Resetting Your Body Clock. Do you have a sleep deficit? Do you owe your body hours of long, deep, relaxing sleep which you cannot provide? If you do, it may be because your internal body clock is out of sync with the world around you and needs to be reset.
At least one-third of people who complain about insomnia have an underlying problem with their body clock. These people can often be described as either owls or larks. Owls are night people. They perk up in the evening, feel quite alert for the next few hours and go to bed around midnight. Frequently they don’t fall asleep for an hour but then they sleep well. The problem is they have to rise at six or seven, before they’ve had enough sleep. So they feel jet-lagged and not fully functional until the late morning.
In contrast, larks droop after dinner. They struggle to stay awake and often can’t last past ten o’clock. But then they sleep soundly until about 4 a.m. when they begin waking. Once awake, they can’t go back to sleep.
Over time, both types feel sleep-deprived. They feel like they are falling off the perch during the day and eventually may start thinking about sleeping pills. If they were allowed to follow their own natural patterns they would not have a sleep deficit. Larks wouldn’t feel the social pressure to stay up late,- and owls, not having to rise and meet early obligations, could sleep deep into the morning. But because they have to conform to social patterns, they basically have three options: they may do nothing; they may take sleeping pills (which have a range of attendant problems); or they may try to readjust their body clocks.
Most men would not admit to having ongoing sleep difficulties. They would rather tough it out and let the conventional wisdom – that they are really a woman’s problem — prevail. But laboratory studies have shown they affect both genders almost equally and that, over the age of fifty, men’s sleep patterns are in fact worse. Their sleep is more disrupted and not as deep. When people were asked generally if they had a problem with sleep, far more women than men answered yes. When asked specifically about the night before, however, this difference disappeared.
Owls tend to have a delayed cycle. Instead of entering their highest temperature zone at about 6 p.m., they enter around 10 p.m., just at the time they probably think they ought to prepare for bed. But sleep is only possible two or three hours later. Because they are late falling asleep, they reach their period of maximum sleepiness at about 7 or 8 a.m., just as they’re trying to get going for the day.
The larks, on the other hand, have advanced cycles. They are coldest and therefore most sleepy at about 1 a.m. By 5 a.m. their temperature is rising and they are bright-eyed and ready to rise, too.
Although we all carry internal clocks, we depend on cues like sunlight to keep these clocks on track. These clocks can be tricked by altering a person’s exposure to light. Bright-light therapy is one form of treatment which is simple, noninvasive and can even be quite pleasant. Patients are seated in front of a specially built lightbox where they cannot escape the sensation of light but can watch television or read.
Owls have a treatment in the early morning, just at the time when they are most sleepy and their bodies believe it’s still dark. You can tell if owls are about in the early morning because they always try to shield themselves from light. They drive to work wearing dark glasses or bury themselves in newspapers on trains,- anything to tone down the light.
Depending on their nature, they may be exposed to ninety minutes of strong, bright light at 9 a.m. Then, on each subsequent morning, the exposure period begins progressively earlier until, eventually, the desired wake-up time is reached. This has the effect of altering the whole cycle and the owls will feel sleepy earlier in the night. If they respond to this feeling and go to bed, they will get adequate sleep.
Owls can treat themselves by exposing themselves to bright, early morning sunlight. They can take a walk (no sunglasses) and over time make the walk earlier and earlier.
Larks are treated in the evening by being exposed to long periods of bright light which eventually fools their body into thinking it’s still daytime. This has the effect of making them go to bed later and therefore wake up later.
*1\136\4*
RelatedPosts:
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.