SLEEP. It comes easy to some, but is elusive to many others. We all need sleep. We function on sleep. It doesn’t take a genius to actually figure out that a good night’s sleep is necessary for a healthy and active life.
We go to great efforts to make our sleep sanctuaries as comfortable as we can so that we can enjoy our sleep – to wake up feeling absolutely refreshed and ready to take on the world.
Unfortunately, there are many of us out there who find sleep elusive because we simply have too many things to take care of in what seems to be not enough hours a day. And so we sacrifice our sleep.
Elusive to some who have problems sleeping. Insomniacs. No matter how tired they get, they just cannot fall asleep.
BBC News recently shed more light on why sleep is precious. Even more so in this day and age where we complicate our lives to keep up in a challenging environment.
Not only does sleep allow our minds and bodies to rest and rejuvenate, sleep also plays a very important role in helping us retain information. In other words, a lack of sleep can affect our memory.
Dr Katharina Wulff and her team at the Sleep Centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford found that the deep sleep stage actually allows our brains to move memories from short-term storage into long-term storage.
Before going into that, best we first get an insight into the different stages of sleep. Webmd.com breaks sleep stages to Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) and Rapid Eye Movement (REM).
NREM itself has three stages. The first five to 10 minutes where our eyes are closed, but we can still easily be woken is stage one. The second stage is when our heart rate slows down and the body temperature drops, preparing us for deep sleep.
The third NREM stage is of course, deep sleep. This is when it is the hardest to wake someone up, and when they do wake in the midst of this stage, they will most likely be disorientated.
After the NREM stages of sleep, we move into the REM stage where our heart rates and breathing quicken, bodies are almost immobilised, our brains become active and we can have intense dreams.
According to researchers, during the deep sleep stage, the body repairs tissues, muscles, bone and strengthens the immune system.
Besides all the repair work that is going on when we are in deep sleep, research has also found that our brains are actually also working very hard. As mentioned, this is the stage where our brains move memories or information from short-term storage to long-term stores.
Yes, for those into technology, imagine your computer files being sorted out and your hard disk being defragmented where data is put into place. For those who still physically file information in metal filing cabinets, imagine sorting out your files into different cabinets, categorised and stored away for easy retrieval.
The research at the Sleep Centre involved a group of volunteers sleeping for six-and-a-half hours and another for seven-and-a-half hours. Tests and scans later showed that those who slept less struggled with mental agility tasks including remembering things.
The research at the Sleep Centre basically tells us that if we do not get adequate sleep, we not only jeopardise our mood, motivation, judgement and perception, we suffer from reduced immunity, weight gain, depression, reduced fertility and yes, very importantly, memory loss.
This pretty much explains why some people have difficulty remembering things that took place or were said very recently. We call them ‘babo’ (absent-minded).
What’s even worse is that when this happens, we get frustrated. As much as we try to recall we can’t and it becomes exasperating, especially if we are tired and lacking in rest.
We also tend to bring along this exasperation with us to bed and then a whole cycle of lack of sleep repeats.
Sometimes we tell ourselves that we can catch up on sleep during the weekends, or when we have the time. The reality is, once you’ve lost some good quality sleep, you’ve basically thrown away some good old rejuvenation and peace of mind.
In this day and age, environment, stress and technology are the main factors why we find it hard to get good shuteye.
Most of those who find trouble sleeping live in towns and cities. Noise in the environment around us, even if we seem to be immune or oblivious it, can have an effect on our sleep whether we realise it or not.
Stress. Yes, one would think that with stress comes fatigue and sleep is the most opportune escape. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. Stress actually causes a person to lose sleep because the mind is constantly on overdrive, trying very hard to deal with the issues at hand.
Our lifestyles also have an effect on sleep. We tend to stay up later these days thanks to long hours at work, and for those living in and around places like Kuala Lumpur, braving traffic and the long commute home.
In more relaxed laid-back cities like Kuching and Miri, we take advantage of the cafes and malls to hang out with friends. Irregular hours basically throw our body clock out of sync.
And speaking of hanging out for long hours, the food and drinks that we consume also have an impact on the quality of our sleep. Alcohol, caffeine and certain types of food like cheese and nuts can also keep our minds stimulated for long hours.
The relationship between technology and sleep has also
been studied by sleep researchers. It is no surprise that those who sleep with their smartphones nearby or have television sets in their rooms are more likely to experience reduced quality in their sleep.
Because of changing lifestyles and yes, technology too, many children these days also sleep as ‘early’ as 10pm. Back in the day (if you are as old as the Eye), bedtime meant 8pm on the dot! No later than 9pm on certain occasions when we had to attend family functions.
Our parents believed that getting a good night’s rest was essential so that we would be properly refreshed for prayers at dawn and school the next day.
They may not have known about all these modern research results on sleep, but they carried the logic that our brains would not function well, nor would we have peace of mind if we did not rest well, especially as children. So, perhaps it is time to take a step back and prioritise sleep in our lives and that of our children.
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