Welly Psychology Magazine By: DG, IR, MW, MI, EB, SB, LM
Contents Why do we need sleep?............................2 Who is most sleep deprived?.......................3 Sleep habits at Wellington.........................4 How long does it take for you to fall asleep?....5 Are you sleep deprived?............................5 Weird sleep disorders..............................6 How to improve your sleep.........................7 Blue light and sleep.................................9 More resources to help you sleep................10 Dreams.............................................12 Book recommendation.............................14 Sleep and Dreams seminar.......................15
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Sleep and Dreams
Contrary to popular belief, 7 hours of sleep is considered “under sleeping” for a teen!! For optimal functioning, over 8 hours and under 9.5 hours is recommended, since “oversleeping” produces similar negative outcomes unless it is a rare occurrence compensating for previous lack of sleep.
Why do we need to sleep?
How well do you sleep? Take this quiz: https://psychcentral.com/quizzes/sleep-quiz#1
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Who is the most sleep deprived?
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Women are more likely to struggle with sleeping. 3
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Women aged 25-39 are the most sleep deprived, likely due to the combined pressure
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of career and children. Women aged 50-59 are also high risk, but more often due to insomnia rather than lack of time. Menopause is known to disturb sleep patterns and post-menopausal women struggle with insomnia more.
Sleep habits at Wellington:
from the 2017 survey
Percentage of pupils reporting that they had at least 8 hours of sleep on the night before the survey.
8 hours sleep (%)
What percentage of people get 8 hours sleep.
100 80 60 40
Girls
20 0
Boys 3rd form
5th form
U6th form
year group
Percentage of pupils reporting that the amount of sleep they normally have is enough for them to stay alert and concentrate on their schoolwork.
satisfactory sleep (%)
percentage of people who feel the sleep they get is satisfactory.
80 60 40
girls
20 0
boys 3rd form
5th form
U6th form
year group
Even statistics from teens at Wellington suggest that women tend to be more sleep deprived. For both boys and girls, sleeping becomes more problematic as pressure builds 4
towards the final years, so U6th is the year to pay attention to sleep patterns as they not only become more disturbed but they also become more important for keeping good cognitive shape during exams.
How long do you take to fall asleep? Try the Spoon and Tray Test You can test how long it takes you to fall asleep by using a technique developed by Nathaniel Kleitman. Lie down in your bed, put a spoon in your hand over the edge of your bed and a plate underneath your hand. Check the time and then try to fall asleep. When this happens, you will drop the spoon and it will hit the plate which will wake you up. Check to see how much time has passed and voilà! Check the table on the right to see your results. Here is a demonstration with the tray at “The Truth About... Sleep. Are you sleep deprived? - BBC One” (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p051yc7s). SLT score below 10 minutes might prompt potential sleep deprivation.
Are you sleep deprived? How to tell Do the spoon and tray test. You may have micro-sleeps during the day. People will say “you look tired.” You may be irritable or grumpy. You need stimulants like caffeine to keep you awake. You need an alarm clock or take a long time to get out of bed. You may be more susceptible to feeling stressed. You may have difficulty concentrating. You may get more ill (the immune system suffers when we’re tired). 5
Sleep Disorders
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Improve Your Own Sleep
How to Sleep Better •
Stick to a sleep schedule. This trains your body to produce melatonin (the sleep hormone) at the right time so that you fall asleep. You know jetlag? This happens because
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your melatonin isnt being produced at the right time, so your body doesn’t want to go to sleep. If your body says “sleep” then sleep! Don’t force yourself to go to bed earlier if you don’t want to sleep and don’t go to bed late if your
eyes are screaming at you to close. •
Don’t eat too much before bed. When you lie down after a big midnight snack or such you can get indigestion and acid reflux which is definitely not going to help you sleep. Eat about 3 hours before sleep to allow food time to digest.
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Worrying is the biggest sleep obstacle. We all know those times when you lie in bed at night and your brain resurfaces every embarrassing and stressful thing that has ever happened and will happen in our lives. However, try meditation, journaling and art therapy in the day to process those things without disrupting the blissful quietness of sleep.
(App recommendation - Calm. For meditation and breathing) •
Anxiety and Depression which may lead to insomnia. Obviously we all know the recommendation “have you tried going for a walk?” when it comes to anxiety and depression; however, believe it or not it could help (shock horror!). Exercise releases adrenaline, relaxes your muscles and creates a sense of calm afterwards. So, if you are up for it, put on some tunes and go for a walk, do some jumping jacks or a jog in the wilderness! (N.B. Don’t do extreme exercise less than 2 hours before bed or you will be too jumped up on adrenaline to fall asleep.)
