The Effects of Sleep Deprivation - Adults

This week we will be looking at how adults can be affected by a lack of sleep - worryingly these effects are the same whether the deprivation is caused by insomnia or just trying to fit too much into your day.

Since the beginning of the last century great leaps in technology have promised us more time for leisure and activities we enjoy. Electricity and light-bulbs promised us that we could do more in the evenings and the early hours of darkness. Time to spend with family and loved ones, time to read and do other hobbies rather than going to bed soon after dusk.

In reality some of the advances have actually impacted the amount of time we spend asleep and the impact is increasing year on year. On average humans now sleep for about an hour less than we did 60 years ago.

Television was a great invention but used to switch off in the evenings, now it is available 24/7 and there is always another programme to watch. As the technology improved, TV's have now expanded into the bedroom and have an even bigger impact on sleep levels.

Now the internet and the sophistication of mobile technology means that we are connected to work all the time. The days of leaving work at 5pm and heading home for an evening with the family are diminishing, with only a few occupations left where this is possible. I remember my father being 'on call' one night a week and one weekend in four. This did impact our lives but for the other nights/weekends he was off duty. Now Doctors can be called all the time and are never off duty. This isn't just for the medical profession though - hands up who checks their emails one last time before going to bed, over the weekend or even when on holiday.

Computers have introduced and updated a new range of hobbies and pastimes. Several clients have reported to me that if they can not sleep they get up and play on-line games during the night. These range from card games and chess through to the latest shoot-em dead epic. The thing is they all stimulate the brain and delay the opportunity for falling back to sleep.

Sometimes we expect our brains and bodies to act like computers and switch on and off automatically. We go to bed, so stimulated - through technology, work, caffeine etc - and expect to fall asleep as soon as we hit the pillow. In fact our brains need time to wind down before being relaxed enough to sleep. In the 'old days' the sunset and darkness would be enough of a trigger but now artifical light (especially the lights on computers and kindles etc) stimulate the retinas at the back of hours and delay the sleep mechanisms of the brain kicking in. Reading your kindle, even on the low light setting, sends light directly to your eyes, whereas reading a book with a sidelight slightly behind you sends only the light reflected off the page to your eyes. A big difference.

In this world of physical perfection some people are getting up ever earlier to fit in a workout or run before they go to work. In fact I often see this being offered as a solution to people who say that they do not have the time to exercise during the day - paraphrasing somewhat it is along the lines of 'Get up an hour early and fit in your exercise as it is important to have a physically fit body.' However, unless done with care, the physical benefits of exercise are diminished -if not negated - by the physical effects of sleep deprivation.

So whether or not you have the classic insomnia and lie awake staring at the ceiling or you are getting less than the recommended 7 to 8 hours as you are burning the candle at both ends - the effects on your body are exactly the same.

Sleep deprivation portrays itself in the body in a variety of ways including -
Lethargy
Poor concentration
Decreased performance in both physical and mental tasks
Increase in appetite
Weight gain
Increased risk of heart problems
Increased risk of diabetes
increased risk of strokes

The problem for most sleep deprived adults is that the effects are accumulated over time. You do not get diabetes after just one night of poor sleep. In fact, after just one night of poor sleep you feel ok, it was not a problem and you feel as if you could do it again.
You may have been slower at work, or felt tired on the way home but these effects are diminished by taking caffeine or other stimulants. So you do it again. Pulling an all nighter to get a report done. Staying out late with your friends. Watching a late night TV programme.

In fact your body has been pulling out all the stops to help you feel normal and ok and it has the resources to do this and it these that are causing the long term damage that one day may show up as a heart problem.

When you are sleep deprived your hormones are affected including leptin - that suppresses your appetite causing you to eat more. (The science bit is here). So you may eat a little more after a bad night's sleep, so what? It is the accumulative effect that causes weight gain and the increased risk of diabeties, heart problems and strokes.

Constantly taking stimulants to keep your performance levels high at work may gradually become a cycle of stimulants to wake you and sedatives to help you sleep.

Also if you start feeling tired, you skip on the exercise, further impacting on the problems for your health.

Without becoming a social recluse - what can you do help get back into a normal, healthy sleep pattern?

Make a sleep a priority in your life
Work out how many hours sleep you need a night and start to work towards getting them
Cut out caffeine after 2pm
Stop drinking alcohol 2 hours before bedtime
Take technology out of the bedroom - computers, smartphones, kindles, TV's etc
Have a 'no screen time' hour before bed
Read proper books at bedtime, not kindles
Use things like a having a bath as a wind down time before going to bed
If needed have strategic naps but not too late in the afternoon
Record and watch favourite late night programs at a later date
Have a time limit on social events on 'school nights'

If you are aware of sleep deprivation and the affect it is having on your body, you are already one step along the path of changing your habits. Good luck in your journey.

Sweet dreams

 If you think you have a problem with sleep deprivation and would like help resolving it and do not know where to begin, then please contact me for a free consultation session. charlotte@charlottewelply.com

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation - Teenagers

Teenagers are an interesting group of people to study in terms of sleep and sleep needs, as along with the usual concerns around getting enough sleep there is a big biological shift in their sleep patterns as well. This along with an increase in social activities, homework and studying, social media and computer access, as well as peer pressure and 'fitting in', means that sleep can be pushed down the list of priorities when in fact it should be at the top.

Teenagers need an average of nine to nine and half hours of sleep each night. Some need a little less, some a little more. As I mentioned above there is a biological shift that happens at this stage of development that lasts till the early 20's, which makes it difficult for teenagers and young adults to fall asleep before 11 pm, forcing them to go to bed earlier may not actually help them sleep any better or longer.

This of course has a big impact on how much sleep they get as they need to get up in time for school and most schools start between 8 and 9 am. This leads the classic picture of the lazy teenager not waking up in the morning and being ready for school!

The effects of sleep deprivation are similar to those of younger children in terms of both physical and mental performance. A sleep deprived teenager will do less well in their schoolwork and have difficulty remembering information. Staying up late to do last minute revision before an exam is actually less effective than getting a good night's sleep.

Poor sleep patterns will also affect sports performances, and can lead to teenagers being overweight and having problematic skin conditions. Although completely different examples these are areas that are important to teenagers and can have an effect on their confidence and self perception which in turn has a knock on effect with their social skills and interaction.

There is also alarming research showing that the effects of sleep deprivation on driving is similar to the effects of alcohol on driving. This needs to be discussed with any teenager who is learning to drive and pushed as much as the 'Don't drink and drive' message.

Alcohol and cigarettes are also stimulants and can affect sleep and teenage years are when most people start experimenting with these. Large amounts of caffeine will stimulate the brain and affect sleeping patterns; drinking large amounts of energy drinks may initially help a sleep deprived person get through important tests or exams but can have a knock on effect on the following sleep and set up a sleep deprived/caffeine intake cycle that needs to be broken.

Also poor sleep, a lack of interest in social activities and poor school performance can can be a sign of depression and so this is harder to spot amongst the usual teenage 'blues'. If you are concerned about a teenager, then sit down and ask them about their goals and inspirations and if you remain concerned seek medical advice.

The best way to ensure a teenager gets enough sleep is to encourage and develop good sleep habits when they are younger. However it is never to late to try and create good habits and work with the awareness of the shift in the body clock and help them adapt to it instead of trying to fight it

- Encourage a routine where homework is done earlier in the evening and finished well before bedtime

- Also encourage a no-screen time after 10pm. The lights (and the closeness of them) on a computer screen stimulates the receptors at the back of the eyes and blocks the message to the brain that it is night time and to get ready for sleep. TV screens are not as bad as they are watched from a greater distance.

- Record programmes that are on later at night to be watched at other times.

- Make the bedroom a place for sleep and not activity. Remove computers and tv's and have sidelights and dimmer switches to keep the light level low

- Have as much natural light as possible in the morning o help the body wake up. Walking or cycling to school can help with this

- Have different areas in the home for homework, computers and tv's. It is important that the brain associates the bedroom with sleep and not other activities

- Encourage phones to switched off at night and perhaps have an overnight docking/recharge station somewhere else in the home, where ALL the families phones go. This is best started from a younger age

- Set up consistent bedtime and waking times through the week as the brain responds well to this and recognizes the trigger signs for sleep

- Have a good wind down routine for the end of the day - after the screens have been turned off, have a bath, a bedtime snack and reading (for fun) are all good things to help the brain wind-down and prepare for sleep

- Allow time for strategic naps and lie-ins for catching up on sleep on weekends and holidays. Do not nap too close to bedtime and also only allow a couple of hours lie-in, sleeping in till midday will just throw the bodyclock out of kilter

- Look at any out of school activities and monitor how many hours they take each week and is this having an impact on their homework and sleep time. Are strenuous physical activities - sports training etc being done too late in the evening to give the body to relax before sleep

- Keep an open dialogue going about the importance sleep and listen to what the teenager says. It is important that this is more of a discussion of pro's and con's rather than an dictation or rule. Help them feel they have a choice in what is decided

- Ask about a delayed start to school. Schools that have put their start time back an hour have found that teenagers do better in achieving good grades and also that truancy levels are reduced

- Talk to teenagers regularly about their day, how things are going and any concerns they may have so that they are not taking worries and stress to bed with them

These are all great habits and will enable teenagers and young adults to live life to the full.

