Wake-up call: 6 ways to change your attitude towards insomnia | Sleep

Sleep: We know it feels good and we know we need it. But TikTok is flooded with guidance from well-meaning sleep scientists and biohackers, making falling asleep more difficult than ever. We are now instructed to sleep seven to eight hours undisturbed, with a perfect balance of REM and NREM sleep. You are encouraged to track, count, and monitor your accomplishments. perfection sleep. I'm often told that I can't sleep good Increases risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, obesity, depression, and death. It's no wonder that many of us (According to Sleep Charity 37%) I'm having trouble sleeping. And it's no wonder that today's fears were fueled. The sleep industry is worth a staggering $585 billion.

For those who are worried about less than perfect sleep, Constantly being reminded that sleep is our superpower only adds to our sleep anxiety. I was one of them. So when a series of bereavements exacerbated my mild insomnia, I followed the advice of a sleep scientist who encouraged me to treat it as a luxurious gift of extra time. Thinking of it this way, my sleepless nights became metaphorical opportunities to travel to new lands, no longer a “condition” that threatened to kill me.

I used this extra time to research the history and science of sleep. And eventually I started sleeping again. Here's what I learned:

We humans have always experienced short, interrupted sleep. Centuries of letters, diaries, and anecdotal evidence show that the night is a time of vigilance, celebration, and regular interruptions. Our ancestors regularly experienced periods of sleep deprivation, whether due to burial rites, co-sleeping, after-hours church hours, or years of disruption from fires, predators, enemies, storms, and caring for babies and sick people. I did.

Dr Tim Hearn from Newnham College, Cambridge, speculates that the ability to tolerate sleep deprivation gave our earliest female ancestors an evolutionary advantage. Those who can tolerate repeated circadian rhythm disruptions (think of a newborn baby) and are still functioning make more resilient (and therefore more desirable) partners. Interestingly, Several studies on the effects of sleep deprivation have found no negative effects on women.

Waking up in the middle of the night is normal

Historical research conducted by Professor Roger Ekirch shows that until the Industrial Revolution, it was common to sleep in two halves. In Mediterranean countries, it was common until recently thanks to the siesta. Many indigenous peoples still sleep biphasically.

The time between first and second sleep is an opportunity for spiritual or creative reconnection, and many magazines reveal that prayer is a popular midnight activity. For women, evenings were often precious private time where they could study, write, sketch, and reflect. Discovering the night paintings of Lee Krasner and Joan Mitchell, the insomniac paintings of Louise Bourgeois, and the nocturnal writings of dozens of authors encouraged me to follow suit.

During that time, I stole my heart from Professor Roger Wongfrom SUNY Upstate Medical University in New York, investigated the effects of sleepless nights. Surprisingly, researchers found that people who spent most of their time awake (known as sleep maintenance insomnia) were 40% less likely to develop dementia than those who slept well throughout the night.

Stop worrying that you won't be able to function

Bound by the tyranny of global capitalism, school schedules, and 24-hour internet, few of us manage to catch up on a good night's sleep the next day. This causes even more anxiety during the night when you are awake. Every time I toss and turn, I worry that I will be too tired to sleep. execute. Sure, we may not be feeling our best. But the anxiety we feel at night rarely reflects reality. I've sat awake for 35 hours, given multiple (infallible) speeches, sat through sleepless nights to pass exams, and slept soundly for 10 years raising four children. Ta. I’m still here – and the days and nights weren’t as bad as I imagined. By remembering this, I was able to eliminate anxiety about my performance the next day.

meanwhile, Research shows how we perceive Lack of sleep can affect performance gains. In other words, we work better if we tell ourselves that shorter nights won't hurt our performance than if we repeatedly declare that we've had a bad night and can't think properly.

Understand that we are wired to ruminate at night.

It is quite normal for a catastrophe to occur at night. A new study reveals that our 'after-midnight mind' is different from our daytime one. We have evolved to be more afraid of the night. And some areas of the brain go into rest mode, making it impossible to control emotions or think in a rational and orderly manner. Due to hormonal changes, your mood becomes unstable at night and your mood becomes less cheerful. Now, when I start having havoc at night, I tell myself that this is my “after midnight mind.” Then tomorrow the situation will look completely different.

look up and look outside

Reconsidering my insomnia as a “gift of time'' led me to discover the night sky. I took an astronomy course, got a telescope, and spent every waking night studying the stars, planets, and the phases of the moon. I found this to be both a distraction and very relaxing. I'm not alone: ​​A study conducted by Dr Chris Burns from the University of Derby found that: Looking at the night sky makes me feel calmhappier and more connected. “It provides a sense of place and purpose within our wider universe and in life in general,” he said. “Being in a place where you feel comfortable in the dark can be a very peaceful and soothing experience.”

When I woke up at night, I would often go outside, look up, and easily go back to sleep in record time.

do something creative

Your “mind after midnight” is often thinking about something else, and waking up at night can be a great opportunity to explore other aspects of your brain. Dozens of writers and artists I interviewed while researching my book said they were more imaginative and creative at night. I started using this time to write poems and lyrics. This experience probably took care of some of the anxiety that was keeping me awake in the first place. In a recent podcast, sleep guru Matthew Walker pointed out that insomnia is often the result of lingering emotional issues that aren't addressed during the day. As you read more pages, your thoughts and worries won't keep you awake and you'll fall asleep again.

please keep it dark

Several studies published in the past few months have shown that revealed the important role of darkness And when sleeping, LED lighting becomes a weak point. For thousands of years, Homo sapiens slept safely in caves and shelters without light, and today our bodies still benefit from low light in the evening and no light at night. It seems there is. Darkness allows our bodies to produce melatonin, but it also deprives us of the constant alertness that comes with light. Therefore, turn down your lights at night and avoid overhead LEDs and LEDs with a lot of blue color. Invest in blackout blinds and a sleep mask for night time.

Understanding our deep physiological and cognitive desire for darkness has allowed me to love its soft, soothing hues and hues. When I wake up at night and want to write, I use candles.

Getting enough sunlight during the day is equally important. But here's the problem. Once I stopped obsessing over my insomnia and started enjoying my nightly stay, its little devil, sleep, returned.

Annabelle Abbs is the author of Sleepless: Discover the power of your night selfpublished by John Murray, now in paperback £10.99 (available from Guardian Bookshop)