As many of us know first hand, a significant number of Americans are sleep deprived. In an recent Huffington Post piece, Stanford sleep experts offer tips for those looking to fight fatigue after a sleepless night.
Among their recommendations are to resist the urge to repeatedly hit the snooze button and to make time for a short daytime nap:
"The worst mistake I see my sleep-deprived insomnia patients make is staying in bed in the morning to try to reach the magic eight hours," says Chad Ruoff, MD, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University Sleep Center. Sleeping later than normal throws your body off schedule and will make it harder to fall asleep tonight, perpetuating the problem. No matter how tempting it feels to huddle under the blankets, your body won't react well to a snooze-in -- and neither will your boss.
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You've been feeling pretty good all morning, but now you're ready to pass out. Research has shown that a short afternoon nap can make up for the loss of one hour of nighttime sleep and can improve alertness, performance and mood, says Clete A. Kushida, medical director of the Stanford University Sleep Medicine Center. (Here's how to do it right.)
Previously: What are the consequences of sleep deprivation?, Stanford center launches Huffington Post blog on the “very mysterious process” of sleep, Study: Parents may not be as sleep-deprived as they think, Exploring the effect of sleep loss on health and How lack of sleep affects the brain and may increase appetite, weight gain
Photo by William Brawley