Breathing exercises • • • •
7/11 technique - in for 7 seconds; out for 11 seconds. On par with sleeping and calming medication. Square breathing - Breathing with a window, or square shaped item. Inhale as you go up the line of a window, exhale across, inhale down, exhale across. Relax and breathe: do nothing for 10 minutes; video on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXItOY0sLRY Inhale for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, exhale for 7 seconds and on the last second of exhaling, breathe out heavily.
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If you are completely alert 30 minutes after trying to fall asleep, then it’s time to change tactic, because you are unlikely to fall asleep by waiting longer. It is best to re-direct your attention to an external stimulus such as reading or listening to a book, taking a warm shower or getting fresh air by a window.
Blue Light and Sleep Despite blue light being an environmentally friendly source of light, the artificial side of it (technology) used at the wrong times, can damage your cognitive brain. Until the creation of the lightbulb, the sun was the major source of lighting, and people spent their evenings in (relative) darkness. Now, pretty much all of us are addicted to our phones. Using our phones at night is just habit at this point and we all know how hard it is to stop scrolling and go to sleep. However, our phones are doing us dirty and shifting our biological clocks which can cause insomnia. Sunlight contains red, orange, yellow, green, and blue light rays. Blue light is everywhere, and sunlight is the main source of blue light; being outdoors in the daytime is where we are most exposed to it. However, artificial blue light is conducted through indoor sources, including fluorescing and LED
lighting and flat-screen televisions. Most importantly, display screens of all digital devices emit large amounts of blue light. Melanopsin, the pigment that helps eye cells assess light brightness, is particularly sensitive to shorter, cooler wavelengths like blue light, which some 9
damaging mental health disorders, as well as diabetes.
research says means blue light may affect the body more dramatically than other lights. All colours of light have opposing effects on our brains. Blue wavelengths are in fact beneficial during daylight hours, they help the removal of melatonin, which boosts attention, reaction times and mood. However, the exposure to blue light at night, after sundown, can significantly disrupt your circadian rhythm, preventing the production of melatonin and just generally not being very helpful when it comes to bedtime. Blue light penetrates all the way to the retina (the inner lining of the back of the eyes), and too much exposure to blue light can damage lightsensitive cells in the retina.
Due to the fact that technology is a key player in today's society, technologists have brought attention to the fact they need to protect humans by introducing alternative methods such as night-shift mode. This night-shift mode has a foundation of red light; red light is less likely to shift circadian rhythm and suppress melatonin. Blue light glasses are also now widely circulating in American society; as it is difficult for our eyes to avoid blue light rays, these glasses protect too much blue light entering your system. Also, exposing yourself to lots of bright light during the day will in turn boost your ability to sleep at night, as well as your mood and alertness during daylight.
Researchers have linked sleep deprivation to a building risk of significantly
More Guidance for Better Sleep (1) Video from the Mindfulness in Schools Project on Beditation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5ut2NYd AEQ (2) TED Talks to inspire you to go to bed and get a good night's sleep
Hysing M, Pallesen S, Stormark KM, et al; ‘Sleep and use of electronic devices in adolescence: results from a large population-based study’; BMJ Open 2015; 5:e006748. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006748
https://www.ted.com/playlists/223/talks_to_in spire_you_to_go_to (3) Check out this Ted Talk video wherein sleep researcher Wendy Troxel makes her case for why school should start later for teens
(!!!)
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS6lFDVR3g&feature=emb_title
https://healthinsights4u.com/productcategory/ebooks/
(4) Sleep Council – this website is packed full of info and advice on how to help you get a good night’s sleep, including blogs, posts and ideas for creating the perfect sleep environment
6) Sleep diary https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/insomnia/Docum ents/sleepdiary.pdf (7) The Insomnia Workbook for Teens: Skills to Help You Stop Stressing and Start Sleeping Better (Instant Help Book for Teens) by Michael A. Tompkins PhD, Monique A Thompson, Judith S. Beck
https://sleepcouncil.org.uk/ (5) iBook: “How to Sleep Well and Stay Healthy: A Guide for Teenagers” (8) Sleep apps https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/category/sleep/
Useful Contacts: The Health Centre Sister-in-Charge: Mrs Beverley Gilbert Tel: 01344 444 111 or 01344 444 112 Email: healthcentre@wellingtoncollege.org.uk
SURREY SLEEP RESEARCH CENTRE (SSRC) https://www.surrey.ac.uk/surrey-sleepresearch-centre Phone: +44 (0)1483 682502 Email: sleep@surrey.ac.uk
Read about world sleep day More information can be viewed on worldsleepday.org/get-involved/plan Sleep is a basic human need—a crucial component of survival, much like breathing, eating a healthy diet or getting enough exercise.
