have 168 – (50+56) hours i.e full 62 hours of time. Let’s not blame or worse, deprive ourselves of sleep for the activities we are not scheduling well. That’s on you. 

Consequences of Sleep Deprivation

Every psychiatric disorder is associated with some kind of difficulty in sleep. Continued sleep loss puts an individual at risk for depression, anxiety, cardiovascular diseases, etc. Shortage of sleep has been linked to greater appetite and relative shift in choice to greasy and unhealthy foods, thereby relating to weight gain. 

Did you know Denmark is the first country to pay compensation to women who developed breast cancer after years of night-shift work as nurses and air cabin crew?

Sleep Hygiene

Adopt a healthy sleep pattern and experience the change for yourself, it’s never too late! Below mentioned are a few suggestions that’ll make for a good night’s sleep:

1. Start with getting at least 7+ hours of sleep, however not more than 9.
2. Scheduling your sleep hours helps the inner body clock to adapt efficiently. 
3. Avoid large meals and alcohol before bed.
4. Maintain a bedtime ritual to slow down and relax.
5. A cool, dark, and gadget-free space is ideal.

Happy Sleeping!

On Sleep – 

Read

• Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams; A book by Mathew Walker, that I just can’t prescribe enough, covers sleep comprehensively
• Ch 2: Sleep, Happiness Express; Written by Khurshed Batliwala, Dinesh Ghodke

Watch

• Inside Out, Directed by Pete Docter: A captivating movie
• Ep: Dreams, The Mind Explained is a short reel on dreaming
• Sleep is your superpower: A TED talk by Matt Walker
• https://youtu.be/5MuIMqhT8DM
• Sleep Stages explained: https://youtu.be/fNlp0UMqUtM

Pragnya Naredi Member since June 19, 2020

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