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Falling for sleep

aeon.co

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Re: Falling for sleep

#11

Post by 0xcde4c3db »

good_gnu wrote: post #3

Stopped halfway through because the author is apparently one of those people who think "making stuff up" becomes productive if you call it "spiritual".

Yeah, this is basically mythmaking. That's fine as far as it goes, but it's a poor substitute for medicine. The author has several hallmarks of being a quack: he is described as practicing "dream medicine", makes sweeping medical/health claims despite not (as far as I can tell) having a degree in physiology or medicine, and is part of a center for "integrative medicine" headed by alternative medicine guru Andrew Weil.

Re: Falling for sleep

#12

Post by _rpd »

good_gnu wrote: post #3

Stopped halfway through because the author is apparently one of those people who think "making stuff up" becomes productive if you call it "spiritual".

Unfortunately a common affliction of aeon.co authors.

Re: Falling for sleep

#13

Post by Barrin92 »

good_gnu wrote: post #3

Stopped halfway through because the author is apparently one of those people who think "making stuff up" becomes productive if you call it "spiritual".

The article clearly is a cultural piece about the role of sleep in our society and I don't see where the author is making stuff up . He largely seems to be making observations about the role of sleep in our performance driven society and how that might be creating problems for us and that it might be worth taking a more aesthetic perspective on the matter. Don't think there's anything blatantly wrong with that attitude

Re: Falling for sleep

#14

Post by woodandsteel »

Interesting article. When I have trouble falling asleep, it often seems as if there is part of me that wants to fall asleep, but it is stuck and the part of me that wants to stay awake is keeping the sleepy part from getting what it wants.

Re: Falling for sleep

#15

Post by pizza »

joesmo wrote: post #10
pizza wrote: post #9

More suggestions - vasodilation in your feetsies [0] [0] http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v401/n6748/full/401036a... - Physiology: Warm feet promote the rapid onset of sleep > Even healthy people occasionally have difficulty falling asleep. Psychological relaxation techniques, hot baths, soothing infusions of plant extracts, melatonin and conventional hypnotics are all invoked in the search for a good night's sle…

I don't think recommending long-term benzo / z-drug usage outright is a good idea. They should be the absolute last resort. I have never met anyone who hasn't used them long term who was aware of their risks. These are some of the most prescribed medicines on earth and even the doctors prescribing them have no idea of their effects, let alone how to get you off them. This is, most likely but not necessarily, a life-l…

Melatonin is about as dangerous as it is effective, imo - lightweight. Cannabis is not without risks either, but they're nearly negligible. Outright recommendation is not really what I was talking about, either - I was talking about situations where I would go multiple days without being able to sleep, and not for a lack of trying..

David Nutt et al. are better qualified to talk about it than I am I guess.

Over the last decade there have been further developments in our knowledge of the risks and benefits of benzodiazepines, and of the risks and benefits of alternatives to benzodiazepines. Representatives drawn from the Psychopharmacology Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the British Association for Psychopharmacology together examined these developments, and have provided this joint statement with recommendations for clinical practice. The working group was mindful of widespread concerns about benzodiazepines and related anxiolytic and hypnotic drugs. The group believes that whenever benzodiazepines are prescribed, the potential for dependence or other harmful effects must be considered. However, the group also believes that the risks of dependence associated with long-term use should be balanced against the benefits that in many cases follow from the short or intermittent use of benzodiazepines and the risk of the underlying conditions for which treatment is being provided.

https://www.bap.org.uk/pdfs/BAP_Guidelines-Benzodiazepines.p...

Re: Falling for sleep

#16

Post by joesmo »

pizza wrote: post #15
joesmo wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think recommending long-term benzo / z-drug usage outright is a good idea. They should be the absolute last resort. I have never met anyone who hasn't used them long term who was aware of their risks. These are some of the most prescribed medicines on earth and even the doctors prescribing them have no idea of their effects, let alone how to get you off them. This is, most likely but not necessarily, a life-l…

Melatonin is about as dangerous as it is effective, imo - lightweight. Cannabis is not without risks either, but they're nearly negligible. Outright recommendation is not really what I was talking about, either - I was talking about situations where I would go multiple days without being able to sleep, and not for a lack of trying.. David Nutt et al. are better qualified to talk about it than I am I guess. Over the l…

There are definitely cases where long term use of benzos is the only viable solution and your sounds like one of them. But this paper just rehashes the same things about benzodiazepines. Are they saying that only some people become dependent on benzos? Do they have an example of anyone who's been on them for four weeks that isn't dependent? I doubt you could find someone who has been on them for two weeks who isn't dependent. They completely gloss over the fact that doctors have no idea how to get people off and rehabs are even more clueless (you can't do anything in 30 days other than damage for a long-term benzo user). Doctors often use a patient's dependance to squeeze money out of him and not provide any actual care outside the prescription, a prescription they know with certainty will bring the patient back regardless of how awful the rest of the services are. Often, they will stop seeing patients without warning, literally leaving them in life-or-death situations that they need to resolve themselves, situations they might not be able to resolve without going to a black market or emergency room. I'm not saying the guidelines are bad, just that they are extremely incomplete, they unacceptably play down the risks involved, and most doctors have never heard of them. The situation will hardly change given how much profit comes from benzos to all parties involved (except the patient)
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