Dr David Posen -Stress Management Keynote Speaker and Author

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Sleep: don't leave home without it

How long does it take you to fall asleep at night? I used to pride myself on being able to fall asleep in a nanosecond. In fact, I used to snap my fingers and say, "I can fall asleep on a dime!" Only recently did I realize that what I was really saying was, "Hey, I'm sleep deprived!" Let me explain...

As a society we are short-changing ourselves on sleep by about 60-90 minutes a night. If you're wondering, "Am I getting enough sleep?" here are some criteria to help you decide:

Do you need an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning? Or, two alarm clocks - the one close enough to hit the snooze button and the one across the room that makes you get out of bed to turn it off?
Do you wake up feeling refreshed or tired?
How is your daytime energy? Do you find yourself running out of steam halfway through the day?
How much sleep do you get when you don't have to wake up? (E.g. on weekends or when you're on vacation.)

This is the one I didn't know about until recently: How quickly do you fall asleep at night? This is the criterion used by sleep researchers and it's called "the sleep latency period." For normal, well-rested people, this transition period between waking and sleep takes about 15-20 minutes. If you fall asleep in less than 10-minutes - and, especially, in less than five minutes - you are, by definition, sleep deprived.

When patients complain about fatigue, I always begin by asking two questions:

How much sleep are you getting at night? The answer is often "Six to seven hours."
How much sleep do you need to function at your best? (Not how much can you get away with, but how much do you really need to be at the top of your game?). Usually the answer is a decisive, "eight."

Now, I'm sitting here like Sherlock Holmes, trying to make a diagnosis, and I've just heard an important clue. If they need eight hours and are getting only six or seven, the simplest solution is to start getting more sleep.

How much sleep do we need? Most adults need 8-9 hours a night, which is what people were getting until 1913 when Thomas Edison perfected the tungsten filament incandescent light bulb - artificial light. Today we average about seven hours a night even though we haven't changed physiologically in the last 87 years. But we're cheating ourselves of sleep in order to work, watch TV, socialize, etc. It hasn't been very good tradeoff.

What's The Cost of Sleep Deprivation?

The damage caused by sleep deprivation is much greater than we realize.
We fall asleep while driving--- in the United States, 100,000 road accidents a year are attributed to sleepy drivers.
We become more prone to infection (because our immune system is stimulated during sleep).
We make mistakes on the job which can cause injury or financial loss.
Our concentration and short- term memory are impaired and intellectual function is diminished.

In a Toronto Star article on sleep last year, Dr. Stanley Coren, a University of British Columbia psychologist, said: "One hour's lost sleep out of eight results in a drop of one point of I.Q. and for every additional hour lost, you drop two points. And it accumulates. So if you cheat on sleep by two hours a night over a five-day week, you've lost 15 points." Perhaps even more importantly, sleep deprivation affects our mood. We become irritable and depressed. Interestingly, many of the symptoms of sleep deprivation are also symptoms of stress. Tired people are less resilient, less adaptable and flexible, less tolerant of irritation and frustration. Going to work without proper rest is like starting your day with one foot in a hole.

Sleep Debt

The difference between the amount of sleep we need and the amount of sleep we get is called "sleep debt." If you need eight hours a night but only get seven, you have a sleep debt of one hour. However, as Dr. Coren points out in his best-selling book "Sleep Thieves," if this continues for a week, you now have an accumulated sleep debt of seven hours. The effect is similar to losing all seven hours in the same night. The good news is that you can repay the sleep debt. So if you fall behind, a few consecutive nights of full, uninterrupted sleep will usually return you to full function.

Four years ago I stopped setting my alarm and simply woke up when my body was ready. Of course, I had to go to bed early enough to wake up naturally and still not be late for work. The result has been dramatic. I feel profoundly better every day for doing this. And so do my patients who have started getting the sleep they need.

So, if you're walking through your day like a zombie, feeling cranky and having trouble concentrating, assess your sleep situation and start getting the amount you need. Go to bed a half-hour earlier for a week and see what happens. Add another half-hour the next week and continue until you can wake up naturally and refreshed. A good night's sleep is the best way to start your day. Don't leave home without it!