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Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

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Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#41

Post by cies »

Xeoncross wrote: post #20

I've seen enough mental issues in people (depression, schizophrenia, etc...) that seem to have a high correlation to poor sleep and/or lack of sleep to make sure I stay on top of getting enough sleep. Depriving your body of food, water, oxygen or sleep is no joke.

> Depriving your body of food, water, oxygen or sleep is no joke.

Though fasting is a thing, and when well performed has health benefits (self reporting here).

And I've -- probably for good reasons -- never heard of oxygen of sleep fasting :)

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#43

Post by lr4444lr »

Enginerrrd wrote: post #24
flangola7 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having more than two people in the house who can act as parents is a game changer. Definitely one place where modern society has slipped up, though there's some change in that with families like mine.

Do you care to elaborate? I've been thinking about this a LOT over the years. I feel like children were meant to be able to roam around and find different adults to glom onto until they're too annoyed and then move on to the next, all the while learning different specialized skills and niches to find one they fit in with. I can't help but feel that more-than-2-adult households would have a huge advantage in this era.

The problem is compounded by (in the USA) middle class requiring 2 working parents increasingly in most places. We aren't built as humans to function like this.

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#44

Post by juve1996 »

Xeoncross wrote: post #20

I've seen enough mental issues in people (depression, schizophrenia, etc...) that seem to have a high correlation to poor sleep and/or lack of sleep to make sure I stay on top of getting enough sleep. Depriving your body of food, water, oxygen or sleep is no joke.

Most people I know with anxiety also: heavily abuse caffeine and sleep poorly.

Caffeine is an absolute killer that we don't talk about nearly enough when it comes to sleep.

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#45

Post by morsch »

safeimp wrote: post #29
marginalia_nu wrote: post #11

As a tangent, I got a new bed couple of weeks ago. My old one had been around for ages and was well past it's expiration date. It cost a small fortune but Jesus Herbert Christ on a tandem bicycle has it made a difference on how I feel during the day. I fall a sleep faster, wake up more well rested. First few mornings I was just sort of confused by the feeling of waking up profoundly physically relaxed. Felt very weir…

I’m always baffled that so many people don’t make new or comfortable beds, sheets, pillows, etc. a critical priority. Generally speaking, a third of your life will be spent there, invest in the best you can afford.

I'd be willing to buy a nice one, but it's probably one of the most annoying things to shop for. I don't know what I want, and mattress vendors all seem like crooks. The rise of the internet foam mattress startup has made it worse.

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#46

Post by jb1991 »

Any advice in overcoming insomnia? I’ve tried everything I can think of. Melatonin, various vitamin supplements, exercise, dietary changes of a wide variety, nothing seems to help. Always waking up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep.

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#47

Post by otachack »

Enginerrrd wrote: post #24
flangola7 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having more than two people in the house who can act as parents is a game changer. Definitely one place where modern society has slipped up, though there's some change in that with families like mine.

Do you care to elaborate? I've been thinking about this a LOT over the years. I feel like children were meant to be able to roam around and find different adults to glom onto until they're too annoyed and then move on to the next, all the while learning different specialized skills and niches to find one they fit in with. I can't help but feel that more-than-2-adult households would have a huge advantage in this era.

I agree with you so much. That's an aspect that stood out in The Expanse series. Holden was from Earth and was brought up with many "fathers and mothers" I'm assuming through a time where it was difficult to have children

Looking at today it feels we'd alleviate a ton of parental pressure if we had households like that and not depend on the traditional couple.

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#48

Post by isoprophlex »

smeej wrote: post #38

I really wanted there to be controllable habits listed in this article, but instead it was about sleep characteristics. Telling me that "having trouble falling asleep," or "having trouble staying asleep," or "not feeling alert upon waking" are working against me is useless to me. These aren't "habits." I'm not choosing to do them until they become routine. They just happen to me. Tell me how to FIX those things. Tell…

This annoyed the hell out of me as well. I thought, oh cool, some advice to improve my sleep.

Point 5: "feeling well rested after waking up at least five days a week"

But of course! I'll fix my sleep by ensuring I wake up well rested.

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#49

Post by haswell »

smeej wrote: post #38

I really wanted there to be controllable habits listed in this article, but instead it was about sleep characteristics. Telling me that "having trouble falling asleep," or "having trouble staying asleep," or "not feeling alert upon waking" are working against me is useless to me. These aren't "habits." I'm not choosing to do them until they become routine. They just happen to me. Tell me how to FIX those things. Tell…

Convincing people that sleep is a problem worth caring about is half the battle.

There are many resources available that get into the practical/tactical aspect of improving sleep. But if you don't believe sleep is a problem yet, you won't seek those out.

The Huberman Lab has put out a number of good resources for this [0] including a podcast episode speaking with Matt Walker, PhD, sleep researcher and author of Why we Sleep [1] (also a good read).

I've been a night owl for most of my life, and only more recently did I fully realize how connected this behavior was to traumatic situations growing up. When I started going down the rabbit hole on how to improve sleep, it was encouraging to find the emergence of a ton of practical non-pharmaceutical resources (I did try sleep aids for awhile, but couldn't deal with the side effects).

The hard part is that it does require willingness to implement real changes. They're not pleasant at first, but I went from an average 3AM-10AM sleep cycle to 10PM-6AM, and I've realized that all the things I told myself over the years about needing to be up all night were simply untrue.

I started this journey by setting a goal for myself to see/photograph a sunrise. I now regularly take pre-dawn walks and have seen more sunrises in the past few weeks than I had during the prior 30+ years of my life.

It's worth the effort.

- [0] https://hubermanlab.com/toolkit-for-sleep/

- [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34466963-why-we-sleep

Re: Sleep habits may have long-term benefits

#50

Post by vjk800 »

jb1991 wrote: post #46

Any advice in overcoming insomnia? I’ve tried everything I can think of. Melatonin, various vitamin supplements, exercise, dietary changes of a wide variety, nothing seems to help. Always waking up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep.

Exercising. More specifically aerobic exercising. High and low intensity both work, but you have to do enough to properly exhaust yourself, just 15 minutes of walking is not enough. And not doing anything too exciting or demanding 2-3 hours before going to sleep. Maybe you just haven't done enough or not consistently enough.
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