Skip to content Sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? The words “epidemic” and “deprivation” all within one sentence. Well, the truth is most of us see sleep as dispensable – it often suffers at the expense of our social and work life. And most of us don’t realise we are deficient in sleep, we got so used to operating while carrying sleep debt that we don’t consider ourselves sleep deprived.
But most people in the industrialised world don’t regularly get the needed 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Some even challenge themselves to see how far they can push it. If you use social media, you might have seen those productivity videos showcasing people cutting their own sleep short in a rather dramatic way to get other things done. Getting up in the morning at crazy o’clock to clean the house, do yoga and cook an elaborate breakfast for the whole family is glorified, a badge of honour. But one could argue that prioritizing more shut eye would benefit them more in the long run. Of course, Instagram videos portraying someone sleeping would not generate the same interest they get when they whip the house into shape at 4 am.
You might think that 7 to 9 hours is for wimps.
But why is it a problem?
It is common for people to claim that they get by perfectly well on just 6 hours of sleep. The truth is, unless you have a very rare genetic mutation, that allows you to limit your sleep in such a way without any ill effects, you are harming your health. The body keeps score. Your brain, your immune system, your heart, literally every part of your body suffers the ill effects of lack of sleep inflicted on it long term.
What do researchers say?
Matthew Walker, who is well known for his expertise in sleep research wrote a fascinating book titled “Why we sleep”. In this book he explores how lack of sleep wreaks havoc on our physical and mental health. In his brilliant book he also describes interesting research studies carried out in his laboratory (and also conducted by other sleep researchers) to test the effects of the lack of REM sleep and NREM sleep has on our ability to focus, retain memories, learn new information and even drive.
As a sleep consultant I have read many books on sleep but this is my favourite one because it is so easy to read, it explains sleep science in simple terms and the author’s great sense of humour comes across despite the seriousness of the topic.
Despite the bleak data undeniably showing the negative impact of our lack of sleep, there is very little being done in terms of education and public campaigns. Although some innovative companies have started taking steps in the right direction with the introduction of sleep pods in the workplace, as well as incentives for getting enough sleep consistently (measured and recorded by a sleep device). Let’s hope more will follow! The shifts should be societal and cultural however. We need to start taking sleep more seriously!
How can a sleep consultant help?
While there are no public campaigns educating us about the importance of adequate sleep in the adult population, social media has become the pervasive source of information when it comes to infant sleep. New parents can become overwhelmed with information, conflicting messaging on what is considered normal infant sleep, and -sadly- a lot of scaremongering.
As a holistic sleep consultant, I help parents navigating this landscape. My role is to explain about normal infant sleep and give gentle guidance to optimise it. You will find more information about the packages I offer on my website.
juliamateinfantsleepconsultancy.com
