Sleep

[Guest guest]

Erin wrote:

Im not Don but sleep is needed. There was a recent study I was hearing about that said people who didnt get enough sleep for long years at a time lowered their lifetime DRAMATICALLY, about the same as smoking. It was a reputable study but I am not sure now on the right name as I didnt read it, just was hearing it on the radio or something like that. Sleep is needed for health. But yes, it would be nice to get those hours of the day back ;p The thing is, different amounts of sleep are needing for different people. Sigh. So too much sleep can equal feeling more tired.

 

The ex-prime minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher, was reputed to have had only 2-3 hours sleep a night whilst she was in office. Apparently she used to drink whisky during those small hours to prop herself up. She is 78 now and suffers from a certain form of dementia. Trouble is, who knows 'what might have been' 'if only' :-)

 

As you said, people do need different hours of sleep and have different patterns. And who knows if needing more sleep than normal reflects some sub normal metabolic functions. When I was very ill with chronic fatigue, I used to sleep 20 hours in the day and still felt very tired. As I recovered, for a period of time, I only needed 5 ! Now I sleep as much as my body demands. Though whenever I need more sleep than normal these days, I do ask myself 'what's the matter' and try to identify if it is a depressive response to some internal or external events which my mind frequently refuse to recognise.

 

C.