Sleeping More Can Save Your Life

TLDR; you can improve your health by improving your sleep. ‘Oversleeping causes bad health’ is NOT a thing, but ‘night owls’ are actually are a thing, and sleep deprivation is very, very bad. The less you sleep, the more likely you are to die.

This is Part 1 in the Sleep series.
Read Part 2: how to get more sleep
Read Part 3: relaxation is easy when you know how

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. 

Anne Lamott

Jump to:

• If you don’t have a sleep disorder, you can’t ‘oversleep’. Sleep until you feel well rested.
• Hidden sources of caffeine
• Sleep Deprivation is Very, Very Bad

Humans are the only species on the planet that can choose to ‘not sleep’, when they need to – sleep is that important.

I’ll be gentle but blunt: if you’re tired during the day (or you’re drinking caffeine to feel less tired), you are sleep-deprived. This fact often surprises my (new) clients.

Most of my clients who have ‘quickly’ improved their symptoms, are clients who follow a version of my suggested behavioural conditioning sleep routine. So if you want a free therapy suggestion? Get more sleep. Try this behavioural conditioning sleep routine guide. 💚💛

^{© Copyright Everyone Psychology. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Publish or Reprint without Permission. © Everyone Psychology, Online Psychologists Telehealth Counselling and Coaching Australia .}

Fact Check GAME! True or False:

1. Teenagers need between 9-11 hours of sleep per night.
2. Adults need 8 hours sleep per night.
3. Once you fall asleep, you go into deep sleep and stay deeply asleep until your alarm goes off.
4. 20 minute ‘power naps’ are a good way to make up for missed sleep the night before.
5. Sleep is your body’s way of ‘cleaning’ your brain.
6. Sleeping too much is bad for your health.
7. Night Owls aren’t real, some people are just lazy and don’t want to get up early.
8. Falling asleep right away (‘when my head touches the pillow’) is something to be worried about.
9. If you don’t get enough sleep during the week, you can just sleep in on the weekend.
10. Sleep is a luxury you don’t have time for.

^{© Copyright Everyone Psychology. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Publish or Reprint without Permission. © Everyone Psychology, Online Psychologists Telehealth Counselling and Coaching Australia .}

Answers:

1. TRUE! Most teens are sleep deprived. Children aged 6–12 years, need 9–12 hours of sleep per 24 hour period. How we sleep changes as we age. There are ways to help ensure your child gets enough sleep.
2. FALSE! At least half of young adults and working age adults need more than 8 hours per 24 hour period. Recent research has shown 9-10 hours is normal for many. Anyone who carries a high ‘mental load’ or works longer hours, is experiencing a hormonal change, has cognitively complex work tasks, or is recovering from being unwell, may need even more sleep.
3. FALSE! Sleep actually occurs in cycles.
4. FALSE! ‘Power naps’ may be effective at helping you to refocus, but do not add to your ‘sleep quota’ per 24 hours.
5. TRUE! Current research suggests this is a primary function of sleep. This is why adults often need more than 8 hours sleep: the more ‘cleaning’ needs to happen (the more cognitive tasks your brain has performed), the more sleep is needed.
6. FALSE! This is a classic example of correlation is not causation. In other words, ‘oversleeping’ is a symptom of health problems, not the cause of health problems. (The media reports you might have read saying otherwise weren’t written by scientists.)
7. FALSE! There is nothing wrong with not being a morning person! We evolved to have different patterns – some had to keep watch while others slept.
8. TRUE! Falling asleep in less than 10 minutes is a sign of sleep deprivation (it’s a measure of sleep latency). It should take you about 15-30 minutes to fall asleep if you’re well rested.
9. FALSE! Short sleeping during the work week is not good for your health, and sleep debts are cumulative (that is, every hour you don’t sleep, your debt goes up every day, like interest on a home mortgage).
10. Long term sleep deficiency (not getting enough sleep for months-years) is associated with all-cause mortality. In other words, the less you sleep, the more likely you are to die. 🤕

^{© Copyright Everyone Psychology. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Publish or Reprint without Permission. © Everyone Psychology, Online Psychologists Telehealth Counselling and Coaching Australia .}

If you’re unsure of how much sleep you need?

The general rule is, if you don’t have a sleep disorder, you can’t ‘oversleep’. Just sleep until you feel well rested and awake.

“There is a linear relationship between sleep and cognitive functioning: more sleep leads to better cognitive performance”

Sleep Research Society

^{© Copyright Everyone Psychology. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Publish or Reprint without Permission. © Everyone Psychology, Online Psychologists Telehealth Counselling and Coaching Australia .}

Hidden sources of caffeine

HINT: ‘Needing’ caffeine to feel awake is a sign you aren’t well rested.

