Various studies published in the last few years have showed that most adults are not getting sufficient sleep. We need 8 to 9 hours a night but I have lost count of the number of people who have said to me that sleep is just a big waste of their time. They try to manage on a minimal amount and often boast about their “macho” achievement.
But they are selling themselves short. They don’t realize just how impaired they have become nor how accident prone a lack of sleep can make them. Sleep deprivation is especially dangerous if we drive says Dr. Christopher Drake, a clinical psychologist at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center.
“People tend not to recognize or not to put a lot of emphasis on that extra boost that they may get (from a full night’s sleep).”
When we do have time to sleep many are finding sleep won’t come and they are turning to sleep aids. According to the pharmaceutical information and consulting company IMS Health, 43.1 million sleeping pill prescriptions were dispensed last year, up from 29.2 million in 2001. That doesn’t count over-the-counter sleep aids. Even more Americans choose alcohol, which can actually disrupt sleep.
Dr. Beth Malow, associate professor of neurology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the medical director of Vanderbilt’s Sleep Disorders Center, says pills can be useful short term but its better to modify behaviors that prevent sleep. This includes reducing caffeine intake and not taking caffeine at all in the afternoon, getting plenty of exercise etc.
