Snooze or You Lose

Ever begged your parents to let you stay up all night? It’s not as fun as it might seem.

Lack of sleep could make you grouchy and irritable. You’d find it harder remembering things, or concentrating on schoolwork. And not getting enough sleep makes the immune system weaker, so you’d be more likely to get sick.

Even worse things would happen if you actually didn’t sleep at all. Sleep deprivation experiments, where adults have been forced to stay up for days, have given us some scary results. The first and second nights without sleep were pretty tiring, but it was the third night that made the people in the experiments begin acting strange. They got tense and short-tempered, and some had huge mood swings (they’d be very sad one minute, and then very happy the next), while others didn’t seem to care about anything at all. When they were given test questions, many of them fell asleep without realizing it, and then denied it. The scientists also noticed some people staring off into space for several seconds, every now and then; their brain wave patterns showed they were taking ten-second naps, called “micro-sleep.” By the fourth night, the people in the experiment saw things that weren’t there, heard imaginary voices, and believed the experimenters were evil enemies plotting against them.

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Sleep is one of those things that absolutely every animal needs. Some species, like the Indus dolphin, only have very short naps throughout the day, while others, like humans, need to sleep for several hours at a time. For humans, lots of naps don’t work because it takes around nine to ten hours (more for younger children, less for adults) for us to go through the full sleep cycle. If you wake up before this cycle finishes, you might feel lousy all morning.

Going through the whole sleep cycle is important because bedtime is when your body stocks up on energy, repairs damaged body parts and gets rid of wastes. It’s also when your brain reviews the things you learned, thinks about events that happened, and solves problems you faced during the day. They say a good night’s sleep is what finally showed Albert Einstein how all his different ideas fit together. The answer might have come to him in a dream. That’s what dreams are for – your brain uses them to try to make sense of the things you saw and heard and thought about that day.

Not getting enough sleep and not having the chance to dream is a serious problem nowadays. Whether it’s staying up for homework, computer games, or television, we’re all getting much less sleep and a lot more stress. It’s okay to stay up a little bit every now and then, like for New Year’s Eve, but it’s not a good idea to get into the habit of not getting enough sleep.

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Having trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep? Here are some general tips.

- Always go to sleep at the same time every night and try to wake up at the same time every morning.

- Don’t keep a TV or computer in your room, and try not to study or do homework on your bed. Think of your bedroom and your bed as just a place to sleep.

- Try not to go to bed upset. Talk about your problems and fears before settling down, so you won’t worry as much about them for the rest of the night.

- Avoid exercising, eating, or having caffeinated drinks, like pop, tea or coffee, right before going to bed. Try drinking a cup of warm milk instead.

- Set up a “bedtime ritual,” like reading a bedtime story every night, or taking a bubble bath. That way, your brain knows it’s time to think about sleep.

Toronto Star, October 2004