SLEEP for SUCCESS!

AuthorHouse

Contents

Acknowledgements.............................................................................................ixForward—Dr. William C. Dement..........................................................................xiiiIntroduction—What's So "Macho" About Not Sleeping?.....................................................xvPart One—Everything You Must Know About Your Sleep Habits but Are Too Tired to Ask.....................1Chapter 1—The Sleep Meter: Think You're Alert? Find Out Here...........................................3Chapter 2—New Findings on Sleep Deprivation: The Silent Killer.........................................11Part Two—New Discoveries in the Science of Sleep.......................................................25Chapter 3—The Architecture of a Good Night's Sleep.....................................................27Chapter 4—Sleep, Learning, and Memory..................................................................32Chapter 5—Dreaming.....................................................................................41Part Three—A New Look on How to Get a Great Eight Hours of Sleep.......................................47Chapter 6—The Four Essential Keys to Sleeping Well.....................................................49Chapter 7—Sure-Fire Strategies to Sleep for Success!...................................................58Chapter 8—What's your Naptitude?.......................................................................82Part Four—New Research that Provides Helpful Solutions to Common Sleep Challenges......................89Chapter 9—Sleep from Birth through Childhood...........................................................91Chapter 10—Teenage Walking Zombies.....................................................................110Chapter 11—Challenges for the Elderly..................................................................122Chapter 12—Women & Sleep...............................................................................130Chapter 13—Managing Time for Better Sleep..............................................................137Chapter 14—Surviving Shift Work........................................................................146Chapter 15—Sleep Tips for the Traveler.................................................................155Chapter 16—Sleep, Exercise, and the Athlete............................................................171Part Five—An Up-to-Date Look at Sleep Disorders and Their Treatment....................................183Chapter 17—Understanding and Treating the Most Common Sleep Disorders..................................185Chapter 18—Knock Yourself Out: Sleep Drugs.............................................................204Chapter 19—Personal Observations.......................................................................215A. Sleep for Success Performance Log.........................................................................223B. Suggested Readings and Videotapes on Sleep................................................................229C. Internet Resources........................................................................................237

Chapter One

• Do you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow?

• Do you need an alarm clock to wake up?

• Do you sleep extra hours on weekends?

If you answered yes to these questions (and to others we're about to ask you), you're sleepier than you should be. You might feel alert enough to get through the day, but you're probably performing well below your potential.

Most people don't value sleep and have no idea how tired they really are. There are various elaborate and expensive laboratory tests that objectively measure sleepiness, but we can make a pretty thorough assessment based on how you respond to the following two questionnaires. Don't worry; they're short, easy, and fun—a cinch compared to any high school math exam.

The first self-test is the Maas Robbins Alertness Questionnaire (MRAQ ). We've used this to assess Cornell University students as well as Fortune 500 executives. The twenty statements help differentiate between well-rested and sleep-deprived individuals. The second self test is the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. It measures daytime sleepiness and helps diagnose disorders such as sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Ready?

The Maas Robbins Alertness Questionnaire (MRAQ)

2010 Dr. James B. Maas and Rebecca S. Robbins

Please indicate true or false for the following statements:

True False

T F 1. I often need an alarm clock in order to wake up at the appropriate time.

T F 2. It's often a struggle for me to get out of bed in the morning.

T F 3. Weekday mornings I often hit the snooze bar several times.

T F 4. I often feel tired and stressed out during the week.

T F 5. I often feel moody and irritable, and little things upset me.

T F 6. I often have trouble concentrating and remembering.

T F 7. I often feel slow with critical thinking, problem solving, and being creative. T F 8. I need caffeine to get going in the morning or make it through the afternoon.

T F 9. I often wake up craving junk food, sugars, and carbohydrates.

T F 10. I often fall asleep watching TV.

T F 11. I often fall asleep in boring meetings or lectures or in warm rooms.

T F 12. I often fall asleep after heavy meals or after a low dose of alcohol.

T F 13. I often fall asleep while relaxing after dinner.

T F 14. I often fall asleep within five minutes of getting into bed.

T F 15. I often feel drowsy while driving.

T F 16. I often sleep extra hours on the weekends. T F 17. I often need a nap to get through the day.

T F 18. I have dark circles around my eyes.

T F 19. I fall asleep easily when watching a movie

T F 20. I rely on energy drinks or over-the-counter medications to keep me awake.

If you answered "True" to four or more of these statements, consider yourself seriously sleep-deprived.

Epworth Sleepiness Scale

(Designed by Dr. Murray Johns of Australia) M.W. Johns 1990&#ndash;1997

Use the "Doze Scale" to respond to each situation.

