Hey sleepyhead! Tips for getting more slumber
In ‘The Insomnia Answer,’ Dr. Paul Glovinsky and Dr. Art Speilman offer advice for dealing with your restless nights. Read an excerpt
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In “The Insomnia Answer,” Dr. Paul Glovinsky and Dr. Art Speilman offer a program designed to tackle the three most persistent sleep problems — getting to sleep, staying asleep and broken sleep — using drug-free methods. The authors visited “Weekend Today” to discuss their book. Here's an excerpt:
Chapter One
Why Is Sleep So Unreliable?
Discovering Why Sleep Doesn’t Come Naturally
Adam lay expectantly on his newly laundered sheet, his wife sleeping quietly not one foot away. Everything was in order: he was fresh from a shower; the briefcase on his desk was emptied of files; he could sense a wave of sleepiness approaching. The sounds outside the window were reassuring. The late stragglers on the sidewalk, the traffic noise, the hum of the air conditioners — all meshed into a soothing blend. Adam knew his sleep required such a harmonious context, and he took pains to provide it. He glanced with envy at Jen, who laughed at his precautions, and who was known to fall asleep on buses, on sofa beds, even once at the ball game. Adam tried to rein in his thoughts, but they drifted toward the presentation he had to make the next afternoon. If this happened to be one of his bad nights, he would really be out of sorts by two o’clock. He could feel his muscles tighten at the thought. Adam loosened his jaw the way he’d been taught and tried to slow down his breathing.
He had grown quite competent at hiding the effects of his sleeplessness. Sometimes he would play the stolid manager, unperturbed by the most harrowing crises. Other times he would slip into hyperactive mode, keeping himself awake by keeping everyone else hopping. But a presentation to the parent company could not be finessed so easily. Adam became aware of his increased heart rate. He could no longer pretend that nothing was wrong. Perhaps tomorrow would be the day when, sleep-deprived, his fumbles and miscues would alert senior management to his real predicament: on a fundamental level, he was out of control.
This was going to be a long night.
How is it that so many of us cannot readily fall asleep or stay asleep? After all, sleep is inborn, a state attained in infancy without any instruction or practice. It should be automatic.
We may eat too much or too little, but almost all of us are able to eat when food is available. Unless we are contending with serious medical illness, we all take breathing in and out for granted. Insomnia, by contrast, is widespread in otherwise healthy people. In its intermittent, acute form, it is familiar to practically everyone. As a chronic sleep disorder, it afflicts 10 to 15 percent of the population. How can something so crucial to normal functioning be so unreliable? And how is it that some people require everything to be just right before they can sleep, while others seem to be able to drop off at will?
These are questions that may come to you in the middle of the night, as you watch the glowing red lines on your alarm clock. Your dog snoring away on the rug seems to be able to sleep on cue. He circles into bed every evening as darkness gathers, and soon afterward seems to be chasing dream squirrels. Sleepy animals outside your home also find their havens and perches by nightfall, while the nocturnal ones begin to stir, all according to schedule. Even most of your human neighbors are sleeping — despite whatever might be on their minds. It all looks so easy, so natural. Why can’t you sleep?
Your question is straightforward, but unfortunately, its answer is not. When your car won’t move, the fact that you can describe the problem succinctly doesn’t mean its solution will be self-evident. To get on the road again, you might run through a simple checklist: Is there gas in the tank? Is the battery dead? Do I need to find a mechanic? In other words, to solve your problem, you would have to know something — either a little or a lot — about cars.
This analogy holds true for sleep as well. A checklist to consult if your sleep has stalled does exist. It is called a list of Sleep Hygiene Instructions. We assume that most of you will be familiar with these recommendations — although whether you can actually adhere to them is another question! It makes sense to review this list before proceeding, because it just might supply a direct fix for your sleep. In the course of our work together, you will come to understand how these sleep hygiene prescriptions enhance your prospects for sleep.
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