Contact
Allan O’Bryan, World Sleep Society Executive Director: obryan@worldsleepsociety.org 11
About World Sleep Society World Sleep Day is organized by the World Sleep Society, an international association whose mission is to advance sleep health worldwide. World Sleep Society hosts a biennial scientific congress on sleep medicine aiming to globally connect sleep professionals and researchers to advance current knowledge on sleep. A virtual meeting is also underway with details on worldsleepsociety.org example, psychodynamic therapies) or can constitute the entire psychotherapeutic approach (e.g., Jungian Therapy or Imagery Rehearsal Therapy). It is used in both individual and group therapy. • Dreams are an involuntary flow of images, thoughts, Some key approaches emotions, and to psychotherapeutic dream work: sensations mainly occurring in the rapid-eye movement 1. Sigmund Freud postulated that (REM) stage of sleep. dreams are a manifestation of
Dreams in Psychology and Psychotherapy
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the suppressed unconscious infantile (childhood) wishes and psychological conflicts through censorship of our self. Interpretation of dreams and related free associations of the dreamer was suggested as a method of revealing and treating them. However, several contemporary psychoanalytic theorists conceptualise dreams as a reflection of the dreamer’s waking life rather than of unconscious tensions.
Psychotherapy is a set of biopsycho-social methods improving health via therapeutic psychological change. Psychotherapeutic dream work is a spectrum of techniques where the psychotherapist and client(s) explore the dream together with a therapeutic purpose. Dream work can be an element of the psychotherapy (for
2. Carl Jung believed that the unconscious mind is generating dreams to reflect issues that are unexpressed during waking life and thus playing a “compensatory” function. The therapeutic effect of 12
awareness of hidden meanings and feelings through deciphering of dreams, was attributed to the uniting of a person’s conscious and unconscious. Jungian dream work included interpretation enriched by usage of archetypes, myths, and artistic expression of the images found in dreams and associations.
representations of something / someone. 5. Montague Ullman introduced the approach of group dream work where individual dream understanding is enriched by reflections of group members. 6. Donald Wolk pioneered psychodrama to connect dreams of the participants with their life circumstances. Psychodrama involves acting out the dream individually or in a group to gain deeper understanding of the events.
3. According to Alfred Adler, dreams are expressions of the conscious mind providing the person with reassurance, resilience, stronger problemsolving potential for future challenges. Contemporary Adlerians have replaced symbolism with individualised understanding of dream metaphors that emphasise providing encouragement and positive interpretations for the client.
7. Other dream approaches of stand-alone psychotherapeutic schools include Gestalt (focused on present life and practical challenges) and experiential methods. The Cognitive-Experiential dream model of Clara Hill is integrating experiential, psychoanalytic, Gestalt, and behavioural approaches to dream work. Barry Krakow developed cognitive group therapy of disturbing dreams, which involves educational reconceptualization of the nightmare, determining of how to transform it into a new dream, and then rehearsing this new dream during the therapy session and as homework (Imagery Rehearsal Therapy).
4. Aaron Beck posited that dreams are influenced by waking cognitions. Consequently, dysfunctional cognitive patterns are also reflected in dreams. Thus, some dreams may help to reveal the problem of the client and distorted thinking causing it. Modern cognitive therapists assert that ideas or images from dreams should be taken at face value, thematically and not as symbolic 13
Most therapists attend to dreams at least occasionally. Dream work is proven to help in achieving positive psychological change directly or via improving the effectiveness of the psychotherapeutic process.
