Couldn’t this effect be classic cause vs correlation?
Perhaps someone who has a consistent schedule is hypothetically more likely to make healthier choices on average?
Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)
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Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
My thought exactly. For people who struggle with this, and conventional wisdom doesn't seem to stick, what are we supposed to do?
The only thing that worked for me was having a kid. He wakes up early every day, so I have no choice. Taking care of him is so taxing, being sleep deprived isn't on the table.
What's more, you have little difficulty falling asleep any time, any place!
Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)
#13Well, I'm screwed...
Are you? Would be happy to die by 65-70 instead of struggling through 80s…
Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
My thought exactly. For people who struggle with this, and conventional wisdom doesn't seem to stick, what are we supposed to do?
Don't watch any kind of screen in the evening. Read a book instead. You'll fall asleep sooner.
I do watch screens in the morning, but reading in bed (though still a screen, Kindle) still knocks me off in max 15 minutes. I would love to know why... I only know it works.
Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)
#15Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)
#16Couldn’t this effect be classic cause vs correlation? Perhaps someone who has a consistent schedule is hypothetically more likely to make healthier choices on average?
tfa: "Results were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, and sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health factors"
Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)
#17As always with a lot of these: it's not saying causation.
You might measure the speed of your car by putting your hand out of the window and notice that the wind force on your hand is strong when the car goes fast.
Putting your hand out of the window and then blocking the wind with a book doesn't make the car slow down.
Keyword: "associated"
EDIT: I meant to communicate that it doesn't make the car slow down as much as your hand behind and blocked by the book (feeling almost no wind), would imply.
Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)
#18Couldn’t this effect be classic cause vs correlation? Perhaps someone who has a consistent schedule is hypothetically more likely to make healthier choices on average?
tfa: "Results were adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, and sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health factors"
Sometimes it is a cause vs causation. Sometimes the scientist didn’t adjust for a variable that clearly would impact both fields they were measuring. To make such a claim, I think it’s appropriate to name that hypothetical third variable. Otherwise the comment is so general it applies to all statistical studies.
Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)
#19Couldn’t this effect be classic cause vs correlation? Perhaps someone who has a consistent schedule is hypothetically more likely to make healthier choices on average?
Or maybe if you are sick you don't sleep as well.
Re: Sleep regularity is a stronger predictor of mortality risk than sleep duration (2023)
#20Well that sucks, given I have a gene variant related to delayed sleep according to 23andme. Last year I did an experiment of sorts while unemployed for a time and found that if I just slept and woke when tired that my sleep time would naturally recess and eventually "flip" after about a month. My entire life I've wondered why I feel incredibly tired and found waking up so difficult. Turns out that if you follow your…
I've found my sleep regularity to be pretty malleable. It can become a habit. When I was in grad school I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 7am. Once I started running more in the mornings, I gradually shifted to going to sleep at 9pm and waking up at 5am.
The first couple days or week will feel pretty bad, but if you give yourself enough time then you'll shift your sleep schedule around. Now I get tired at 8:30pm and fall asleep at 9ish like clockwork. grad school me would have considered that insane considering I'm doing less work on average during the day. My day is just shifted now so that I do more stuff in the mornings and really relax in the afternoons, which is the opposite of before.
A key is actually giving yourself enough time to fall asleep. Most people think they can hop into bed and just get 8hrs, when you actually need to hop into bed around 30mins beforehand and really relax with a book or something.
I also think it's important to not stress about sleep a lot. Unless you're literally feeling miserable or have apnea, I think it's better to just let yourself relax if you wake up in the middle of the night. Sometimes I'll snap awake at 2am and just read for 2hrs, then get 2 more hours of sleep and generally feel fine.