Monday May 12th, 2008
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Switching Off "Junk Sleep" Habits
Posted by Su Avasthi on August 27, 2007 - 10:53pm.
Most mornings, I wake up to a story on NPR, and I absorb snippets of the news while I'm still half-asleep. And every so often, I fall back asleep and the news somehow works its way into a dream.
In fact, the other morning, I dreamt that I met a stranger at a party, who said something very interesting (I can't remember what), and then politely shook my hand and in a deep, clear voice said, "I'm Tom Goldman from NPR."
Welcome to the modern dilemma, which experts have dubbed "junk sleep."
According to an article in the BBC, junk sleep is poor quality sleep that's caused by TVs, computers, radios, iPods, and other electronic gadgets.
They report that the Sleep Council has found that junk sleep is a real problem for teenagers aged 12 to 16, whom often fall asleep with gadgets still going and fail to get their recommended eight hours.
Experts behind the study said that they find the trend "incredibly worrying" and suspect that junk sleep has become a burgeoning epidemic. It's especially problematic for youths—already sleep-deprived—because their brains and bodies are still developing. In addition, there have been a lot of studies that link poor sleep to obesity.
The researchers aren't sure how to tackle the issue, except by urging teens to switch off the electronics. They want teens to realize that a healthy lifestyle includes plenty of high quality sleep. But, they also concede that kids, being kids, aren't likely to heed the advice.
Still, I'm willing to listen. In fact, I wonder if junk sleep is a problem that affects as many adults as teens. I suspect that grown-ups are also pretty familiar with static-filled dreams.
After reading the article, I realized that I've got snooze and sleep buttons on the alarm clock, stereo, and TV in my bedroom.
And a friend recently told me he's more comfortable when he falls asleep with the TV on. I can't figure out if he likes the background chatter from SportsCenter, or if it bores him into a deep slumber.
In any case, I like the term "junk sleep" for gadget interference. And I'm glad that scientists are drawing a connection between "junk sleep" and good mental and physical health.
It's a good reminder that I'd rather skip the junk sleep, if only to keep NPR out of my dreams.
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I'm guilty of having the t.v. on to help me sleep, its more of a distraction for the gnawing thoughts that stampede through my head, its like having a remote control and then channel surfing in my head. When I have the t.v. on, I tend to listen to what is on and slowly drift off to sleep, I normally have it on TCM. It doesn't sit well with my husband, but if I don't use it, I toss and turn and cannot sleep. I am trying to break the habit, instead of putting the timer on for an hour, I do it for 30 minutes and I'm slowly making it for shorter times. I am praying a lot more and plan to use some meditation techniques as to relax more when I go to sleep. It is a bad habit to get into, now my kids are doing it..ugh!
Try a fan instead of the TV, it just might work for you.
Those were words of caution from one Diva to another. When I thought I was suffering from some kind of emotional issue, my Diva Sista asked me how many hours of sleep I was getting per night. I realized while training for a marathon, I was only logging about 5 hours a night for nearly 9 months. I couldn't figure out why I felt so fuzzy, why decisions seemed hard to make, why my tolerance level was evaporating. I finally mentioned my issues with my doctor. She gave me anti-depressant samples without even inquiring about my sleep. Luckily, my Diva Sista asked the right question. I started making sure I got at least 6-7 hours a night, even if it meant I didn't run that day...and it has made ALL the difference. What I thought was some freaky hormonal/chemical imbalance turned out to be me depriving myself fof sleep. Just a word of caution to the rest of you Limesters...Get your Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...preferably, minus the "junk". Turn off the TV! ;)
The Divas
www.TheDivaCast.com
It used to be a habit to watch the 10 o'clock news and then go to bed... What a horrible way to drift off to sleep! There's so much negativity on the news that I ended up with bad dreams which would wake me up in the middle of the night. No more news before bed for me! It's actually made a big difference in my sleep - I don't have the weird dreams (okay, so I still have weird dreams sometimes- but at least they're not news-story related) that wake me up in the middle of the night.
Someone mentioned turning a fan on as white noise - I do this & it works! My husband and I started doing it years ago when we lived in an apartment and our (slightly crazy) neighbor liked to listen to classical music ALL night, really loud... Our walls were paper thin... But the fan drowned out the noise!
I agree on the fan noise helping one sleep... it certainly does! I've been doing that for about 10 yrs. or so now. And I do it for my toddler too... and it works wonders!
I'll have to tell my husband to turn off NPR at night... haha...