NO MORE COUNTING SHEEP

According to the National Institute of Health, sleep deprivation among American teenagers and adults is at near-epidemic proportions. Chronic sleeplessness creates negative physical and emotional consequences and has been linked to increases in obesity and type 2 diabetes. It causes inattention, memory problems, and an inability to learn. The National Transportation Safety Board cites it as a leading cause of automobile accidents.

The sleep cycle contains four stages. Stage one sleep is the very light sleep that often comprises a short nap. The eyelids flutter, then close, but the person can still hear and respond to environmental noise. Stage two is deeper and usually occurs within 20 minutes of going to bed. There is a loss of consciousness and the brain begins to operate on a lower frequency. Stages three and four are considered deep sleep. A person alternates between stages three and four several times during the night in 90-minute intervals. Stage four is also known as REM sleep. Dreams occur during this time, and rapid eye movements are noticeable to observers. The frequency and duration of stages three and four sleep during the night determine whether a person awakens rested or feeling groggy the next day.

Achieving levels three and four during the sleep cycle nightly is an important factor in overall health and the ability to function. Lifestyle choices, daily stresses, and other variables may interfere with a person’s ability to enjoy deep, refreshing sleep. However, there are a few easy steps that can improve the quality of their sleep.

Wind down the mind

One of the biggest problems impacting sleep quality is the body’s response to stress. The “fight-or-flight” mechanism pumps the bloodstream full of adrenalin, which creates a heightened state of alertness. People who bring work challenges home, who have relational problems, or who feel they are on the losing end of a life battle tend to live in an adrenalin-stoked state. These people need to learn to release the thoughts that keep them in battleready condition before going to bed.

Interestingly, watching television is not an effective method of relaxing the mind. It has a hypnotic effect on the viewer but doesn’t turn off obsessive, stressful thoughts. A better soporific is reading, and the more fact-based the material, the better. Nonfiction material demands the reader’s complete focus to digest and analyze the content. The human brain can’t focus on one set of ideas and obsess on another, so reading thought- provoking material takes the mind off things that create anxieties.

Exercise

Feeling refreshed every morning should be a key motivator to exercise daily. There are two reasons a half-hour of fairly vigorous exercise helps with sleep. First, physical activity fatigues muscles, so the body demands a rest period. Second, exercise raises body temperature. Studies show that animals and humans become sleepy when body temperatures rise slightly. One test put alligators into a bath of warm water and compared the behavior to that of control alligators swimming in ambient temperature water. The alligators in the warm water consistently drifted off to sleep after a few minutes.

However, exercise should not be done just before going to bed. Most people are stimulated immediately following an exercise period. The relaxation and fatigue set in a few hours later.

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Take a warm bath or shower

Much like the alligators mentioned above, humans also exhibit a relaxation response when they are surrounded with warm water. A warm bath, shower, or hot tub session can be an extremely good tranquilizer.

Take melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland. It is released in greater amounts during periods of darkness and seems associated with establishing circadian rhythms in mammals. In fur-bearing mammals, for example, melatonin triggers winter coat growth and hibernation. In humans, melatonin has successfully offset jet lag and is used to help blind persons sleep at night. Used occasionally, a 3mg dose of melatonin advances the sleep cycle and induces stage two of the sleep cycle quickly. Melatonin in tablet form is available over the counter as a dietary supplement.

These remedies are useful in dealing with occasional insomnia. Chronic sleeplessness indicates the need for medical or psychological intervention. Sleep apnea, an over- or under-active thyroid, fibromyalgia, and other physical conditions also affect quality of sleep, as do clinical depression and bipolar disorder. For sleeplessness that lasts more than a few days, it’s best to consult a medical professional.