Is Lack of Sleep A Women's Health Crisis?

Benjamin Franklin knew a lot about how to live a great life. He practiced what he preached and he preached some smart ideas, including, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." If Franklin were around today, he'd say, "Women, too!"

So many of us women are racing around, looking hither and yon for the "secrets of success," when the truth is - there aren't any secrets! One need only observe and learn from successful, balanced, healthy, happy women to find out how they got that way.

Success and happiness begin with the basics - and the first basic is self-care. I'm not talking about frou-frou soaps, expensive massages, fancy cashmere robes, luxury cruises, or expensive spas. Superb self-care is as simple as taking a nap, soaking in a relaxing bath, getting enough sleep, eating an apple instead of a muffin, saying "no thanks" when you're overcommitted, and going to bed just a little earlier.

"Many women are starved for sleep," wrote Janice Billingsley in HealthDayNews in 2003. "Start with the stresses of work and family. Add household responsibilities and perhaps worry about an elderly parent. Than factor in the hormonal changes that come with being female, and it should come as no surprise many women are shortchanged on sleep."

Dr. Suzanne Griffin, a Georgetown University psychiatrist specializing in sleep disorders says that insufficient sleep "leads to poor concentration, irritability and fatigue, which can mimic symptoms of other health problems." (quoted in "Many Woman Are Starved for Sleep," by Janice Billingsley, HealthDayNews, Oct. 10, 2003) Some women seek medical help, thinking they have attention-deficit disorder or depression - when the real problem is not enough sleep.

"Everyone expects woman to be caregivers, and this is making them lose precious sleep," says Dr. Joyce Walsleben, former director of the New York University School of Medicine Sleep Disorders Center. "Women's lack of sleep has become a societal crisis bordering on a national health epidemic." (quoted in "Sleep Deprivation Threatens Women's Health" by Molly M. Ginty, for Women's eNews, March 28, 2005)

In other words, the six and a half hours sleep that most women get per night is not enough. We need the eight hours that doctors recommend for maximum health benefit. It's not just "beauty sleep" we're talking about here - it's sanity sleep!

Try an experiment this week: Look for small, simple things you can change in your daily routine to enhance your self-care. Sleep is a great place to start.

It sounds easy, but going to bed earlier may be harder than you anticipate. We are, after all, creatures of habit. If you're a TV fan, you have your favorite shows. It can be hard to turn them off early, or skip them entirely. Perhaps your evening activity is reading and you're reluctant to put down your good book (or trashy novel). Or maybe the evening is when you get to your domestic chores - laundry, cleaning, helping kids with homework, going to the grocery story or drugstore. If you're a working mom, you essentially have two full-time jobs, making it well nigh impossible for you to go to bed earlier. Late night may be the only time you have to yourself, a little peace and quiet "me time."

But before you rule it out, give it a try - that's all I'm suggesting. You're not making a permanent commitment - just think of it as an experiment. If you like the results you get from making this change, keep doing it. If it doesn't work for you, go back to your normal bedtime.

*This is an excerpt from "Why Don't I Do the Things I Know Are Good for Me? Taking Small Steps toward Improving the Big Picture" (Berkley; 2009)

 

Follow BJ Gallagher on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BJ_Gallagher

Comments

[lmpub]

09:58 AM on 01/19/2010

I think this is an interestin­g series of articles on the effects of sleep, or the lack thereof.

[Badger84]

02:27 AM on 01/19/2010

Defining this as a women's issue is unnecessar­ily exclusive and ultimately self-defea­ting.

[Eli Davidson]

08:29 PM on 01/18/2010

The problem of lack of sleep hits hard at women. It smacks working women hardest of all. As of November, women held 49.1 percent of the nation’s jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics­. For the first time in American history women are on track to have more jobs than men reports the New York Times. As a coach to women business owners I see the effect of this challenge. Thanks so much for a great post!

Eli Davidson

[JSaeger]

05:39 PM on 01/18/2010

Not to take away from the validity of the sleep disorder studies but I wonder if Dr. Griffin took into account whether or not her test subjects ate pizza from a fast food chain. It isn't common knowledge but it should be that a pizza chain restaurant uses an unapproved for human consumptio­n Dow Chemical-m­ade silicone based foaming agent among other carcinogen­ic "other" ingredient­s. Wouldn't ingestion of this or other cancer causing additives ultimately have a bearing sleep?

[Diane E OConnell]

02:47 PM on 01/18/2010

This is wise advice. I am on a campaign with my females friends and colleagues­. It's called the "Just Say No" campaign. I know the phrase has already been coined by a much better known organizati­on, but what better way to commence change than for women to just say no and give themselves an opportunit­y to think about a healthier life. Personally­, I, like many other women, do too much. However, i always ensure that I have a solid night sleep (whether it be 5 or 8 hours) the quality is more important than the length. If I have a bad night's sleep, it triggers that I need to slow down as there is too much on my mind. The key, I think, is to be aware of your own balance and adjust the world around you to maintain that balance.