0 = no chance of dozing

1 = slight chance of dozing

2 = moderate chance of dozing

3 = high chance of dozing

Situation Chance of Dozing

Sitting and reading _________

Watching TV _________

Sitting inactive in a public place (theater/ meeting) _________

As a passenger in a car for an hour without break _________

Lying down to rest in the afternoon when circumstances permit _________

Sitting and talking to someone _________

Sitting quietly after a lunch without alcohol _________

In a car, while stopped for a few minutes in traffic _________

MY Sleepy Score (Total Points) _________

Results

If you scored ...

Less than 8: Congratulations! You're getting adequate rest.

Between 8 and 11: You have mild sleepiness.

Between 12 and 15: You're moderately sleepy and must reevaluate your sleep habits.

Between 16 and 24: You're seriously sleep-deprived.

Before we discuss the serious, deleterious consequences of sleep deprivation and sleep disorders, take a moment to assess your sleep IQ by answering whether popular sleep beliefs are true or false:

Sleep Myths: What's Your Sleep IQ?

More myths exist about sleep than ancient Greece. This book separates fact from fable. Take the following quiz and see how much you know about sleep — something you should be spending one-third of your life doing guiltlessly.

Indicate true or false for the following statements:

True False

T F 1. Newborns dream less than adults.

T F 2. By playing audiotapes during the night, you can learn while you sleep.

T F 3. Chocolate candies on your hotel pillow help you sleep better.

T F 4. If you have insomnia, you should nap during the day.

T F 5. Sleeping pills are helpful for people with longterm insomnia.

T F 6. Your mattress doubles in weight every 10 years due to dead dust mites.

T F 7. Sleep that begins before midnight is better than sleep that starts after midnight.

T F 8. During sleep, the brain rests.

T F 9. Sleeping longer can make you fat.

T F 10. You can condition yourself to need less sleep.

T F 11. Snoring isn't harmful as long as it doesn't disturb others.

T F 12. The older you get, the fewer hours of sleep you need.

T F 13. Most people realize when they're sleepy.

T F 14. Drinking coffee, turning up the air-conditioning and cranking up the radio will help you stay awake while driving.

T F 15. Sleep disorders are mainly due to worry or psychological problems.

T F 16. The human body can never adjust to night-shift work.

T F 17. Most sleep disorders go away without treatment.

T F 18. If a smoke detector is as loud as a jet engine, a police siren or the Rolling Stones in concert, it will awaken your sleeping child.

T F 19. People who sleep 6 hours or less are unlikely to improve athletic skills.

T F 20. Grades would be higher, alertness would be greater, and discipline problems fewer, if high schools began classes after nine in the morning.

Questions 1-5, 7-15 and 17-18 are false. 6, 16, 19 and 20 are true. If you score poorly, don't worry; you already have all the correct answers in your hands. Just read on. Sleep for Success! is designed to provide clear explanations and practical solutions for all your sleep issues.

Chapter Two

So maybe you nod off in meetings every now and then, doing the old head-bob-I'm-awake-boss! dance. Or perhaps your mind wanders when you're driving, sometimes to the point that you can't recall how you got to your destination. Or maybe you're so tired during the day that your monthly Starbucks outlay now rivals your utilities bill—and, frankly, is just as necessary.

But do you have a problem? How much of this debilitating state is the result of leading a busy life in today's rather frenetic, 24/7 world? It's a similar question that people who drink alcohol occasionally ask themselves: Am I flirting with something dangerous here, a condition for which I need help?

Chances are if you're wondering about this then, yes, you do have a problem with sleep deprivation. To find out for sure, let's explore all the facets of this sneaky and debilitating disease. And it is a disease. In fact, if it was an option on death certificates, it could be checked off as the source of many an untimely demise.

Scared? Good!

What does it mean to be "sleep-deprived"?

You are sleep-deprived if you're not meeting your personal sleep need, which for most adults is between 7.5 and 9 hours per night. You should feel energetic, wide awake, and alert all day, without a significant midday drop in alertness. And the term "sleep-deprived" certainly applies to anyone who has difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, wakes up too early, and/or has poor sleep quality.

Most Americans are at least modestly sleep-deprived. While the average person claims to get 7.1 hours of sleep per night, a study at the University of Chicago demonstrated that it's actually much less. Researchers attached small sleep-monitoring devices to subjects and found that those claiming 7 to 8 hours per night really slept closer to 6. It seems we're so sleep-deprived, we aren't even aware of how little we rest. And you can imagine what this means for the 55 percent of Americans who think they're getting 6 to 7 hours of sleep.

Who is sleep-deprived?