However, perhaps one of his most intriguing and interesting books is ‘Hallucinations’ in which Sacks looks at the many forms delusions and hallucinations can take. In the chapter ‘On the Threshold of Sleep’, Sacks talks about the common hallucinations that can be seen before falling asleep (hypnagogic hallucinations). This vivid sensation happens for many people and is relatively common, but they have also been linked to narcolepsy, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease. Although much more harmless
A Book Recommendation and Review
compared to other forms of hallucinations due to their internal state (they are
Dr Oliver Wolf Sacks and Our Sleep
usually seen
Hallucinations
within your thoughts and are not visualized in an
Dr Oliver Wolf Sacks is a famous
area), they can have a terrible effect
neurologist and author from England that
on your sleep cycle. These hallucinations
has released multiple best-selling books about his patients (including himself)
are usually auditory but can be visual – Sacks explains that most people will experience light auditory hallucinations
that suffer from mental disorders. Possibly his most famous book was
(such as hearing noises in their room or
‘Awakening’ which was later adapted into a film in 1990 starring Robin Williams
their dog barking) but more intense cases will have intense visual hallucinations in which they most likely
and Robert De Niro. Other famous books that Sacks has written include ‘The Man
see ‘vibrant colours’ or ‘geometric
who Mistook his Wife for a Hat’, an
patterns’.
enlightening and fascinating account of Tourette’s Syndrome, and ‘Musicophilia:
As well as being very informative, the
Tales of Music and the Brain’ in which he
personal perspective that Sacks gives to
gave an insight into the link between our
‘Hallucinations’ makes this a very interesting read. The abnormal nature of
own emotions and music.
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hypnagogic hallucinations is also intriguing
can make the unconscious conscious to
and left me with unanswered questions to ponder myself. All of Sacks’ work
help resolve emotional problems. How does it fit with neuroscience of the
touches and delves deeper on unusual
mind?
topics that are rarely discussed in psychology.
In modern psychology, psychodynamic theory has often been rejected as “pseudoscience”; however, there is
Sleep and Dreams Seminar with Jan Harriet-Clark – A visiting lecturer at Wellington
increasing evidence from neuroscience that brain systems could explain the distress that the unconscious is signalling.
An introduction to Psychodynamic theory and the meaning of dreams
Numerous advances in the field of neuroscience, discovered from large
For all mammals, sleep is fundamental to
amounts of data, have provided scientific
rest both the body and the mind. There are many theories of dreaming, including
evidence which supports the theory of biological causes of dreams, such as the
the idea that it is useful for
emotional circuits found to be implicated
consolidating the events which have
in conditions such as PTSD. It appears
happened during the day from short-
that subconscious processes and
term memory to long-term memory. One theory is that dreams are the royal road
mechanisms in the brain can influence our thoughts and understandings, and
to the unconscious – can understanding
Jan's job is to apply this knowledge to
them help us in our conscious lives?
the interpretation of her patients'
Psychotherapy?
thoughts. She therefore uses the background theory to explain real life
Jan Harvie-Clark is a practising
sense of their thoughts and emotions.
What is a Psychotherapist/
situations and help patients make more
psychotherapist. This means that she
Dreams as a road to the unconscious
investigates how our subconscious lives
mind – why are dreams useful in
affect us in our waking lives in order to
Psychoanalysis?
give us greater understanding of our discomfort. Causes of anxiety and
Jan Harvie-Clark explains that when we
depression can be investigated by
are asleep our body shuts down, but our
uncovering our deepest fears and desires
mind keeps working without the barriers
which may be linked to childhood
imposed by the logic of the conscious
experiences. People approach a psychotherapist when they are
mind. Thoughts and feelings which may be deemed unacceptable to our waking
experiencing emotional discomfort and,
self may come to light. Dreams can take
with the help of the professional, they 15
on different forms depending on the
quantitative data, but rather on
individual: while some people dream in colour, others dream in black and white,
qualitative data. She describes her job as being mainly observational and based
some dream with pictures, others with
on listening to patients’ thoughts and
words or abstract concepts, some people
ideas. Overall, the subconscious is
dream with sound, others don't. What defines the characteristics of our
difficult to detect in our everyday life as our conscious mind can stop the flow
dreams are elements of our real lives,
of the unconscious. Nonetheless, the
which get translated and moulded to fit
subconscious still plays a role particularly
into our dreams. Jan Harvie-Clark, gives
while the mind is not alert, thus
the example of talking to a person in a dream:
explaining the huge variety and form of the dreams we all experience.
"When you see someone in a dream that you've never seen before, this person is probably an amalgamation of other things which take place in your life. The role of a psychoanalyst is therefore to analyse these individual features and understand what these might be linked to in the patient's real life". Jan Harvie-Clark discussed how psychoanalysis is different from psychology, as it uncovers and focuses more on subconscious aspects of the human mind. Her work is not based on 16