Sleep and you!

[schmevil]

As a dedicated non-sleeper with just about every sleep-related dysfunction known to man, I'm ridiculously interested in sleep.

Tell me all your secrets about your sleeping patterns. Or just fill out this poll!

[Poll #1333570]

Comments

[crimsonquills.livejournal.com]

I should note that while I'm pretty sure I normally get 7-8 hours of sleep, I really need 8.5-9 hours. My designated bedtime is 8.5 hours before my alarm is set...but it usually takes me at least half an hour to drop off (that's normal; I don't consider it "trouble getting to sleep"...trouble is when it takes me four hour O.o), so I'm only actually getting 7-8. I really should be going to bed at 9 or 9:30, but it's hard enough to get to bed by 10pm. :-(

[schmevil.livejournal.com]

Hey, you're almost normal. Apparently that's rare on my flist. *g*

I can get by an very little sleep, but my body likes to get 7+ hours.

[crimsonquills.livejournal.com]

Hey, you're almost normal. Apparently that's rare on my flist. *g*

*g* I think that's rare in life in general, to be honest. Most people I know get about 6 hours on a regular basis. I talk about sleep with people more than I should, probably. *g*

But almost everyone I talk to about it tells me they don't get much, but they're fine, really. I'm pretty skeptical about it. I thought the same way, but once I started sleeping myself out (and there was a period of time when I was doing this every night, even if I've slipped back to 7-8 now) I noticed such a huge difference in the clarity of my thoughts and the stability of my emotions and my productiveness that I've become convinced that most people honestly don't know how much better they could feel and work if they slept more.

I try not to get preachy about it, though. Don't always succeed, but I try! *g*

ETA, after having a look at the poll again: I read at least one article that asserted that remembering your dreams is actually a sign that you aren't sleeping enough. If you get through the entire natural cycle of sleep, it says, you shouldn't remember them at all. When you do, it means you woke up before your body was finished sleeping. I don't have a lot of data points to test this idea, but it generally seems to be true for me, personally. I'm tempted to correlate the results of your poll to see if the people who sleep less remember their dreams more.

[schmevil.livejournal.com]

I read at least one article that asserted that remembering your dreams is actually a sign that you aren't sleeping enough.

You know, I've read this too. Waking up in the middle of a sleep cycle also seems to result in near-useless sleep: you're almost more tired after interrupted sleep than before.

I'm always counseling people to get more sleep if they can. Usually they think I'm weirdly obsessed with the subject, but as someone who literally lost her mind for a while, due to insomnia-enhanced depression and anxiety, I'm convinced that sleep is something we all need to take more seriously.

I've been happy with the recent push to criminalize sleepy driving, because it forces people to recognize just how debilitating sleep deprivation can be, even in the short term.

[crimsonquills.livejournal.com]

I've been happy with the recent push to criminalize sleepy driving, because it forces people to recognize just how debilitating sleep deprivation can be, even in the short term.

I didn't realize there was a movement towards this. I confess I've done sleepy driving more than once. *wry* In fact, very nearly annually, during the all night drive to San Francisco. But I can't really argue with the folks who are pushing against it--I know that my attention and reaction time are shot when I'm driving tired.

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

I also lucid dream and have episodes of sleep paralysis.
XD

[schmevil.livejournal.com]

I lucid dream sometimes. What's sleep paralysis?

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

Where you wake up but you can't move.

[schmevil.livejournal.com]

That's... really kind of scary.

[lasultrix.livejournal.com]

I put 'often' for nightmares, despite the fact that they're completely related to RL. RL not stressful: nary a nightmare in sight. RL stressful, which it has been for the past year: frequent nightmares.

I used to joke with my ex about how he was such a lazy bastard in the mornings, but recently I realised that he actually has a serious sleep problem. He says it generally takes him about 90 minutes to get to sleep. When he leaves college and hits a 9-5 job, he's going to have to try to do something about that.

[schmevil.livejournal.com]

He says it generally takes him about 90 minutes to get to sleep.

I understand that's a fairly common sleep problem these days. I've read a lot of articles about how the modern bedroom, especially if it has a computer or tv, is actually toxic to sleep.

I put 'often' for nightmares, despite the fact that they're completely related to RL. RL not stressful: nary a nightmare in sight. RL stressful, which it has been for the past year: frequent nightmares.

Wow, that really sucks.

[crimsonquills.livejournal.com]

I've read a lot of articles about how the modern bedroom, especially if it has a computer or tv, is actually toxic to sleep.

Jumping in somewhat out of nowhere, here, but I've read/heard this, too. When a friend of mine was having sleep problems, pretty much the first thing the doctor recommended was to never do anything in bed except sleep and have sex. No TV watching, no reading, no work, etc.

I shall have to google to see if I can find any of the articles you mention online. I'm interested.

[schmevil.livejournal.com]

I get a lot of sleep literature from doctors as well, because my insomnia is, well, epic. I'll have to check if I've got anything bookmarked.

For what it's worth, changing my bedroom habits did improve my sleeping. Reading in bed and using the computer right before trying to fall asleep are killers.

[crimsonquills.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard the using the computer right before bed, although I probably should have guessed. But I'm not certain I'm strong enough to break that habit. O.O Soaddicted.

[kay-taylor.livejournal.com]

When I'm stressed at work, I have hideous problems sleeping: in particular, racing-thumping-heart and racing-thumping-thoughts when I'm trying to get to sleep, and then suddenly becoming WIDE AWAKE several times a night. I always remember my dreams, which are frequently nightmares, and often weird "recurring location" lucid-type dreams in which I'm in a place (a completely imaginary place!) which I know my way around and could describe perfectly - and draw a map of - once I wake up. I have about 5 locations I know very well (a couple of towns, a landscape, a wood...) and I've never heard of anyone else experiencing this. Of course, it makes running away from nightmare monsters all the easier, as I know where everything is!

[schmevil.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of something like that either. That's really interesting. It's like your mind is writing a fantasy serial in your dreams. You should blog about it: "this week in town..." *g*

[ratboy-krycek.livejournal.com]

I actually stay up for a couple of days at a time, and have a little recovery time. I don't know which time zone I'm living in.

[schmevil.livejournal.com]

I can do that too. Actually, I'm just coming off a a bad stretch of little sleep, little sleep, and then no sleep. If I don't eventually get a good night's sleep it really saps my energy.