Sleep myths are false statements that are regularly disseminated online, at home, among friends, etc. Unfortunately, sleep myths can also be damaging to your health if you develop sleep deprivation by adhering to them.
Sleep deprivation is an insidious condition that lowers performance and quality of life in the following aspects of your life:
Below are the common sleep myths and the truth about them.
Clinical depression is a mood disorder that causes you to feel helpless, apathetic to your life and outcomes, hopeless, numb, or sad, among other things. It can make it hard to get out bed in the morning, feel excited about things that are happening in your life, or cause you to distance yourself from friends and loved ones.
While feeling sad is a normal part of being a human, the feelings associated with clinical depression are chronic and intense enough to interfere with relationships, personal habits, personality, jobs, and so on.
Do you work hours outside of the “typical” 8-5 business day? Do you work days on and then days off? If so, then you are like millions of Americans who are considered shift workers. Especially in Alaska, the summer season often means a large influx of shift work.
Shift workers include:Do any of these look familiar? While shift work comes with certain perks, such as better pay for similar jobs and the ability to get stretches of time with no work, shift workers are also at a disadvantage when it comes to long-term health and sleep outcomes.
A risk factor is something that increases your likelihood of developing a disease or condition. Insomnia, like other sleep disorders, has a number of different potential causes and factors that can put you at risk for developing insomnia.
Complicating matters is the fact there are two types of insomnia:
Adding to this is that there are two modes of insomnia as well, which concerns how long insomnia lasts:
Sleep deprivation is the chronic condition of not receiving adequate sleep. Adequate sleep will differ from person to person, and change as we age. Most of us suffer from sleep deprivation because we either have trouble staying asleep, or getting to sleep.
It's also important to distinguish between shorter term sleep deprivation, such as sleep deprivation causes by anxieties or stress that will soon pass, and long term sleep deprivation, such as a chronic lack of sleep that may spread over months or years.
Before talking about causes of insomnia, it is important to understand that there are two types of insomnia:
Adding to this is that there are two modes of insomnia as well, which describes the causes of insomnia:
Secondary insomnia means that you have insomnia as a direct result or symptom of something else, such as a health condition, medication, pain, substance abuse, etc. For example, depression can be an underlying cause for insomnia.
Primary insomnia means that your trouble sleeping is not directly related to some other underlying issue.
Someone who is a shift worker doesn't work typical hours and days. This means either working non-typical hours (8ish-5ish), working rotation work (changing shifts), or working many days on followed by many days off. Especially in Alaska, summer time means a large number of seasonal shift-work jobs.
Shift workers include:
Shift work can be beneficial for several reasons: higher pay for less desirable shifts, flexibility with scheduling, and longer periods without work. However, shift work can also make it more challenging for these individuals to have normal sleep schedules. Please continue reading to learn more about what shift work sleep disorder is, and how to overcome it as a shift worker.
Sleeping pills are known as sedative hypnotics. They relax the mind and body in order to help one go to sleep. Those who struggle with getting a good night's sleep will often take them. Examples of sleeping medications include:
For those with insomnia, sleeping aids can feel like a lifeline; almost as if they could never sleep without them. Although they are quite effective, they also come with hidden dangers. Specifically, individuals with untreated sleep apnea SHOULD NOT take sleeping aids. Sleep specialist Dr. Thomas Winkler said, “For my patients with untreated sleep apnea, I tell them [taking sleeping pills] is a bad idea.”
The sleep deprivation cycle is one that many struggle with chronically, essentially consisting of being sleep deprived for days followed by sleep binging, which leads to even more late nights and continued sleep deprivation. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle that commonly occurs during the week with sleep deprivation and "catch up" during the weekend.
The opposite of the sleep deprivation cycle is consistent, sufficient sleep, as opposed to being deprived of sleep. Sleep deprivation is insidious, and can be result in a lower quality of life, lower expectancy, and decreased performance in every aspect of life. Breaking the cycle is important for overall life quality and health. Continue reading this blog post where we discuss a number of tips to help break this cycle.
Alaskan summers can make having a sleep schedule feel impossible. And it’s not just the sun/twilight that burns throughout the night. Alaskan summers can make it hard for many reasons, including:
Light can create a large issue for sleep, especially as the amount of light is dependent on a few factors:
Regardless of these changes, getting good sleep is still vital for overall health. In this blog post, we will discuss ways in which you can achieve a good night's sleep during these drastic season changes.