You imagine the hypnotist’s pocket watch as it swings back and forth in front of your face. You are getting sleepy. Very sleepy. Your eyelids are becoming heavy. Soon, you will be in a deep, restful slumber. . . .
Darn, that didn’t work.
You toss, turn and stare at the clock radio for the umpteenth time.
You already have tried counting sheep, visualizing ocean waves, watching mind-numbing politicians on C-SPAN and every other get-to-sleep trick in the book.
Yet you still are wide awake.
You have a long day ahead, and you’ll be a zombie by 10 a.m. if you don’t get at least a couple hours of shut-eye. Is that too much to ask? you wonder, as you begin to strangle your pillow.
If this up-all-night scenario sounds sadly familiar, perhaps you might find solace in knowing you’re not alone. They’re not just sleepless in Seattle. Insomnia is one of America’s underestimated health problems.
On the average, most people need about eight hours of sleep to awaken refreshed. For those plagued by insomnia–the medical term for “I can’t get to sleep”–sawing enough Z’s is just a dream.
Researchers are increasingly shedding light on serious sleep disorders, and several experts say most cases of insomnia are the garden variety that can be treated by making some simple lifestyle changes.
It helps to know the enemy. The causes of insomnia are numerous: Stress or anxiety. Depression. Medications. Shift work, which throws off the body’s natural rhythms. As we age, we also are more prone to fitful sleep.
“There was a time when people were told that if they couldn’t sleep, it was all in their mind,” said Thomas Roth, director of the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit.
Not anymore. A poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that 49 percent of all Americans last year had trouble sleeping. Of those, 12 percent said they suffer from chronic insomnia, meaning they wrestle with sleeplessness at least 16 nights a month.
Exactly why we need sleep remains a mystery.
“We do know one thing,” added Dr. Kevin Grady, medical director of St. John Hospital and Medical Center’s sleep lab in Detroit. “If we don’t sleep, there are progressive physiological abnormalities. If you don’t sleep, you will progress from irritable to catatonic. There’s something going on in the sleep process that is restorative.”
There are steps you can take that may help if your body and mind desperately need a little sleep restoration. Most are not complicated. And they have stood the test of time.
“Everyone is looking for that quick cure without paying real attention to common sense,” said Dr. Harvey Organek, who is on staff at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., and operates a sleep lab in Southfield, outside Detroit.
“People have to recognize that they will have to invest some energy. It’s not something where you take a drug and wait for it to resolve the problem. For insomnia, it can require changes in behaviors and attitudes.”
So, from the experts, here are some do’s and don’ts for getting a better night’s sleep. If these keys to good “sleep hygiene” don’t work, it could be time to schedule a visit with your doctor to check for a more serious problem, like sleep apnea.
– Get up at the same time, seven days a week.
“The single, most-important thing if you can’t sleep at night is to fix your rising time and keep perpetuating that cycle,” Roth said. In other words, set the alarm on your body clock.
– Make your bedroom a restful environment. Make sure it’s dark enough, not noisy, a comfortable temperature, etc. Don’t spend hours in bed watching television, doing your homework, etc.
“Don’t introduce everyday life into bed, because it brings with it all the stresses and strains that you’re trying to leave behind when you go to sleep,” Organek said.
Added Grady: “We like to say that the bed should be for two things: Sex and sleep. It isn’t for anything else. So if you’re not sleeping and you’re not having sex, you shouldn’t be in bed.”
– Don’t make sleeping pills a nightly routine. They serve a purpose, experts say, but only on an occasional, situational basis.
“Indiscriminate use of the sleeping pill is an incredibly bad thing,” Grady said. “It doesn’t treat the underlying problem. They are very addictive. And when you start taking them, they never are going to be enough. You’ll also have terrible rebound insomnia” when you stop taking them.
Then there’s melatonin, the current “miracle” drug. The body produces melatonin, a hormone, when it’s dark; proponents say it’s what regulates our body’s internal clocks. Over-the-counter melatonin products are being sold by the fistful, but they don’t have a medical stamp of approval. Researchers don’t know the long-term side effects and point out that they don’t work for everyone.
“Melatonin is a very exciting drug that we’re going to learn more about in the coming years,” Roth said. “But there’s no scientific research today to go into a health food store and buy melatonin so you can get to sleep.”
– Avoid alcohol. It’s not a sleep aid. While it certainly can make you sleepy at first, it also will wake you up later as the body metabolizes it.
“Alcohol is very seductive to people with sleeping problems, but you should avoid it,” Roth said. “Yet 28 percent of the American population says they self-medicate with alcohol.”
– Do your worrying before you go to bed. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but experts suggest you set aside some time, like 6 to 6:30 p.m., to ponder all the problems of your world. Then, it’s out of the way before your head hits the pillow — at least in theory.
– No naps in the afternoon. If you take a two-hour nap then, Roth explained, you’ll sleep two hours less at night.
– Avoid caffeine six hours before you go to bed. That should be self-explanatory. But remember, stay away from the chocolate, too. Also, nicotine is a no-no. It’s another stimulant.
– If you can’t fall asleep within 15 minutes, don’t stay in bed just to toss and turn. Leave the room and go read a book until you feel drowsy.
