Teens and sleep: A Q&A
On Shots today, a group of sleep experts addressed NPR listeners’ questions about teens and sleep. I found the first question, and the answer from George Washington University neurologist Helene Emsellem, MD, among the most interesting:
I have two teens who have difficulty sleeping, and I worry that they have developed bad sleep habits they might never grow out of. Should they take sleep meds?EMSELLEM: One of most important things to understand is that the changes in biological rhythms are not changeable with a drug. If an adolescent’s biological clock says they won’t get sleepy until midnight, a sleeping pill may do absolutely nothing. It could also complicate matters by leaving them hung over the next day. The best you can do is regiment a routine and give them a comfortable sleep environment.
For more on sleep, Rafael Pelayo, MD, a specialist who treats both adults and adolescents, discussed a wide variety of issues during a recent 1:2:1 podcast.
Previously: The mystery of sleep, Sleep deprivation may increase young adults’ risk of mental distress, obesity, Districts pushing back bells for the sake of teens’ sleep and Lack of sleep may be harmful to a teen’s well-being
Photo by Bryan Gosline
May 21st, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Perhaps Emsellem’s comment is taken out of context:
“One of most important things to understand is that the changes in biological rhythms are not changeable with a drug. “
Perhaps this MD remains unaware of a burgeoning body of sleep research vis a vis ADHD neurobiology. In fact, we are learning that circadian rhythm is often dysregulated among people with ADHD.
Why? Presumably, because circadian rhythm is affected by signals from the environment; and if those environment signals are not being processed effectively by the brain, rhythm is not in tune with the environment.
For many people, the stimulant medication that is the first-line medical treatment for ADHD can help to normalize signal processing. Moreover, the person gains better ability to regulate sleep hours, pay attention to signals of feeling sleepy, and adhere to the rest of “sleep hygiene” rules that are but an impossible dream for some people with untreated ADHD.
I wrote about this recently for the non-profit CHADD’s magazine, Attention. A blog post on ADHD and sleep drew many illuminating comments.
http://tinyurl.com/l59l7e