This article first appeared in Kannada in ಕ್ಷ ಕಿರಣ, Dr Shashikiran Umakanth’s column in the Vishwavani daily. The Inside Story is its English edition. ಈ ಲೇಖನವನ್ನು ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಿ
A common complaint I often hear goes something like this: “Doctor, I am constantly exhausted. My body aches, I have zero interest in my work, and I feel inexplicably irritable…”
When I review their medical reports and find everything perfectly normal, I often ask, “How many hours do you sleep at night?”
Quite a few patients will puff up their chests and reply with a sense of immense pride: “Oh, what can I say, Doctor? It’s a busy life. I am working on my laptop and mobile until 1:00 AM, and I am up by 5:00 AM. Three to four hours of sleep is more than enough for us!”
Lately, a concerning trend has emerged where sacrificing sleep is flaunted as a badge of honour or a massive achievement.
Hearing this honestly baffles me. If the battery on our smartphone drops to 15%, our heart skips a beat in panic. We cry out, “Oh no, the battery is low!” and frantically hunt around for a charger to plug it in until it hits a full 100%. Yet, when the battery of this magnificent, complex machine called the ‘human body’ runs down, we completely forget to plug it in and give it the proper ‘charging’ it desperately needs… which is sleep!
Sleep Is Not Like Switching Off a TV!
A widespread misconception is that going to sleep is like turning off the television… that you are simply shutting down the body so it remains completely inactive. This is fundamentally false.
The moment we close our eyes, a massive, highly efficient ‘maintenance factory’ springs into action inside our body. All the information we observed, heard, and learned throughout the day is carefully organised and filed away into the correct neurological folders in our brain during this time. It is during sleep that our worn-out cellular tissues are actively repaired and our immune system is fortified.
Without proper sleep, our brain starts to ‘hang’ the very next day, much like an overworked and lagging smartphone. Chronic sleep deprivation is not merely restricted to daytime fatigue; it effectively rolls out the red carpet for serious metabolic and cardiovascular conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease.
The Important Connection Between Darkness and Sleep
In the old days, before electricity dictated our lives, things were physiological and simple. When the sun set and darkness fell, our brain would naturally secrete a hormone called melatonin, gently blanketing our eyes with sleep.
What happens now? Our bedrooms are often brighter at night than they are during the day! The ‘blue light’ emitting from our televisions, laptops, and mobile screens sends a deeply confusing and incorrect message to our brain: “It is still daytime; do not sleep yet.”
You Can Command Your Appetite, but You Must Coax Your Sleep
Our elders shared a brilliant piece of cultural wisdom that roughly translates to: “Food yields to your will, but sleep yields only to your eyes.”
If you want to, you can forcefully swallow an extra morsel of a delicious meal, but you absolutely cannot force sleep upon your eyes. When you toss and turn in bed, staring at the clock and agonizing, “Oh no, I’m still not asleep, it’s already midnight, and I have to wake up so early tomorrow!”… sleep sprints ten steps further away from you.
Sleep is very much like a startled bird. If you frantically chase after it trying to catch it, it will only fly further out of reach. However, if you simply sit calm and completely still, it will eventually flutter down and rest gently on your shoulder. Therefore, stop stressing over the fact that you are not sleeping. Relax your mind. Close your eyes, take slow, deep breaths, and allow yourself to drift into pleasant memories. Soon enough, the ‘sleep bird’ will quietly glide down and make a home on your eyelids!
The Science of Sleep Hygiene
Getting high-quality sleep is an art. In clinical terminology, this evidence-based practice is called ‘Sleep Hygiene’. Here are the essential sleep hygiene principles we must all follow for optimal health:
- Maintain a Consistent Schedule: Make it a strict habit to go to bed and wake up at the exact same time every day, including weekends and holidays. This sets and stabilises your body’s internal biological clock.
- Say Goodbye to Screens: Put away your mobile, TV, and laptop at least one to one-and-a-half hours before bedtime. Instead, cultivate the habit of reading a physical book or listening to soothing music.
- Optimise Your Room Environment: Ensure your bedroom is dark, pleasantly cool, and quiet. Never forget that ambient light actively suppresses melatonin production.
- The Bed is Strictly for Sleep: Avoid sitting on your bed to work on your laptop or to eat your meals. Your brain needs to strongly and exclusively associate the bed with sleep.
- Monitor Caffeine and Meals: Stop consuming excessive tea or coffee after the afternoon. Avoid stuffing yourself with a heavy meal right before bed, but conversely, do not go to sleep on an entirely empty stomach.
- Engage in Daytime Physical Exertion: Incorporate some form of exercise or physical labour into your day. When the body is physically fatigued, restorative sleep follows naturally and effortlessly.
Remember: Sleep is never a waste of time; it is the single greatest investment you can make for your health tomorrow. Sleep well, and ensure you charge your health’s battery to a full 100% every single day!
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