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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: 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.