From sleeping pills affecting your health to alcohol that
helps you sleep but with a few side-effects, we count 15 rumors in the world of
sleep that simply aren't true.
15 - Catch up on sleep during weekends: Most believe that if
you don't sleep much during the week, whether because of work, parties or
otherwise, that you can recover this "sleep debt" with long weekend
mornings. And while sure, your body can recover with one long night of sleep,
the effect only lasts about 6 hours into the day before your body starts to
shut down. This is called a chronic sleep debt, too much exhaustion spread over
too many days to the point where you can't actually recover without it affecting
your own consciousness.
14 - Lack of Sleep, (don't read from here): If you're working
9 till 5, you're likely thinking to yourself that even if you don't get a full
night's sleep then it doesn't matter because it won't have any impact on your
health. But the reality is: even one hour of sleep lost for a night can
increase your risk of heart attack, especially if you're sleeping less than 8
hours a night. Not only that, but for those perpetually sleep deprived, they're
at a high risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, obesity and
depression.
13 - Sleeping Longer: Likewise, if you often sleep in and you think
you're out of the clear - think again - most who sleep more than 8 hours a
night usually die younger than those that don't. Studies haven't shown any
direct evidence for this, but most long sleepers suffer from depression,
diabetes and sleep apnea – and it's THAT which ends their life. So it's up to
you: do you want to deprive yourself of sleep, suffer a heart attack and die,
or would you rather sleep in, get depressed, choke on your own snores and die?
12 - Hitting Snooze: The entire purpose of a snooze button
on alarms is to help you wake up slowly – and it works, right? Well, studies
have shown that even needing a snooze button shows you're not getting enough
sleep - which you should have the energy to wake up as soon as the first alarm
goes off. Those in a regular sleep schedule shouldn't need to hit the snooze
button nearly as much.
11 - Power Naps: The thing about power naps is they're meant
to be short. A full 20 minute rest when you're
tired can recharge your body, any longer than that and you'll feel groggy unless
you are, in fact, a human cat. And don't get too used to it - if you do it too
much, your brain will take this as a sign you don't need to sleep as much at
night, which will make it harder to nod off.
10 - Asleep during Day: If you fall asleep during the day,
usually it means you're just lazy or you have nothing else to do - but it's actually
a message from your body. Its saying: hey, you're not sleeping enough at night,
I need some extra zzzs or I'm going to give you the motor function of a snail
covered in honey. After that point, it's up to you to decide how you're going
to get those extra hours.
9 – Insomnia: We've all felt it - you can't get to sleep because
you're worried about that thing happening tomorrow, or you're anxious because
bad things are happening in your life right now. Most chalk it up to insomnia,
but being worried about something can only keep you awake for a certain period
of time - it's merely short-term insomnia and it'll go away. Long term insomnia
is usually caused by more serious problems; pain, medication, depression, and
they should be fixed pronto.
8 – Snoring: When someone snores, sure it's annoying but
it's so common that you'd think it harmless - but n. Chronic and loud snoring
is actually a symptom of sleep apnea, in which your lung airways get blocked
and you stop breathing. In turn, this raises your blood oxygen levels and
increases your risk of high blood pressure and heart attack.
7 - All-nighter: Anyone can tell you this one, but you’d be
surprised how few heed its message - if you think pulling an all-nighter to
prepare for something like a big test works, it doesn't. But not because you'll
be exhausted, but because deep sleep encourages the consolidation of memories
from the day before, essentially helping you remember all these things. If you
haven't slept, you aren't actually learning much because you'll be so
confuddled by lack of sleep when the test comes along.
6 – Waking Up At Night: We all know the pain of waking up way before
our alarm and not being able to get back to sleep - but did you know that this
is actually a good thing? For millennia, animals and humans alike have been
stirring in the night, but so long as they nap the rest of their hours sometime
in the day, you're still fulfilling your sleep quota. In fact, those that do
this, to wake up in the night and spend those few hours relaxed only to fall
asleep again later - they felt even more refreshed than usual. If you do it
every night though - see a doctor.
5 – Alcohol: The rumor goes that if you're feeling a buzz
from alcohol, you'll actually sleep better because you'll essentially pass out or
get more relaxed from a single beer. However, while this is true, the side effects
nullify the positives - if you have a drink, no matter what size right before bed,
it actually affects your deep sleep, disrupting it constantly. Not to mention
it leads to snoring and worse breathing, both of which make you feel awful the
next day.
4 - Stay in Bed: If
you spend more time in bed, you'll eventually get so bored that you'll HAVE to sleep
- right? Well unfortunately, your mind will start to associate bed with being
awake, when it's supposed to be the opposite - and spending LESS time in bed
promotes actually sleeping. If you're awake and alert, the best thing you can
do is move outside your room for a while until you feel tired again.
3 - Cheating Time: Can you cheat yourself out of one less hour
of sleep per night without any negative side effects? Well, the fact is your
body should be used to a certain routine, and to deviate impairs your ability
to think and react as fast - even if you don't feel tired during the day. It
also makes you more prone to infections and even compromises your
cardiovascular health if you keep doing it.
2 - Night Terrors: Nightmares are extremely common, and
they're actually related to sleepwalking, bedwetting, sleep talking and teeth
grinding - harmless, but unpleasant. On the other hand, night terrors are
different- they happen BEFORE you go to sleep right when you're getting drowsy,
and it terrifies you right to the core. Most common in children, after you have
one you might start screaming, and then the next morning you can't even recall
it happening- a great way to scare the shit out of your parents.
1 - Sleeping Pills: If you have insomnia, you might've
turned to sleeping pills as a rather effective treatment - but the truth is
they're only designed for short-term use in temporary insomnia. The health
risks for taking even just a few sleeping pills in a given year is high - an
increased risk of cancer and general health problems. The root of your insomnia
should be dealt with long before you develop a reliance on pills - and even
just to reset your sleeping pattern which could be better solved with cognitive
behavioral therapy.
0 comments:
Post a Comment