Why Sleep?
The Case for Raising Your Quality of Life, Performance, Health, and Relationships by Getting Optimal Sleep
You may be surprised to know that in the early 1900’s, the average sleep duration in America was 9.25 hours per night. Does that surprise you? Since then, decade by decade, sleep totals have declined. Now, in the most recent data from 2018, it’s a scant 6.8 hours nightly. Is that evolutionary change in human physiology, such that we need 20% less sleep? Or is something else going on?
There are many factors shaping sleep in America today, yet it’s doubtful that evolutionary change is one of them. In this newsletter over the next months we’ll talk about factors that prevent us from getting optimal sleep. For today, let’s focus on why it’s important to get sleep, and what exactly sleep does for us. I think of this in five domains: physical health, mental health, cognitive and physical performance, and emotional intelligence. Let’s take a peek at each domain, and as you read, take note of each area that is relevant for your own experience.
Physical health:
Many disorders are worse with inadequate sleep, from Alzheimer’s disease to diabetes, hypertension to infertility, obesity to stroke. And the list goes on, this is only a small sample. For many diseases, optimal sleep is an essential part of a comprehensive treatment plan. Without sleep being addressed the disease may not be fully treated. In the next months, I’ll highlight new research on these connections.
Mental health:
The rate of mental disorders is increasing. Placing the timeline of decreasing total sleep, with mental health, we see they both decline together. These conditions have a bidirectional impact on each other, with poor mental health contributing to sleep problems, while many types of sleep problems contribute to poor mental health. In this way, the two feed into each other, creating a negative feedback loop. A well-known example is anxiety and insomnia.
Cognitive function:
There are a broad range of cognitive skills we use every day, from simple memory tasks like remembering the mail carriers name, to complex problem solving required to put together a convincing point of view at home or work, and then the verbal fluency required to present it. This broad range of cognitive skills are impaired by insufficient sleep. Sometimes people mention the idea of ‘catching up’ on sleep on days off. This is may be a nice idea, unfortunately it doesn’t work. Sleep deprivation one night immediately decreases your cognitive performance the following day. You have effectively lost the possibility of performing well that day. It’s also unlikely that one will be able to sleep enough on the weekends to make up the actual hours lost. For instance, for a person who needs 8 hours of sleep nightly, but is only getting 6 hours, they have lost 10 hours of sleep over the work week. Are they going to get 13 hours of sleep two nights in a row over the weekend to regain the 10 hours lost? It’s doubtful.
Physical performance:
Whether it’s sports or exercise, driving, or home maintenance and household tasks, we each need to be able to perform well. There are several ways sleep powers physical performance. The first that comes to mind is the role Stage 3 sleep plays in growth hormone secretion. 75-85% of our total growth hormone is secreted during deep sleep. This is important, as growth hormone helps maintain our muscles and skin. One of the most common activities we do that requires physical performance is driving. Being awake for more than 16 hours, or being chronically sleep deprived, both increase the risk of a sleep collision. Sleep collisions are more likely to be fatal, as the driver is asleep, and unable to swerve or slam on the brakes as people do who are intoxicated.
Emotional intelligence (EQ):
Our ability to get along with other makes a huge impact on our own quality of life, and others’ too. Sleep plays a role in several ways. First, we are less aware of the emotions expressed on other people’s face when we don’t get sufficient sleep. This makes it difficult to be appropriately responsive to them. Think how this could impact relationships long term if day after day your response is off due to sleep deprivation. Our likelihood of counterproductive behaviors such as sending irritable emails in the workplace also increase. Some of the law enforcement research indicates that racial biases are stronger when an individual is sleep deprived.
Sleep Skills:
Getting optimal sleep night after night makes everything better. Here are steps to make sure you are getting all the sleep you need:
1. Think back to a time when you were well rested. Maybe it was a long time ago, before you had kids, or started a fulltime job and adult responsibilities. Identify the number of hours you did best with at that time.
2. Now schedule those hours for sleep into your lifestyle. How would that work? How can you plan around some of the challenges of committing to that amount of sleep each night?
3. Alternatively, you could increase your time in bed by 15 minutes every 3-4 nights. Keep adding time in bed so long as that time is spent sleeping. This allows your lifestyle routine to adjust gradually. Ideally you will get to the point that you can wake on your own without an alarm clock, feeling refreshed.
4. Another strategy is what I call the “10 by 10 Test.” This is especially for people who are very sleepy, and are not sure if it’s due to chronic sleep deprivation, or possibly another sleep disorder such as untreated Obstructive Sleep Apnea or a hypersomnia. Spend 10 hours in bed each night for 10 nights in a row. If you have been chronically sleep deprived, it’s likely you’ll sleep the entire 10 hours initially, then the last few nights sleep a little less. Along the way you should start feeling more rested during the day. If not, then it will be time for further evaluation and treatment from your healthcare provider.
My hope with this first newsletter is that you’re now motivated to be a skilled sleeper. Coming issues will focus on how to use the power of Nature to strengthen your circadian system and improve your sleep, which in turn makes for a good life in so many ways. Be a Skilled Sleeper will cover breaking sleep and circadian medical news, strategies to boost your circadian rhythms, sleep skills, and Nature Cure. Specific upcoming topics this month include:
- Sleeps’ contributions to aging, and how healthy sleep is a strategy for longevity
- How women’s hormones impact sleep, and sleep impacts reproductive disorders, particularly in shift working women.
- Health hazards of artificial light at night and the strategic use of Light and Darkness for health.
- Restless Legs Syndrome, other sleep movement disorders, and current therapies from exercise to nutrients to allopathic medicine.
- To apply this information, this worksheet helps you track the impact sleep has on your daytime experience. Join paid subscribers to access a new worksheet each week.
Talk to you next week, and until then Sleep Well,
Dr. Catherine
Each Saturday morning tune in to Youtube Live for a discussion of that weeks’ topic at 8am PST / 11am EST. Be A Skilled Sleeper - YouTube
For short informational tidbits and tips daily, check out Instagram Dr. Catherine Darley (@skilledsleeper) • Instagram photos and videos
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Get more insight into exactly how sleep is impacting your days with this worksheet specifically for paid subscribers: