HEALTH PLUS:Things always look better in the morning, so concentrate on a good sleep routine, writes MARIE MURRAY
HOW MUCH sleep do you need? Well, if you struggle bleary eyed and cranky from your bed, the typical morning grouch, then you have probably not had enough sleep.
Our sleep requirements vary greatly. Anything from six to nine hours’ sleep for adults is not unusual and seven to eight hours’ sleep is regarded as the norm.
Those who complain that they “never slept a wink all night” have often slept much more than they think they did because it is not just time spent asleep but the quality of sleep that affects us and our capacity to function well the next day.
Some people seem to have a reduced sleep requirement and many important characters in history have claimed, or been accredited, with very short sleeping hours. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously harvested the night hours and reportedly slept for four hours each night.
Many writers, artists, scientists, leaders and innovators have been associated with sleeping less than the norm and many people find that their creativity awakens when the rest of the world is dozing.
There are polarities in people’s sleeping patterns. We all know the night owls who refuse to lose precious night time and their opposites, the larks, who seize the day by rising with the dawn, up, about and active when most people are turning over for another few hours’ sleep. Owls and larks may meet each other, the one retiring as the other arises and in families with babies or where there are different sleeping patterns it can be disruptive for everyone trying to get a few hours’ sleep.
An estimated 18 per cent of people sleep for less than six and a half hours, and 16 per cent of people sleep for more than eight and a half hours, the majority claiming their seven to eight hours’ recommended sleep time each night.
But there are those who find that sleep is problematic, and insomnia is one of the most common complaints in general medical practice with it affecting about 30 per cent of the population at some time. In clinical practice, psychologists and psychotherapists regularly find that insomnia is the presenting complaint before therapy reveals other underlying psychological hurts and distress.
People who suffer from insomnia suffer indeed. The more that sleep evades them, the more they worry. The more they worry, the less likely they are to relax and sleep. In this way, fear of not sleeping can itself cause sleeplessness and it is important that sleep problems are dealt with before they escalate.
Sleep problems take many forms. Some people have initial insomnia which is difficulty in falling asleep. Some people have middle insomnia: they fall asleep easily but wake up in the middle of the night and have difficulty going back to sleep. The more serious insomnia, most associated with depression, is abrupt awakening early in the morning without being able to sleep again. This is one of the essential elements in a diagnosis of clinical depression.
Anyone suffering from this early morning waking should seek medical help, particularly if they are experiencing changes in mood, energy and self-esteem.
During sleep, people may sleep talk (known as somniloquy), sleep walk (known as somnambulism), wet the bed, grind their teeth and people can have nightmares which are frightening and distressing or night terrors which are alarming to witness but which the person usually does not remember at all.
Life events can cause insomnia: stress, anxiety, financial worry, bullying, unemployment, worry about finances, relationship difficulties, bereavement, depression and physical pain. It is well know that caffeine drinks disrupt sleep, but so does hunger or a heavy meal. Smoking upsets sleep and it is estimated that those who smoke take up to half an hour longer to fall asleep than non-smokers.
Practical things that can be done to help sleep include trying to identify the cause of the problem, forming a rigid routine by getting up at the same time each day regardless of time slept to readjust the sleep/waking clock, reducing noise and light, having a comfortable bed and heavy curtains to block out light and the old remedies of a hot bath, a glass of milk and some lavender on or in the pillow.
Life can look dismal at night and worries can magnify themselves into terror. That is why it is important to remember that sleep problems can be solved and life’s problems can usually be resolved more simply than it seems they can be in the middle of the night.
mmurray@irishtimes.com
Clinical psychologist Marie Murray is director of the Student Counselling Services in UCD