Sleep the elixir of life
(First published on Maverick Life/Daily Maverick)
“A good night’s sleep is the best health insurance policy anyone can invest in.” So says Professor Matthew Walker, neuroscientist and author of the recent best seller, Why We Sleep. Regular, quality sleep is a non-negotiable for good mental and physical health.
This is especially relevant for South Africa today, where anxiety and insomnia caused by our tumultuous socio-economic conditions are epidemic. In April 2020, an online survey by the S.A. Depression and Anxiety Group showed that 55% of the respondents, a predominant number of them women, suffer from anxiety[1]. Such anxiety can cause chronic sleep deprivation and is the major cause of insomnia.
Anxiety causes a continuous release of adrenaline in the body, which triggers the fight or flight response that causes you to be unable to fall asleep or stay asleep.
The profound health benefits of a good night’s sleep have been scientifically proven. Walker reports that individuals who got a good night’s sleep are 40% better at absorbing, interpreting and retaining new information than the those who were kept awake. Sleep also has a profound effect on physical well-being[2]. For example, men who regularly sleep fewer than five hours a night have testosterone levels of men ten years their senior[3].
Walker’s findings are confirmed by other researchers. Dr Kevin Rosman, neurologist with a special interest in sleeping disorders and director at the Morningside Sleep Clinic, says sleep enhances memory, makes you more creative, helps to control your weight, protects you against dementia, and clears the body of toxins which helps to prevent cancer. Your mind is three times more likely to solve a problem if you have slept on it.
Dr Alison Bentley, who has been involved in sleep research for more than thirty years, states that sleep increases our immunity to infection. She says Canadian researchers have reported that regularly sleeping fewer than six hours per night is linked to an increased risk of catching a cold, and sleeping fewer than five hours a night doubles one’s chances of getting pneumonia. Researchers at the University of Milan have found that a good night’s sleep stabilizes the body’s cardio-vascular control, metabolism and blood sugar, hormones and emotions[4].
Rosman, says that one of the most effective ways to cure chronic insomnia is cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)[5]. It consists of an eight-week holistic program that is offered by most sleep clinics and is also available on the internet. The therapy is aimed at helping you identify and address patterns of thinking and behaviour that cause sleep problems. It helps the body and mind to relearn how to fall asleep naturally and to stay asleep.
The first key to learning good sleeping habits is to follow a helpful bedtime ritual and good sleep hygiene. That means avoiding strenuous exercise during the two hours before bedtime, and not drinking alcohol or caffeine and unplugging technology during that pre-bed period.
If possible, your bedroom must be dark, quiet and cool. The bed must be restricted to sleeping only and not be used for reading or watching tv. This will help the brain to recognize the bed as a place to sleep. If you cannot fall asleep, get up and do something relaxing elsewhere until you feel tired enough to return to bed. Improving healthy lifestyle habits are vital. Although a night cap might help you to fall asleep more easily, it causes fragmented sleep and prevents needed dream sleep.
Patients are encouraged to keep a sleep diary in order to monitor progress. They are also taught how to relax through practices such as mediation or yoga and keeping a worry journal in which to write both concerns and matters to be grateful for. All of these, help to quiet the mind and allow the body to relax.
Dr Bentley of Wits says that you should only consider taking a low dose of sleeping pills if you have tried CBT and still battle to sleep. Although many sleeping aids are narcotic drugs that create unnatural sleep, it is still better than no sleep. Dr Rosman of the Morningside Sleep Clinic says that sleeping pills should best be a temporary solution. They induce lower quality sleep and may affect your memory in the long-term and cause falls. However, temporary use can be justified because the long-term effects of not sleeping at all are still worse than that. Temporary use may also be justified to help overcome anxiety about not sleeping at all.
Other sleep medication such as Melatonin will only work if the body has a shortage of it. Melatonin helps to regulate the body’s natural circadian rhythm or sleep-wake cycle over a 24-hour period. It promotes the onset of sleepiness when it gets dark and wakefulness when it becomes day. Other popular alternatives such as magnesium and Cannabis could have a placebo effect, but their efficacy to treat insomnia have not been scientifically proven.
A good night’s sleep is a treasure to seek and protect.
[1] SAGDA’s Online survey findings on COVID-19 and mental health (April 2020) http://www.sadag.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=114
[2] Sleep is your super power: https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_walker_sleep_is_your_superpower?language=en
[3]What happens to your body and brain if you don’t get sleep:
[4] The effects of acute and chronic sleep deprivation on cardiovascular regulation: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25828682/
[5] Cognitive and behavioral theraphies in the treatment of insomnia: A meta-analysis:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1087079217300345
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