Most of us are moderately sleep-deprived; not just tired, but deprived of the very rest that is integral to health and competency in waking life. Pilots, doctors, nurses, teachers, students, politicians, executives, truck drivers, store clerks ... all are veritable zombies. In general, high school and college students are the most pathologically sleep-deprived segment of the population. Their alertness during the day is on par with that of untreated narcoleptics and those with untreated sleep apnea. Not surprisingly, teens are also 71 percent more likely to drive drowsy and/or fall asleep at the wheel compared to other age groups. (Males under the age of twenty-six are particularly at risk.)

Senior citizens and those in business and government are the next biggest group of yawners, with huge dips in alertness between 2:00 and 4:00 pm. Many of them brag about needing only five hours of sleep per night. Little do they know that it's undermining their job performance, putting them at risk for health problems, and even shortening their lives.

What are the signs of sleep deprivation?

Predictably, the most common symptom is fatigue. But as obvious as that seems, many people become so accustomed to feeling chronically tired that they accept it as normal. This same attitude is often applied to other symptoms such as mood swings, irritability, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating, remembering, learning, and interacting socially. You may feel you're a loner, a slow-learner, or just not a vibrant or ambitious person, when in fact your fatigue has created a shell around your true personality and abilities. People don't recognize that sleepiness is not "normal," and something must be done to break the cycle.

Signs of chronic sleep deprivation can also include frequent infections/illnesses, blurred vision, changes in appetite, and depression. While these symptoms may be relatively minor and seem unrelated at first, they can be the precursors of life-shortening afflictions. Without proper treatment, they can grow to negatively impact your health and quality of life.

How do I know if I'm sleep-deprived?

The most thorough and reliable way to determine if you have a problem is to take a Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT). The theory behind this test is that the faster you can fall asleep (when given the opportunity to do so in a quiet, dark, cool bedroom at specified intervals throughout the day), the more sleep-deprived you are. This test should be administered at an accredited sleep disorder center. You can visit www.sleepcenters. org to find the sleep lab nearest you.

What are the most common causes of sleep deprivation?

The biggest and most prevalent cause is our society's persistent belief that sleep is a luxury rather than a necessity. When it seems there just aren't enough hours in the day, sleep is the first thing we cut, though ironically if we slept more, we'd be more efficient and productive. The advent of the Internet, buzzing Blackberrys, and 24/7 entertainment has compounded the problem. Abusing sleep with blissful machismo is now deeply engrained in our global society.

Beyond this general notion, there are many specific contributing factors to sleep deprivation. Temporary sleep loss, for instance, is often triggered by passing stressors, such as a headache, toothache, indigestion, back problems, cold, flu, or jetlag. While these causes are certainly real and frustrating, they're relatively easy to treat.

Anxiety is the most common cause of short-term sleep loss, and it can last for weeks. Nervousness about money, your marriage or relationship, losing or finding a job, your weight or other health concerns, and even boredom can all make you toss and turn.

Long-term sleep loss is occasionally caused by environmental factors—your job, if you're a night-shift worker; where you live, if it's in a noisy area—but it more commonly stems from medical conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, epilepsy, ulcers, and heart disease (among others), as well as consistent drug (including caffeine) or alcohol use. There are also a number of sleep-specific medical conditions that can severely impact and disrupt rest. These include sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, and upwards of eighty-six other distinguishable disorders, many of which are discussed in Chapter 17.

More than a third of people who suffer from chronic insomnia also have psychiatric conditions such as depression and schizophrenia, as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxieties, or phobias. Sleep and psychiatric problems tend to go hand-in-hand—when you're not sleeping well, life appears grimmer; when life appears grim, it's harder to rest. Trouble sleeping can even be an early sign of forthcoming psychiatric problems, so it's important to talk to a doctor if symptoms arise or persist. For most patients, when an underlying mental condition is treated, sleep habits improve.

Does sleep deprivation affect me physically or behaviorally?

It affects you both ways. There's no escaping the debilitating effects of insidious sleepiness, no matter how motivated, responsible, or strong you are. Even in risky or potentially dangerous situations, nothing can override the powerful and inevitable results of extensive or cumulative sleep loss. If you think you're in good shape but aren't sleeping well, you're cheating yourself out of an even better sense of well-being, little to no extra effort required.

Physical effects

Not sleeping makes you prone to:

• Daytime drowsiness. This usually manifests itself as a temporary drop in energy and alertness around mid-afternoon. It's accompanied by feelings of inattentiveness and grogginess, particularly when doing dull or repetitive tasks. It's more likely to occur after a heavy meal or a low dose of alcohol, or while sitting in a warm room, listening to a boring lecture, or participating in a dull meeting. These factors do not cause sleepiness; they simply unmask the physiological fatigue that's already present.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from SLEEP for SUCCESS!by James B. Maas Rebecca S. Robbins Copyright © 2010 by Dr. James B. Maas. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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