5 Myths About Sleep And Insomnia

We spend a third of our lives asleep, and it's clear that without it our brains don't function as well, yet little is known about exactly why we do it. Even less understood? Why we don't. As many as 35 million Americans experience chronic insomnia, and yet in 2006 only $20 million was spent on research (Compare that with the $123 million spent on advertising the prescription sleep aid Ambien.)

In the six years that author, professor and lifelong insomniac Gayle Greene spent researching and writing her book "Insomniac" (during which, ironically, she says she got the best sleep of her life), she learned almost all there is to know about sleep and the lack thereof. Here are five common myths about how we get our shut-eye and why:

1. Humans Need Eight Hours Sleep a Night: There are many ways of sleeping and few cultures sleep in eight-hour consolidated blocks like we do. In places like Bali and New Guinea, people tend to slip in and out of sleep as they need it, napping more during the day, and getting up more at night. Until the industrial era, many Western Europeans divided the night into "the first sleep" and the "second sleep." They'd go to bed soon after dark, sleep for four hours then wake for an hour or two during which they'd write, pray, smoke, reflect on dreams they'd had, have sex or even visit neighbors. In fact, there's some evidence to suggest that this sleep pattern may be the one most in tune with our inherent circadian rhythms.

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Comments

[Eric8869]

A lot of people have sleep apnea and don't even know it. I went from never getting sleep to coming back to normal.

my experience:

http://www.thisisby.us/index.php/content/are_you_always_tired__how_i_bounced_back_to_life

[LiberalBuzz]

I'd give anything for a good night's sleep. Anything.

I can't even remember the last time I got more than 4 hours sleep. I'm tired all the time, and I post on here at so many different hours I'm surprised they don't think it's several different people using the same name.

I sleep restlessly, I try to take naps usually without success, and I spend too much time trying to occupy my mind since I can't sleep which makes me wonder if that has anything to do with it.

I don't know, I'm just tired.

All the time.

[GunneraGirl]

Have you tried the homeopathic formula called 'Calms Forte'? It's available over-the-counter at places like whole Foods and it is astounding : completely safe and non-habiting forming. when I'm anxious or tense or fed to the back teeth with espressos, I just take one and I'm out like a light. You can take up to three at a time, but for me, that dosage would probably have me waking up in Oz. Try it. I've recommended it to dozens of people and we're all flabbergasted that a homeopathic pill can do this to you.

[Xochitl666]

LiberalBuzz,

I have had insomnia since the age of 8. I have mild "General Anxiety Disorder". That doesn't make me crazy, it just means I'm a nervous, energetic, high-strung woman and artist. I also have occasional sleep apnea from nasal allergies.

When I was 22 ( 28 years ago) I started taking sleeping pills. I take 1/2 mg. of Xanax almost every night. Some time more, sometimes none at all. Occasionally, I take a round of steroids for the allergies.

I need sleep. Chronic insomnia will shorten your life. If I did not have a script for legal sedatives, and would self-medicate with alcohol. Think of the "wear and tear" on my liver!

See a doctor. If the doctor does not take your problem seriously, get another doctor.

[neonchez]

in all seriousness, try smoking some pot. i also have problems w/ restless nights, i tried every over the counter sleeping pill there is but none of it helped. so i started smoking a bowel before bed and i go to sleep w/ no problems. i've been doing it for the past 7 years, not every night just when i need it, and it's worked amazingly. there are no weird side effects or groggy feeling in morning like w/ sleeping pills, no hang over like w/ alcohol, you wake up the next day from a good nights sleep feeling rested and ready for the day.

[Gemma08]

The herb of knowledge.

I STOPPED smoking pot bcos it made me sleepy!

[anfractuous]

So, the insomniac is just keeping watch, but their relief is nowhere to be found.

[WilliePilgrim]

While I don't suffer insomnia, I too have supported a life long interest in sleep. Why is it so rarely described as the instinctual survival behavior it obviously is? If one thinks about the conditions underwhich our own species evolved, it becomes pretty obvious that a population of our ape ancestors it it were up, out n' about and wandering around at night will not survive as it would quickly draw attention to itself just when itsown visual equipment, designed for gathering foot identified as brightly colored fruit and insects in a complex sunlight 3D world, is at its utter worst. Likewise if all the ancestors slept at the same time everytime in a world without insomnia, we as a species would long ago have fallen prey to night predators. The instinct to sleep when we do and how we do is a very neat piece of complex programing ideally adapted for our instinctive lives, though its legacy is difficult to understand in light of our modern behaviors.