Sweet dreams

Oxygen Masks

In the safety briefing on the aeroplanes (you know that bit at the beginning of a flight that no-one really listens too) we are informed that in the case of having to use an oxygen mask that we should put one on ourselves first and then help those around us to put on theirs.
It makes sense because the drop in oxygen can happen so quickly that if you were to spend those seconds helping a child put on their mask, that you would be unconscious before you would be able to put on your own.
I find that our instinct as women is to put others first, especially if we have children and families. We are able to put so much pressure on ourselves, running a business and a household that we burn ourselves out.
In order to make more time in the day for others we sacrifice the very thing that would help us perform better in the first place. Sleep.

In this modern fast-paced world sleep is the essential that we think we can do without. Sleep seems to take up so much time. It seems easier to go to bed just half an hour later so that we can finish a work assignment, make a cake for the cake sale, check the emails one last time, stay longer at an after hours work function, catch a TV programme etc. It doesn't appear to have any major affect, so we repeat it another night, telling ourselves that we will catch up at the weekend.

Then the weekend is busy too, and so is the following week and before we fully realise, bedtime is creeping slowly but surely to a later and later time and we are failing to get a regular 7-9 hours sleep we need each night and are regularly surviving on 6 hours or less. Although you may feel tired or sleepy and believe there to be no immediate short term affects, the research shows otherwise.

There will be immediate affects on your performance and alertness, so staying up late to finish your work will impact on your ability to be efficient at work the following day. Sleep deprivation also can affect your alertness when driving or operating machinery, your effectiveness at making decisions, as well as causing stress in relationships - both personal and professional.

Long term sleep deprivation starts affecting your health including blood pressure, weight control, mental impairment and contribute towards the development of diabetes and strokes.

So putting this all into perspective - cutting back on your sleep to do more is actually making people less effective.
Here are some ideas that can help us ensure that we put on our own oxygen masks first and make sure we get enough sleep to for our own health and to help others in a more productive and effective way.

- Is it possible to take a power nap during the day? Join the ranks of the famous who nap - Churchill, Edison, Da Vinci and even Bill Clinton. A quick 20 minute power nap can help restore your energy levels and help in increasing productivity. Many companies are working with this idea and providing 'snooze' areas for their employees!

- Working all evening does not give the brain a chance to relax and wind down and sleep quality is improved by setting a time to switch off work related activities and spend time with your family and friends in the evening. This also has the added benefit of making you more productive the next day.

- Prioritising household tasks and delegating at home can also free up time to help you relax and sleep more effectively.

- Have a set bedtime and stick to it. Numerous studies have shown that regular sleep patterns not only  improve the quality of sleep but also helps your body prepare for sleep so that you are able to fall asleep more quickly and once asleep, stay asleep.

During life there will be times when you need to put others needs before your own sleep (when having young babies or caring for someone who is ill) but for the majority of the time the simple fact of putting ourselves first and ensuring that we get a great night's sleep means that we are able to be more productive, efficient and ultimately help those around us.

Sweet dreams!

The 10 o'clock happy train

The other day I was reading Marci Shimoff's Happy For No Reason. It's a great book, and highly recommended, all about how to gain inner happiness, a happiness that is not dependent on external circumstances.

In one of the chapters Marci suggested a process called the 10 o'clock happy train and I thought it was such a lovely idea I had to share it with you. It is also a very simple idea, easy to implement and has great benefits.

Marci suggests it as a way of boosting your energy and therefore your happiness levels. It's a two step process

1 - Make the promise to yourself to get to bed by 10 pm for three days in a row

2 - Do it!

That's it. So simple.

Sleep is so low on the list of priorities in this modern world, there is so much to do that skipping half an hour or so of sleep here and there seems the easiest thing to do to enable us to fit more into our lives. It appears to have no immediate effect, we feel fine the next day and, even if a little groggy, we cope well. Over time though these things build up and we get grumpier and less able to cope. Marci's book focuses on happiness and that being tired and grumpy is not going to help your happiness levels, so committing to go to bed earlier will help by restoring some of your sleep debt. After 3 nights of restorative sleep you will have greater energy levels, feel ready to cope with anything and feel happier as well.

So, who wants to try this and see what happens to their energy and happiness levels? It may mean not checking your emails one last time, or recording that late night TV programme you want to catch but the benefits will outweigh the things you 'miss out' on!
I was on holiday last week and burnt the candle at both ends, so will be committing to the 10 o'clock happy train for the next 3 nights. Anyone else want to commit as well?

