Basic Sleep Facts
- A typical adult needs about 8 hours of sleep a night. This varies from person to person. Some people are short sleepers, 5-6 hours being enough, and some are long sleeps that need 8-12 hours of sleep.
- One-third of all Americans complain about their sleep in one form or another.
- Two of every five Americans suffer from sleep problems.
- 30 million suffer from true insomnia.
- As we reach our mid-30’s and beyond, we have a decreasing amount of slow wave sleep, which is correlated with physiological growth and is more a restorative type of sleep.
- The ability to consolidate sleep to have a long period of sleep without arousal seems to lesson with age. As we age, we sleep worse and we see more micro-arousals.
- Should you be deprived of any 1 or 2 stages of sleep, such as REM-Rapid Eye Movement, the stage of sleep where dreaming takes place, symptoms such as irritability, apathy, poor judgment, increased sensitivity to pain and a decrease in alertness may occur.
- Shift workers are especially prone to sleep disorders, because their routines are disrupted. Three week blocks on the same schedule is recommended, as well as shifting to new times in a clockwise direction. Rotating shift workers are always trying to adjust their circadian rhythm, which operates on a 23 hour clock, with sunlight resetting that clock. Our 24 hour society has more and more people working against nature, thus creating more sleep disorders.
- People cope with insomnia by sleeping late in the morning or by taking frequent naps during the day. While helpful in the short term, they perpetuate the sleep problem in the long run. Insomnia is usually a learned behavior and patients can use modified behavior techniques to solve the problem. Some patients have physiological reasons, such as restless leg syndrome or period limb movement during sleep-involving muscle contractions usually in the lower legs muscles.
- Insomnia becomes a problem or is considered chronic after three weeks, and often leads to irritability or depression.