Quality Sleep

From OSU Wiki

Contents 1 Cornerstone of Health 1.1 Regular Sleep Schedule 1.2 Avoid... 1.3 Sleep Debt 1.4 Sleep Inertia 1.5 Microsleeps

Cornerstone of Health

Quality sleep is the cornerstone of our health, and yet often ignored. We require quality sleep to function properly throughout the day. The following will describe the characteristics of quality sleep, and what causes us to get poor sleep.

Regular Sleep Schedule

In order to maintain quality sleep throughout the night we must maintain a regular sleep schedule. Try to get to bed around the same time every night, and wake up the same time every morning(unless you work graveyard, then reverse). The importance of holding to this schedule can't be stressed enough...one all-nighter can lead to a huge sleep debt(explained later in this article), and prolonged sleep inertia(explained later in this article). Even a couple hours off schedule can affect the quality of sleep you get that night.
With a regular sleep schedule comes a constant amount of time spent sleeping each night. While each person may differ(usually between 7-9 hours per night), the average is about 8 hours needed per night. Upon waking we should not lay in bed, as this can cause grogginess and prolonged sleep inertia.

Avoid...

1. Snacks before bed. Snacks before bed can raise blood sugar levels making it difficult to fall asleep, and when blood sugar levels fall it can cause poor sleep. Should we wake up during sleep, the drop in blood sugar can make it difficult to fall back to sleep.
2. Ditch the television. Actually ditch anything that hyper-stimulates the brain(e.g. computer, video games, etc...). Reading, listening to soothing sounds or soft music, journaling, or any other activities similar in nature will aid in getting quality sleep.
3. Staying up late. Our bodies are meant to go to sleep when the sun goes down! With modern inventions it is becoming increasingly easier to stay up past sunset. Around 11:00pm our gall bladder dumps toxins and our body begins doing a majority of its recovering[1]. If we're awake during this time(between 11:00pm to 1:00am) those toxins will back-up into our systems causing further health issues, and our body will not be as rested the next day.

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Sleep Debt

We require about 8 hours of sleep each night. While Thomas Edison is famous for sleeping only a few hours each night, and Albert Einstein for 13 hours each night...these are extreme cases[2]. If we do not get 8 hours of sleep one night we accumulate sleep debt. Sleep debt can only be made up by sleeping. Too much sleep debt will cause us to fall asleep during the day in response to our bodies trying to pay back that sleep debt.

Sleep Inertia

Sleep inertia refers to the time after waking up in which you're not fully awake. Sleep inertia can last anywhere from 1 minute to 4 hours. The majority of people will rid sleep inertia within 15 minutes with activity.
For safety reasons we should not perform tasks that may endanger our health or the health of others within the first 15 minutes of being awake.

Microsleeps

Falling asleep without realizing it is common with sleep deprivation. Too much accumulated sleep debt can lead to short periods of dozing off, microsleeps, where we are unaware of outside stimuli. This can be even more dangerous than sleep inertia while driving, operating machinery, or other tasks that risk your health or the health of others.