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Sleep Myths 'Damaging Your Health':
Widely held myths about sleep are damaging our health and our mood, as well as shortening our lives, say researchers.
A team at New York University trawled the internet to find the most common claims about a good night's kip[*].
Then, in a study published in the journal Sleep Health, they matched the claims to the best scientific evidence.
They hope that dispelling sleep myths will improve people's physical and mental health and well-being.
So, how many are you guilty of?
Myth 1 - You can cope on less than five hours' sleep
[...]Myth 2 - Alcohol before bed boosts your sleep
[...]Myth 3 - Watching TV in bed helps you relax
[...]Myth 4 - If you're struggling to sleep, stay in bed
[...]Myth 5 - Hitting the snooze button
[...]Myth 6 - Snoring is always harmless
Another myth is that one should have 7-8 hours of continuous sleep. There is ample evidence that this is a relatively recent phenomenon. Consider embracing a bi-phasic or two-sleep schedule, instead.
I was at first concerned when I found myself waking after 3, 4 or even 5 hours sleep -- I became worried that I might be trending into insomnia. Instead, knowing this is a "thing", I just accept it, now. I get up for an hour or so. Use the bathroom. Maybe do some light reading (SoylentNews FTW!). And, after an hour or so, am ready to go back to bed for the rest of my night's sleep. Naps can be helpful, too.
How well do you sleep?
*kip: chiefly British : sleep, nap
(Score: 4, Interesting) by looorg on Thursday April 18 2019, @01:50PM (5 children)
Isn't the 8h of continuous sleep an age thing? When I was young(er) I could sleep non-stop for 8+ hours without any issue. But as I got older it sort of stopped working and instead I entered into some kind of bi-phasic sleep cycle. I started to nod off in the evening and then woke again after an hour or so and then did some other things and then eventually bed again and usually sleeping for about 4-6h and then I'm done. I might wake up during that time and drink some water and then go back to sleep again.
As for the other myths I'm less certain. I can still watch screens and sleep, I usually fall asleep tho cause the shows are boring. I don't snooze so I wouldn't know. I don't really fancy the idea of becoming an evening alcoholic that somehow requires a drink every evening so they can sleep -- if you do require it then yes you are an alcoholic.
Folding socks? Who folds socks? Just stick one sock into the other and make a little ball of it. Done. Folding socks ....
Also the Red Wedding wasn't relaxing? The way RR Martin writes always put me sleep. It took a real long time to read those books since he has a disturbing style that drags things out. Also there was a big difference between the book and the show but when they mention it now I just assume they are all talking about the show since apparently people don't really read much anymore. I think I felt worse for the direwolf then I did for the Starks. Also it might be a matter of perspective, but isn't it relaxing when a plan comes together and you get to vanquish your enemies? It's not like someone important really died in the show, even Robb Stark is now nothing but a distant memory in the boobs-and-dragons show.
(Score: 3, Informative) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday April 18 2019, @02:24PM (1 child)
Amount of sleep does indeed change (lessens) with age, but never drops below 7-8 hours by age 65 and older. (Source [sleepfoundation.org]). But this is still an average - there are people who will function with 6 hours and people who require 10 hours. The myth being cracked, though, is the "4 hours a day and I'm fine".... such people might indeed exist, maybe, but are far more rare than what is claimed is the gist of TFA because such people don't consider long-term issues that seem to form. And there's a difference between doing something temporarily and being a regular pattern, too.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by looorg on Thursday April 18 2019, @02:46PM
When they claim to sleep less then 4h per day I constantly wonder how many drugs they need to take to keep awake. It's not that it's impossible to do once in a while but it's just not going to be a quality day.
Another interesting factor for the 4h per day sleepers that are known is that most, or a lot, of them appear to be people in power. As in people with staffs that cater to all their whims and needs -- that do the heavy lifting so to speak. These people have somehow managed to remove all, or most, of the dull tasks in their lives that the rest of us are still stuck doing. Most people don't have the wealth (or power) required to get all these perks -- servants, a private chauffeur, your own jet-plane or just a butler that manages all aspects of your household. If anything they are already abnormal in more ways then their lack of sleep. Perhaps one comes from the other, they don't need the sleep cause they are not really doing all the things the rest of us are still doing.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Thursday April 18 2019, @02:40PM (1 child)
When I was consulting and found myself on the road, I'd often read in bed before going to sleep.
Sometimes, I wouldn't have anything handy to read. I found that Numbers [wikipedia.org] in the Gideon's Bible [mentalfloss.com] was the best soporific. A page or so and I was out like a light!
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Thursday April 18 2019, @03:09PM
Numbers? Nah, that's way too lively. Try 1 Chronicles [skepticsannotatedbible.com] which starts with a real snoozefest of 9 chapters of "begats". Or, if you don't like that book too much, there's similar "excitement" from The Iliad's Book 2 [poetryintranslation.com] where Homer lists out exactly how many ships were sent from each city and who was in charge of them, most of whom have absolutely no role to play in the story.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Friday April 19 2019, @12:23AM
Do any of these "myths" actually exist, or did they just invent a bunch of random, obviously-wrong crap in order to myth-bust it? Looking at all of those, 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are obviously wrong, and I've never heard of 2. I'd expect it to be true because I know a number of people who will fall asleep after a glass of wine, but I assume they've set it up in a way where it's specialised enough that they can still "myth-bust" it.