Sweet dreams.

Ticking bomb

Sorry to be dramatic, but I want to get serious about sleep.

There is yet another story in the press today about how sleep deprivation can affect health. It has been known that lack of sleep can cause heart disease, diabetes, obesity and poor brain function but the mechanics of how this happened had not been clear. The study found that less sleep alterers the genes thus causing the damage (don't worry, I'm not going into a science lesson here.)

However what I found shocking was the amount of sleep deprivation it took to cause these changes. Not because it was a big number, quite the opposite, but because it was such a small number and the changes happened very quickly.

The study examined the results of less than 6 hours sleep for a week. Let's look at that again - less than 6 hours for a week.

How many hours sleep do you get a night? There are many, many people out there who are getting less than 6 hours sleep, night after night. Even if you are in bed for 6 hours, you'll be getting less when you factor in the time it takes to get to sleep.
Had a hard week? Either staying up late to finish a project or partying hard and not catching up on your sleep, then you could be starting the chain of events.

Fortunately it is possible to easily and quickly improve the quality and length of your sleep. Here are some ideas.

1 - set your alarm clock to remind you to go to bed! Use the alarm function on your phone to set a time to stop working and start going to bed.

2 - switch of computers and work phones early in the evenings. Not only do the display screens stimulate your retinas and keep you awake longer, you also need to take a rest from work. Studies have shown that quality not quantity counts when working hard and that your work is more productive if are refreshed and well rested rather than sleep deprived.

3 - make your bedroom a calm and relaxing place to be, rather than a junk room. Ban computers and any other work associations. You will sleep better and more effectively if your bedroom is associated with sleep and sex only.

4 - stop drinking caffeine after 2pm, so that it has time to leave your body before bedtime and therefore will not affect your sleep.

5 - if you are an insomniac or have another sleep problem then ask about behavior therapy programmes as these have proven to be the most effective, long term way to improve your sleep. The medical world is waking up to the importance of sleep and there is a lot more support and help available than ever before.

Wishing you a great nights sleep!

Do you have a sleep bank?

A while ago I wrote about sleep debt its affect on day to day life. This time I want to introduce the idea of a sleep bank, where you can 'deposit' sleep hours before a busy week.

Studies have shown that there are benefits for accumulating sleep - Volunteers were split into two groups and one group slept normally for a week and the other accumulated sleep, both groups then had a week of sleep deprivation and only slept 3 hours a night. Those who had accumulated extra sleep performed better at mental and physical tasks, even towards the end of the week.

This is useful information for those in extreme circumstances such as soldiers before a big military operation but how can we use it in day to day life?

If you know that you are going to have a busy week - exams, traveling abroad for work, a relative with a scheduled operation etc, then you can plan to sleep an extra half hour to an hour each night the week before. You can also bank extra time through naps (but remember to keep them to early afternoon).
Try and keep to a regular routine and accumulate your extra sleep by going to bed early rather than lying in late, as you do not want to disturb your night time sleep. It is better to go to bed half an hour early each night, than have a lie-in for two hours one morning.

If you have children with a busy schedule of exams coming up, then ensure they go to bed early in the days leading up to the exams as anxiety and last minute studying may hinder sleep the night before.

If you are a competitive athlete and have been training for a big run or event then banking your sleep may help give you that edge on race day.

Going away for the weekend but will be sleeping a strange (and possibly uncomfortable) bed or be burning the candle at both ends for a weekend city break? Then planning your sleep ahead will help you make the most of your time away.

However please bear in mind that just like a bank account - if you already have a sleep debt, then trying to bank sleep will not work in your favour as you will still be repaying your debt!

Sweet dreams!

Teenagers and sleep

The other night I did an overnight babysit and the apartment had the heating programmed to be on all night. I found it way to hot to sleep and seemed to spend the entire night adjusting the radiator and opening/closing the window.

I did only get about 2 hours sleep - and it was in two different blocks. I got the children up and took them to school and returned home and straight to bed.
I have not slept that badly for years and when thinking about it I remembered that this was my norm when I was a teenager. In those days I would sleep for about 2 hours one night and then the next night about 5 hours, and kept repeating this two night pattern until I went to the doctor about my sleep.

Seeing how tired I felt the other morning, and how I was incapable of doing anything other than going to bed made me reflect on how this must have affected my studies at school and college. Nowadays if I do an IQ test I'm up around 140, yet my school teachers thought I wasn't coping with the work. Some of this was due my dyslexia (which is fortunately much better understood these days) but I now think that my insomnia severely affected my studies.
When revising for my A levels I would spread all my books around my room, and because my Mum would leave me alone 'to study', I would end up with droopy eyelids and falling asleep. I ended up with average results.

