Dr. Wall was recently asked to contribute to an article by Redfin regarding ideal sleeping environments. Check out 15 Expert Bedroom Remodel Tips For a More Comfortable Sleep!
Start Your Day Off Right
By Dr. Lauren Wall
Want to wake up on the right side of the bed? Who doesn’t want to wake up feeling awake, alert, and completely refreshed? Unfortunately, after a poor night of sleep we often wake up feeling miserable. Depression and other psychological difficulties can also make it difficult to get out of bed. The following are some daily behaviors to adopt to get your morning off to a great start:
-Have something to look forward to each day.
-Have a daily morning routine. For example, walk the dog, shower, and eat breakfast in the same order each morning.
-Wake earlier to avoid time pressures to get ready in a rushed manner.
-Get physical activity first thing in the morning. This will give you an added boost of energy and start your day off feeling you have accomplished something.
-Open your blinds and let light in your bedroom. This will help suppress your sleep hormone and trigger your awake/alertness hormones.
-Make your bed. This helps you start your day with some level of order and organization.
-Take a couple minutes to meditate or do some deep breathing relaxation.
-Eat breakfast. You will have more energy and better concentration ability if you eat this important meal.
To Nap or Not to Nap?
By Dr. Lauren Wall
You may be a person that naps all of the time or someone who never takes a nap. There are mixed messages out there as to whether naps are good for you or bad. Research studies suggest naps can improve memory recall (e.g., Mednick et al., 2008). Companies are even putting nap rooms within their offices in an attempt to boost productivity in the workplace.
Timing and duration are extremely important when considering naps. It is essential you limit the length of your nap. There is something to be said about the short “power” nap, especially during the workweek. Longer naps actually lead to waking up sleepier. If you take a 2-hour nap in the afternoon you could possibly wake feeling more tired and groggy than before the nap. A 10 to 20 minute nap has been shown to be the most effective and beneficial to you.
When should you avoid a nap? You should not nap when you have insomnia or have had poor sleep a few nights in a row. Taking long naps decreases the chance that you will have a good night of sleep. You want to increase your “appetite” for sleep at night and not reduce it by napping. Also, you should avoid taking long naps later in the afternoon or evening as this can disrupt your ability to get to sleep at night.
References
Mednick, S. C., Cai, D. J., Kanady, J., Drummond, S. (2008). Comparing the benefits of caffeine, naps and placebo on verbal, motor and perceptual memory. Behavioural Brain Research, 193(1), 79-86.
Alcohol’s Negative Impact on Sleep by Lauren Wall, PsyD
Individuals will often become desperate when they begin to experience persistent problems with sleeping. Alcohol is something people will turn to when having trouble sleeping as it is known to have a sedating effect. However, most people do not realize the negative implications of using alcohol to try to get better sleep.
Alcohol is very disruptive to sleep. Drinking alcohol before bed significantly reduces the quality of sleep, more specifically by reducing the amount of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) one is getting. Alcohol is also a diuretic that increases awakenings in the middle of the night due to need to use the bathroom.
Ultimately alcohol use interferes with the body’s sleep homeostasis, which regulates sleep. Alcohol is metabolized and then withdrawals from your body while you are sleeping. As this happens, individuals tend to wake more and REM sleep is reduced. Thus, the overall quality of sleep is reduced as sleep is interrupted. Subsequently, dreams are often reduced with nighttime alcohol use. It is also not uncommon to wake earlier in the morning than expected after a night of drinking.
The Risk Of Drowsy Driving by Lauren Wall, PsyD
Have you even gotten behind the wheel drowsy? Would you ever tell someone who has been consuming a lot of alcohol to get in the car and drive? Driving while sleepy can impair your driving performance as much as driving after consuming alcohol (Powell et al., 2001). Thus, driving drowsy is very risky and you could be putting yourself and others in significant danger.
When very tired, reaction times are slower which means it would take longer to brake or make other important quick decisions on the road (Jackson et al., 2013). In addition, significant fatigue makes it more difficult to concentrate on the road. Concentration is very important when driving a vehicle. Decision-making is also impaired, even after just a couple of hours of sleep deprivation.
Over 25% of drivers admit to having driven while they were “so sleepy that [they] had a hard time keeping [their] eyes open” within the past month (AAA, 2010). It is estimated that one out of every six (16.5%) deadly traffic accidents is due to drowsy driving (AAA, 2010). There have been many stories in the news about negative consequences of falling asleep while operating a transportation vehicle (e.g, train, large trucks).
If you feel too drowsy to drive, then avoid getting behind the wheel. Take public transportation, ride shares, or call a friend/family member for a ride. If you are already driving when you begin to feel drowsy, pull over and call someone else for a ride. Opening the window or blasting the radio is not going to help you stay awake and alert while driving.
The following are signs you may be driving while drowsy:
You slept less than 5 hours last night
Frequent blinking or yawing
Spacing out a lot with difficulty remembering the last miles driven
Missing your turn/exit
Hitting the rumble strip on the side of the road
Finding yourself drifting from your lane
References
American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety, 2010. Asleep at the wheel: The prevalence and impact of drowsy driving, http://www.aaafoundation.org/pdf/2010DrowsyDrivingReport.pdf.
Jackson, M. L., Croft, R. J., Kennedy, G. A., Owens, K., Howard, M.E. (2013) Cognitive components of simulated driving performance: Sleep loss effects and predictors. Accident Analysis and Prevention 50: 438–444.
Powell, N.B., Schechtman, K.B., Riley, R.W, Li, K., Troell, R., Guilleminault, C. (2001). The road to danger: The comparative risks of driving while sleepy. The Laryngoscope, 111(5): 887-893.