Lifestyle Choices

The amount of sleep you need varies tremendously from one woman to another. It also varies from one day to the next. There is no truth in the idea that you need eight hours of sleep to stay well and feel energetic. You might need ten hours, while another woman gets on very well with four and a half. One study showed that short sleepers tend to be active, outgoing people who are sociable, flexible in their personalities, and more conformist socially. Those wanting longer periods of sleep are more introverted and creative and are particularly good at sustained work. Often the more stress-filled your day, the more sleep you will need to recover from it.

As people get older they tend to sleep less. Many sixty- and seventyyear-olds get by on a mere three or four hours a day. Occasionally you meet someone who sleeps as little as half an hour to an hour each night, yet appears to be perfectly normal. The amount of sleep you need depends so much on your biological and psychological individuality that you can’t make hard and fast rules about it. Many high achievers and great minds throughout history—Napoleon, Freud, and Thomas Edison, for instance—have been poor sleepers while others like Einstein could sleep the day away.

But the idea that you need a certain amount of sleep each night to stay well is a powerful one. For many people it is so embedded in their unconscious that if they only get seven hours one night instead of eight, they are convinced they will be tired the next day and soon develop all the signs of it. If you are one of these people, try reexamining your premises, and experiment—sleep less and see what happens. You may find that how you feel after a certain amount of sleep depends more on your own choice than on the time spent in bed. Try sleeping less for a few days. Many women find when they do, they actually have more energy.

A lot of so-called insomnia is nothing more than the result of worrying about getting to sleep. Many people who consider themselves insomniacs are really victims of general propaganda about sleep rather than non- sleepers. And many women seek treatment because they can only sleep four or five hours a night, although that may be all they need. There is nothing more apt to cause sleeplessness than the worry that you won’t be able to drop off. Sometimes, too, sleeplessness is normal. After all, we all experience a sleepless night now and then, particularly if we are overtired, worried, or excited about some coming event.

Real, chronic insomnia is less frequent. A major research project into long-term insomnia turned up some interesting facts about sufferers. Over 85 percent of the 300 insomniacs studied had one or more major pathological personality indications, such as depression, obsessive compulsive tendencies, schizophrenic characteristics, or sociopathy. For them, their insomnia was a secondary symptom of a more basic conflict; it was a socially acceptable problem they could talk about without fear of being judged harshly. Insomnia like this is little more than a mask for whatever is really bothering the non-sleeper.

Occasionally the inability to sleep can be a manifestation of a nutritional problem—often a deficiency of zinc coupled with an excess of copper, which produces a mind that is overactive intellectually and won’t wind down—or a deficiency of calcium or vitamin E, which can lead to tension and cramping in the muscles and a difficulty in letting go.

The more easygoing an attitude you take to sleep, the less likely you are to have any problem with it. If you miss an hour or two, or if you are not sleepy, simply stay up, read a book, or finish some work. Believe it or not, one of the best times for coming up with creative ideas is in the middle of a sleepless night. And chances are that you’ll more than make up for it in the next couple of days–provided you don’t get anxious about it.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Stop Worrying About Insomnia

• HOW—AND HOW NOT—TO GET TO SLEEP
• Bed-wetting (Sleep Enuresis)
• TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY (Household Gadgets) part 3
• CHANGING BORING HABITS
• Mater Pieces of Wholesale Fashion Accessories
• Always have trouble falling asleep
• Natural Sleep Cure: Trouble Sleeping Help & Treatment tips
• Good night, Sleep Tight
• Sleeping Beauty Enjoy a moment quality of Life
• Making Stress Work for You