I set my alarm for 5 am this morning because I thought I would get and hour and a half of extra work in before I had to rouse kids.
I hit snooze every 6 minutes between 5:00am and 6:58 when I finally reached over and shut off the clock.
Last night, my 4 year old squealed out in the night. I flew out of bed completely disoriented (not) thinking, 'it must be about 4:30'. I opened the door to my bedroom and stared bewildered into the blackness of the hallway and hissed, mostly incoherently, 'go back to sleep I am busy working on the magazine.'
I'm a nut.
Chronic sleep deprivation does weird stuff to people.
As a mother of four, I have been sleep deprived for fourteen years. If I had kept count of peaceful night's rest over the years, they might total 27.
Researcher's now can prove a good night's sleep is crucial to a life well-lived. Chronic lack of sleep is linked to everything from obesity (it has to do with a hormone you produce in your brain while you are asleep) to ADHD (they think that a good majority of children with ADHD are chronically sleep deprived) to the body's ability to heal itself (it takes at least seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep for the body to rejuvenate and heal cells).
According to 'The National Sleep Research Project' which you can find in full at http://abc.net.au/science/sleep/facts.htm here are a few facts discovered about the effects of chronic sleep deprivation:
- Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day. (IF MY HUSBAND STARTS TO BRUSH HIS TEETH WHEN I CLIMB UNDER THE COVERS, HE IS TOO LATE FOR LOVE. I CAN FALL ASLEEP IN UNDER TWO MINUTES)
- One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children. (THIS IS DEPRESSING)
- Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle. (I GUESS THIS SORT OF EXPLAINS WHY EVERYONE COMES HOME SICK AFTER A WEEK OR TEN DAYS ON HOLIDAYS)
- After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you've slept enough. (THAT EXPLAINS A LOT)
- Some studies suggest women need up to an hour's extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men. (THAT IS BECAUSE MOST WOMEN ARE WORKING THEMSELVES TO DEATH)
- The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents. (DOES THIS SURPRISE ANYONE WHO LIVES UP HERE
I am fine now that I am awake and mobile. I'll have a productive day, complete with a run... and I am starting to wallpaper my son's room tonight.
But it is only 9:30a and I am day-dreaming about bedtime.
I hit snooze every 6 minutes between 5:00am and 6:58 when I finally reached over and shut off the clock.
Last night, my 4 year old squealed out in the night. I flew out of bed completely disoriented (not) thinking, 'it must be about 4:30'. I opened the door to my bedroom and stared bewildered into the blackness of the hallway and hissed, mostly incoherently, 'go back to sleep I am busy working on the magazine.'
I'm a nut.
Chronic sleep deprivation does weird stuff to people.
As a mother of four, I have been sleep deprived for fourteen years. If I had kept count of peaceful night's rest over the years, they might total 27.
Researcher's now can prove a good night's sleep is crucial to a life well-lived. Chronic lack of sleep is linked to everything from obesity (it has to do with a hormone you produce in your brain while you are asleep) to ADHD (they think that a good majority of children with ADHD are chronically sleep deprived) to the body's ability to heal itself (it takes at least seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep for the body to rejuvenate and heal cells).
According to 'The National Sleep Research Project' which you can find in full at http://abc.net.au/science/sleep/facts.htm here are a few facts discovered about the effects of chronic sleep deprivation:
- Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you're sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you're still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day. (IF MY HUSBAND STARTS TO BRUSH HIS TEETH WHEN I CLIMB UNDER THE COVERS, HE IS TOO LATE FOR LOVE. I CAN FALL ASLEEP IN UNDER TWO MINUTES)
- One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children. (THIS IS DEPRESSING)
- Exposure to noise at night can suppress immune function even if the sleeper doesn’t wake. Unfamiliar noise, and noise during the first and last two hours of sleep, has the greatest disruptive effect on the sleep cycle. (I GUESS THIS SORT OF EXPLAINS WHY EVERYONE COMES HOME SICK AFTER A WEEK OR TEN DAYS ON HOLIDAYS)
- After five nights of partial sleep deprivation, three drinks will have the same effect on your body as six would when you've slept enough. (THAT EXPLAINS A LOT)
- Some studies suggest women need up to an hour's extra sleep a night compared to men, and not getting it may be one reason women are much more susceptible to depression than men. (THAT IS BECAUSE MOST WOMEN ARE WORKING THEMSELVES TO DEATH)
- The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents. (DOES THIS SURPRISE ANYONE WHO LIVES UP HERE
I am fine now that I am awake and mobile. I'll have a productive day, complete with a run... and I am starting to wallpaper my son's room tonight.
But it is only 9:30a and I am day-dreaming about bedtime.