So, what to yo do if you are a teenager, or a parent of a teenager with sleep problems?

Firstly teenagers sleep is naturally different from an adults and they become Night Owls and naturally go to bed later, finding it hard to sleep before 11pm. They need at least 9 hours sleep and some need more. School and college hours mean that they are not getting enough sleep.

In order to help try and establish a good evening routine that means homework is finished earlier in the evening, allowing time to unwind before bed.
Encourage having a shower or bath before bed, to send sleep triggers to the brain.
Have a no screen time guideline for the last hour before bed, this includes ipads, laptops, smart phones etc.
Reduce the amount of caffeine in the diet  remember a lot of soda drinks contain caffeine.
Encourage regular sleeping hours to train the body to sleep but do allow for a small lie-ins at the weekend/holidays for catch up.
Strategic napping can help - as long as it is not for too long nor too close to bedtime.
Make the bedrooms as sleep inducing as possible.
Encourage plenty of exercise - again earlier in the day and at least 3 hours before bedtime.

Discuss sleep with your teenager like an adult. Telling them they need to sleep more and enforcing strict rules may well end in resentment and a lack of co-operation. Give them the facts about sleep and how important it is and what the benefits are. Also point out that getting enough sleep helps with weight control and skin conditions such as acne. Let them come to realise the impotence of sleep themselves. Ask if they want to keep a sleep diary to track the amount that they are getting.

Remember - if you treat sleep and sleep issues with respect, encourage discussion and ask them what they would like to do to improve their sleep, they are far more likely to take it on.

Keep an eye on their sleep patterns and if you suspect that their lack of sleep goes beyond normal teenage patterns then get an appointment with their doctor and discuss the possibility of other sleep problems such as insomnia or sleep apnea.

If you have any concerns and want to discuss them further then please contact me for a free consultation.

How much is your sleep debt?

According to statisticians we are accumulating around 500 hours of sleep debt a year! That's a lot of debt to pay back. In our modern, fast-paced world a lack of sleep is fast becoming a badge of honour. Do you ever brag about how little sleep you need? When working with my clients I often deal with cases of insomnia and other forms of physical sleep deprivation but far more interesting are those who can sleep but chose not to. Experts recommend 8 hours sleep a night but most people in the modern world are only getting between 6 and 7 hours a night. even a debt of an hour a night adds up very quickly.

Research shows time and time again how lack of sleep affects us both mentally and physically. In this 24/7 era of technology that is supposed to help us live life to the full, experiencing it in more ways than previously thought possible and being in constant communication with the entire world is actually causing more stress and strain on our bodies than in previous generations.

Years ago I had a boyfriend who started work later than me and so got about 45 minutes more sleep than me each night. At the weekend he was up and ready to go out, I was the one who wanted to catch up on my sleep as I felt exhausted. The difference in our energy levels was that noticeable.

Before the invention of artificial light only the very rich could afford a large number of candles and therefore to stay up late. For the rest of us nighttime meant going to bed early and rising with the sun in the morning. We got on average around 9 hours sleep a night. This also kept the body in touch with the rhythms of nature and the seasons. Now with electricity and light available all the time, as well as the advent 24 hour television and the internet we can all stay up late in the night.

So how does sleep debt affect us?

Short term affects include irritability, memory loss, blurred vision, poor judgment, susceptibility to infection, drop in glucose metabolism, and a rise in cortisol (the stress hormone) levels. It also affects how we store information and access it so if you are staying up all night studying or working the reduction in memory loss and judgment abilities is going to negate all the effort that you have put in. Studies on school children have shown that those who got an hours more sleep performed better in tests. Far better to have an early night instead!

Long term affects include a rise in obesity due to poor insulin control. This of course leads to other health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes etc.

Fortunately sleep debt can be paid back. Try going to bed 30 minutes to an hour earlier every night and see what difference that makes on your energy levels and mental alertness. Take the time to make sleep a priority in your life and you will see the benefits in your health and productivity. If you do have a late night - I don't want to be a party pooper, then make sure that you schedule time for an early night to catch up. A well timed nap will also help your energy levels and mental alertness.

 Life sometimes gets in the way of the best laid plans and there will times when getting enough sleep is difficult, parents with young children or caring for loved ones who are ill come to mind. If you are in these situations then remember that these are short term and come up with some strategies to help you cope - taking naps, getting children into good sleep routines, taking turns with a partner for weekend lie-ins etc, all help with keeping your sleep debt to a minimum.

Sweet dreams!