Caffeine is increasingly everywhere, not just the obvious tea, coffee and energy drinks, but in ‘workout protein shakes’, softdrink, chocolate bars, energy bars, and over the counter tablets. Caffeine is such a strong stimulant high doses is a banned substance by the NCAA and caffeine is still being monitored as a performance enhancing drug (previously banned, pre-2004) by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Caffeine does NOT reduce your need for sleep. Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors. Adenosine is the chemical your brain uses to know when to sleep; in other words, your brain can’t accurately measure how sleep-deprived it is with caffeine in your system, especially at high doses. Increased caffeine results in a ‘caffeine high‘, and increased tolerance (like any drug) over time. Caffeine also has other effects on the body, many of them negative.

If you like the taste, switch to decaf – as I tell my clients, I try to practice what I teach, although it’s often hard! I choose a decaf option as the default now, and I would also encourage you to make this change as soon as you are able. 💚💛

(Dear new parents: yes, finding time to sleep feels impossible. BUT if you want to be the best parent you can (and I know you do💕), it starts with being your best self, and that means feeling well rested. Here are things you can try to increase time you have to sleep: Hire a cleaner. Get groceries delivered. Cry and regret your life choices. Sleep when the kids do. Lower your standards of cleanliness. Buy earplugs. Get family and friends to do free childcare. Find good paid childcare. Sleeping is now a game and whichever kid sleeps the longest wins. Build a time machine. Take time off work. Quit all your hobbies.) (Please don’t take all of these ideas seriously, except that time machine, because I would like to borrow it please.😁)

^{© Copyright Everyone Psychology. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Publish or Reprint without Permission. © Everyone Psychology, Online Psychologists Telehealth Counselling and Coaching Australia .}

Sleep Deprivation is Very, Very Bad.

Sleep deprivation is a common form of torture. If you treat sleep as a ‘luxury’, you’re essentially torturing yourself.

After three days of zero sleep, you’ll die, unless you’re able to use a biological mechanism called ‘microsleeps‘. It’s so dangerous Guinness World Records won’t accept sleep deprivation attempts.

Prolonged sleep deprivation (e.g. 6 hours every night for weeks), can kill you in other ways.

A side-effect of sleep deprivation is an inability to accurate estimate your cognitive abilities. Translation: deliberate ‘restriction’ of sleep, or sleep ‘hacks‘, aren’t actually helping – you just aren’t aware of how ‘out of it’ you actually are.

^{© Copyright Everyone Psychology. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Publish or Reprint without Permission. © Everyone Psychology, Online Psychologists Telehealth Counselling and Coaching Australia .}

Scientists have conducted experimental studies that manipulated people’s sleep patterns. Meaning, researchers took normal, healthy people, and found out what happens when they sleep less. They tested cognitive abilities, reaction time, and other outcomes over several days.

Exactly 4 hours per 24 hours – serious immediate and linear (downhill) decline in cognitive abilities
Exactly 6 hours per 24 hours – immediate and linear (downhill) decline in cognitive abilities.
8+ hours (allowed to sleep as long as they want/can) – no decline or increase in cognitive abilities

“chronic restriction of sleep to 6 h or less per night produced cognitive performance deficits equivalent to up to 2 nights of total sleep deprivation… subjects were largely unaware of these increasing cognitive deficits, which may explain why the impact of chronic sleep restriction on waking cognitive functions is often assumed to be benign”

Journal, Sleep

There are multiple cases where ‘experiments’ by ordinary people (often against scientific advice) who deliberately caused sleep deprivation within themselves for more than a day or two, has caused long term harm.

Poor sleep is associated with dementia and general cognitive decline. (‘associated’ means poor sleep is either a sign that someone has dementia, or poor sleep causes dementia – scientists still aren’t sure).

^{© Copyright Everyone Psychology. All Rights Reserved. Do Not Publish or Reprint without Permission. © Everyone Psychology, Online Psychologists Telehealth Counselling and Coaching Australia .}

If you are starting to experience difficulties at work or at home, waiting until things get worse can cost you more than money. Help is available, and you definitely aren’t alone (even if it feels that way). 💚💛 Please talk to someone, like a free crisis service. If you want to talk to Andi, book online now or contact us.

^{Find a psychologist to get help with Life Coach | Stress | Anxiety | Depression | EAP | Sleep | Resume and Interview skills | Career coach | Executive and Entrepreneur coach | WorkCover WorkSafe RTW | WH&S | NDIS | Couples ENM Family counselling | Parenting coach | Trauma Recovery and PTSD | DV/FV/CC Recovery | Pregnancy counselling | Forced Adoption counselling | Post-partum Depression and Anxiety ​| ​Chronic Illness​​ | Palliative Care | Grief | Allied Health coaching | Psychologist Case Conferencing and Peer Consultation with Everyone Psychology.}