Get Enough Sleep
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During my first semester in college I met a fine arts major named Beth who believed
sleep was a waste of time. She slept in 20 minute chunks diligently working on art
projects in between several naps a day. She was perpetually fatigued, lethargic and
lived in a dream-like fog that many of her friends took for being “cool.”
Beth was an extreme case but her story typifies a common American mistake: When
it comes to sleep, we’ve got better things to do. Consequently, so many of us are
sleep deprived and sleep disorders are common.
Advertising media bombard us with commercials for both prescription and over the
counter sleep aids. We see as many commercials and advertisements for
mattresses promising better rest. How many of us haven’t walked into a store at the
mall to find out what our “sleep number” is and who can resist finding out what the
Tempur-Pedic mattress feels like? If you haven’t done this yet, admit that you have
sleep was a waste of time. She slept in 20 minute chunks diligently working on art
projects in between several naps a day. She was perpetually fatigued, lethargic and
lived in a dream-like fog that many of her friends took for being “cool.”
Beth was an extreme case but her story typifies a common American mistake: When
it comes to sleep, we’ve got better things to do. Consequently, so many of us are
sleep deprived and sleep disorders are common.
Advertising media bombard us with commercials for both prescription and over the
counter sleep aids. We see as many commercials and advertisements for
mattresses promising better rest. How many of us haven’t walked into a store at the
mall to find out what our “sleep number” is and who can resist finding out what the
Tempur-Pedic mattress feels like? If you haven’t done this yet, admit that you have
been tempted.
Convenience store shelves are stocked with vitamin packs and energy drinks. Coffee is now an American
obsession, commonly consumed even among teenagers. ($18 Billion worth of coffee a year is consumed in
the US.)
Just twenty years ago, it would have been difficult to find someone who had undergone a sleep test. And if
you actually knew someone who had experienced a test, chances were that he or she had travelled quite a
distance, perhaps even by air, to be tested at a sleep center. Now, a simple count of the directory at
sleepcenters.org reveals that there are at least 945 sleep test centers across the country. According to Sleep
Centers of America, more than 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder and more than 10 million people
a year consult their physicians regarding sleep-related issues.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving in America kills more than
1,500 people a year and causes 71,000 injuries in an estimated 100,000 sleep-related crashes a year.
If you ask me, America could do with a nap.
Winston Churchill put it eloquently when he wrote, “Nature had not intended mankind to work from 8 in the
morning until midnight without the refreshment of blessed oblivion which, even if it lasts only 20 minutes, is
sufficient to renew all vital forces.”
Research has demonstrated that even a brief nap of between 20 to 45 minutes, will rejuvenate you, and
increase your ability to concentrate making you more productive.
Convenience store shelves are stocked with vitamin packs and energy drinks. Coffee is now an American
obsession, commonly consumed even among teenagers. ($18 Billion worth of coffee a year is consumed in
the US.)
Just twenty years ago, it would have been difficult to find someone who had undergone a sleep test. And if
you actually knew someone who had experienced a test, chances were that he or she had travelled quite a
distance, perhaps even by air, to be tested at a sleep center. Now, a simple count of the directory at
sleepcenters.org reveals that there are at least 945 sleep test centers across the country. According to Sleep
Centers of America, more than 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder and more than 10 million people
a year consult their physicians regarding sleep-related issues.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving in America kills more than
1,500 people a year and causes 71,000 injuries in an estimated 100,000 sleep-related crashes a year.
If you ask me, America could do with a nap.
Winston Churchill put it eloquently when he wrote, “Nature had not intended mankind to work from 8 in the
morning until midnight without the refreshment of blessed oblivion which, even if it lasts only 20 minutes, is
sufficient to renew all vital forces.”
Research has demonstrated that even a brief nap of between 20 to 45 minutes, will rejuvenate you, and
increase your ability to concentrate making you more productive.
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