It's said that sleep is the most essential part of being healthy and alive. Seriously! How! For me, it's a state where you are half dead and during most part of sleep you don't know what's happening around in terms of physical safety, and one doesn't know if one will ever get up alive!
Hey! aim is not to scare you and cause Insomnia in you, but if you think closely, that's what happens. When early man must have experienced this dangerous situation, he would've searched for safe shelters where he could satisfy this biological need and wake up alive.
In Hinduism, 'Ratri Devi' or 'Goddess of Night' has a prominent place in shlokas and shrutis, where she is worshipped for providing sound sleep, praised as a protector and one's physical and spiritual safety during sleep is attributed to her. This was such a huge psychological respite which helped in initiation of sound sleep, and acted as an armament against fear of safety during sleep.
So how do we describe sleep? It's a natural periodic state of rest for the mind and body, in which
the eyes usually close and consciousness is completely or partially
lost, so that there is a decrease in bodily movement and
responsiveness to external stimuli.
We presume that we need sleep because our body and brain need rest, but no dear! our body and brain still keep working very hard, but, in very different ways. When we are awake and conscious, our brain and body deal with external stuff i.e. sensory inputs like smell. taste, touch, vision and hearing, and react appropriately, but, when one is asleep, the attention turns inward.
The brain goes through everything that happened in our day and figures out where to store it. This processing and restructuring is essential for development of critical thinking and problem solving. Memories are sorted out, emotions are regulated, stressors are ironed out, organized, and labeled so as to be dealt with appropriately in future, leading to learning experiences. Multiple solutions are generated for a single problem which also appear as probable solutions to us while being awake. No wonder we find silly and simple solution to all our problems in form of dreams!
The body also spurs up the immune system and peaks the regulator against external invaders like bacteria and viruses, some hormones are released to repair and rebuild the damaged tissue leading to stronger muscles.
So how much sleep one needs to optimally finish off this inward process?
It varies across age spectrum, babies need 17 hours sleep, older children need 9-10 hours, adults need 8 hours of sleep. It is generally considered that older adults need less sleep, but it's not so. Along with physical changes, the sleep pattern may also change with age, like you may feel less sleep satisfaction...as it's sometimes harder to initiate sleep or problem to remain asleep continuously for longer duration. This is because of change in 'sleep architecture' which may contribute to sleep problems.
Sleep occurs in multiple stages including dreamless periods of
light and deep sleep, and occasional periods of active dreaming
(REM sleep). The sleep cycle is repeated several times during the night
and although total sleep time tends to remain constant, older people
spend more time in the lighter stages of sleep than in deep sleep.
Generally sleep problems like insomnia (Lack of sleep)or hypersomnia (Excessive sleep) get precipitated due to some physiological or psychological issues, excessive smoking or drinking, and side effects of some medication.
Sometimes, age related sleep problems like Snoring, Sleep Apnea, and Narcolepsy. People with narcolepsy feel very sleepy during the day and may
involuntarily fall asleep during normal activities. In narcolepsy, the
normal boundary between awake and asleep is blurred, so characteristics
of sleeping can occur while a person is awake. In such cases it's always better to seek appropriate help.
Another major reason for sleep problems these days is over bombardment of audio-visual stimulus through bright screens in form of mobile phones, television, laptops/desktops, tablets etc. with the result that our brain is so overstimulated that we are unable to initiate sleep no matter how many sheep we count! And when we do sleep, our brain has to do so much work due to sensory overload. This could be one of the reasons that these days one can’t get up fresh and energetic even after 8 hours of sleep.
Sleep is a very personal process, and with age one learns to understand one's biological requirements. But, how much we yield to our addictions and what all we do to get a healthy sleep is our personal decision. You, yourself are responsible for a good sleep. So, don't say later on..."I Can't Get no Satisfaction"...(Rolling Stones)
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