Sleep deprivation
What if restless nights are normal instead of the exception?
It's important to explore why we sleep in order to set aside our tossing and turning. Sleep deprivation isn't just bad for us, it's also bad for people around us: tens of thousands of traffic accidents are attributed to sleepy drivers every year, and lack of sleep was also blamed for the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989.
Sleep researcher Dr William Dement estimates that up to 95 per cent of Americans suffer from lack of sleep at some point in their lives. According to Dement, sleep deprived people are less happy and more stressed than those getting eight hours' downtime at night. He says: "I consider sleep deprivation a national emergency." The effects? Physical frailness, as well as mental and physical exhaustion.
What is sleep?
Sleep is made up of different stages. The ten-minute period of light sleep (drifting off from wakefulness) is called Stage One. Stage Two is deeper and lasts about 20 minutes. Stages Three and Four come after this, and are types of deep sleep.
Deep sleep is the part of sleep that our body and brain needs to recover from the day. It's sometimes called delta sleep, after the delta waves the brain generates. We don't dream during this time. After about 90 minutes of deep sleep, REM sleep - including rapid eye movement - begins. During a normal night, people usually cycle through the various stages several times. Problems arise when the pattern of cycles is broken.
Researchers at Loughborough University's Sleep Research Laboratory have found that people are designed for two sleeps a day - the main one at night, and a nap in the afternoon. This suggests that an afternoon siesta, as people in warmer parts of the world have, may be a physiologically good idea.
Are we getting enough?
Those of us who don't have the luxury of an afternoon nap still tend to get sleepy at about this time. Interestingly, people who increase their night-time sleep find that this afternoon 'dip' disappears. A ten-minute nap at lunchtime is just as effective.
Sleep problems, including dozing off, can be a symptom of many other conditions, from problems with the thyroid gland to depression - and even occasionally rare sleep disorders such as narcolepsy. So it's important to speak with your GP if you're currently experiencing insomnia or another sleep problem, since it could be indicative of another condition.
The Loughborough University team found that sleep restrictions can be therapeutic for severely depressed patients. Cutting back on sleep to fewer than four hours for one night often results in a dramatic improvement of mood, with the depression lifting rapidly, albeit leaving the patient sleepy. Unfortunately, this remarkable effect lasts only for as long as the patient continues to remain awake, as the ensuing sleep usually leads to the return of the depression.
Sleep and mood are interlinked in intriguing ways that are still not understood. But a satisfying sleep, like a satisfying meal, can leave one happy and content - with room perhaps for just a little more!
Remember to make your bedroom a special room, used primarily for sleeping - making it as comfortable, airy and dark as possible.
This article was last reviewed in October 2005.
First published in June 2000.
Sleep News:
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WELL; Before Sunrise - Tara Parker-Pope Well column highlights sleep research on how to reset one's sleeping habits. Drawing
Bracelet Tries to Nudge You Closer to Good Health - State of the Art -  Jawbone offers the Up wristband, which monitors your sleep and activities and also provides a visual record of your habits.
Mothers and Sleep Medication -  More mothers readily admit taking a sleep aid to get them through the night ? and the stressful day that follows.
Chronic Insomnia Raises Heart Attack Threat, Study Says - Subjects in a large new study who had trouble falling asleep had a 45 percent increased relative risk of heart attack.
Tough New York Private Schools Try to Lighten Load -  Some of New York City?s most competitive high schools, like Dalton, Trinity and Horace Mann, are working to address student stress.
Mattress Not Usually to Blame in Sleep Problems, Experts Say -  Experts say it?s probably not the mattress that keeps you up at night. If you don?t feel rested, you may have a sleep disorder, or you may just not be getting enough sleep.
Overnight at Zuccotti Park, Protesters Seek Sleep -  Amid the activity overnight at Zuccotti Park, weary protesters seek rest beneath tarpaulins or wherever they can.
REALLY?; The Claim: Sleep apnea causes sexual dysfunction. - Sleep apnea has been found to raise the risk of sexual dysfunction. (M)0
Lights Out, Game On -  As studies have increasingly focused on the health risks associated with low-quality sleep, the makers of sheets, pillows and mattresses have begun marketing them as fitness aids.
A Child?s Nap Is More Complicated Than It Looks -  Napping in children actually is a mix of individual biology, including neurologic and hormonal development, cultural expectations and family dynamics.
Hope, Fear and Insomnia - Journey of a Jobless Man -  Frederick Deare lost his job in a Bronx factory on June 25, 2010. How does a 53-year-old with only a G.E.D. find a job in the new economy?
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