Study Links This Sleep Problem To Suicidal Thoughts

People with this sleep problem experienced defeat, entrapment, and hopelessness.

People with this sleep problem experienced defeat, entrapment, and hopelessness.

Nightmares are linked to suicidal behaviour in people suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), new research finds.

Around 80% of people who suffer from PTSD experience nightmares.

The study found that in those who were experiencing nightmares, 62% had suicidal thoughts, plans or attempts.

Of those not experiencing nightmares only 20% had suicidal ideation.

The researchers found that nightmares tended to encourage specific types of negative thoughts including:

  • defeat,
  • entrapment,
  • and hopelessness.

All of these fed into suicidal thoughts and behaviour.

Dr Donna L. Littlewood, the study’s first author, said:

“PTSD increases the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior, and our study shows that nightmares, a hallmark symptom of PTSD, may be an important treatment target to reduce suicide risk.

This study emphasizes the importance of specifically assessing and targeting nightmares within those individuals experiencing PTSD.

In addition, monitoring and targeting levels of negative cognitive appraisals such as defeat, entrapment, and hopelessness, may reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviors.”

The study involved 91 people suffering from PTSD.

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (Littlewood et al., 2016).

Nightmare image from Shutterstock

10 Rules From Sleep Experts To Help You Wake Up Refreshed Every Morning

Rule 1: Do not take the phone to bed with you!

Rule 1: Do not take the phone to bed with you!

During sleep our brains clear out waste toxic chemicals, consolidate memories, process emotional events and much more.

No one needs reminding of the importance of sleep, but many can do with a few tips to actually achieve it.

Here are a few recommendations by the National Institute of Health (with a few thrown in from me):

  1. Go to bed at the same time.
  2. Use the hour before bedtime as quiet time.
  3. Avoid alcohol before bedtime.
  4. Take a hot bath before bedtime (or any other relaxing ritual that works for you).
  5. Do some exercise during the day — any physical activity is preferable to none.
  6. Your sleep schedule should be the same at the weekend as it is during the week.
  7. Keep the bedroom cool, quiet and dark.
  8. Avoid large meals within a couple of hours of bedtime.
  9. Get outside every day.
  10. Avoid staring at your phone, tablet or computer screen in the hour before bedtime.

Dr Jeffrey P. Barasch, Medical Director of The Valley Hospital Center for Sleep Medicine in Ridgewood, NJ, said:

“Unfortunately, as you well know, sometimes life can prevent us from going to bed when we want to and many of us have experienced the frustration of not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep once we are in bed.

Luckily, our bodies can adjust to occasional instances when we do not get enough sleep.”

Depending on our phase of life, we require different amounts of sleep:

  • Newborns — 16 to 18 hours a day
  • Preschool-aged children — 11 to 12 hours a day
  • School-aged children — at least 10 hours a day
  • Teens — 9 to 10 hours a day
  • Adults (age 20-64) — 7 to 9 hours a day
  • Elderly (age 65 and over) — 7 to 8 hours a day

Image credits: iamtheo

Better Sleep Habits Connected To These Everyday Kinds of Exercise

429,110 adults were asked about 10 types of activities and how much sleep they typically got each night.

429,110 adults were asked about 10 types of activities and how much sleep they typically got each night.

Activities like aerobics, biking, gardening, golfing, running, weight-lifting, and yoga or Pilates are associated with better sleep habits, research finds.

Even people who just walked had healthier sleep habits had healthier sleep habits than those that did not.

It was better for sleep habits, though, to add a slightly more vigorous activity than just walking.

Household activities and childcare, though, are linked to worse sleep habits.

The conclusions come from surveys of 429,110 adults.

They were asked about 10 types of activities and how much sleep they typically got each night.

https://www.spring.org.uk/2011/05/6-easy-steps-to-falling-asleep-fast.php

Dr Michael Grandner, who led the study, said:

“Although previous research has shown that lack of exercise is associated with poor sleep, the results of this study were surprising.

Not only does this study show that those who get exercise simply by walking are more likely to have better sleep habits, but these effects are even stronger for more purposeful activities, such as running and yoga, and even gardening and golf.

It was also interesting that people who receive most of their activity from housework and childcare were more likely to experience insufficient sleep — we know that home and work demands are some of the main reasons people lose sleep.”

Dr Grandner continued:

“These results are consistent with the growing scientific literature on the role of sleep in human performance.

Lab studies show that lack of sleep is associated with poor physical and mental performance, and this study shows us that this is consistent with real-world data as well.

Since these results are correlational, more studies are needed to help us understand whether certain kinds of physical activity can actually improve or worsen sleep, and how sleep habits help or hurt a person’s ability to engage in specific types of activity.”

The study was presented at SLEEP 2015, the 29th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Image credit: Alex

3 Food Types To Eat Today For More Restorative Sleep Tonight

The three food types newly linked to the most restorative sleep.

The three food types newly linked to the most restorative sleep.

Eating more fibre along with less sugar and less saturated fat has been linked to better sleep by a new study.

The more fibre people in the study ate, the longer they spent in the most restorative phase of sleep, called ‘slow wave’ or deep sleep that night.

Eating more saturated fat, though, was linked to less deep sleep.

Lower sugar intake, meanwhile, was linked to fewer arousals from sleep during the night.

Dr Marie-Pierre St-Onge, the study’s first author, said:

“Our main finding was that diet quality influenced sleep quality.

It was most surprising that a single day of greater fat intake and lower fiber could influence sleep parameters.”

The study of 26 adults also found they fell asleep faster after eating a meal prepared by a nutritionist, rather than eating a meal of their own choice.

Typically the nutritionist’s meals were higher in protein and lower in saturated fats than the meal that people spontaneously chose themselves.

After selecting their own meal, participants took an average of 29 minutes to fall asleep.

This compared with just 17 minutes for those who ate the controlled meals.

Dr St-Onge said:

“The finding that diet can influence sleep has tremendous health implications, given the increasing recognition of the role of sleep in the development of chronic disorders such as hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.”

Dr. Nathaniel Watson, President of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, said:

“This study emphasizes the fact that diet and sleep are interwoven in the fabric of a healthy lifestyle.

For optimal health it is important to make lifestyle choices that promote healthy sleep, such as eating a nutritious diet and exercising regularly.”

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (St-Onge et al., 2016).

Image credit: Alex

Late-Night Snacking Is A Widespread Habit That May Damage Memory

Learning and memory could be damaged by this common habit.

Learning and memory could be damaged by this common habit.

Habitual late-night snacking could damage a type of memory and learning, a new study suggests.

Eating meals at odd hours has already been linked to metabolic problems.

This, though, is some of the first evidence of potential psychological effects.

Dr Dawn Loh, the study’s first author, said:

“We have provided the first evidence that taking regular meals at the wrong time of day has far-reaching effects for learning and memory.

Since many people find themselves working or playing during times when they’d normally be asleep, it is important to know that this could dull some of the functions of the brain.”

The study, carried out on mice, tested their ability to recognise novel objects.

Those fed when they usually slept showed worse memory performance.

The late-night-snacking-mice also had problems filing the objects away in long-term memory.

Professor Christopher Colwell, one of the study’s author, said:

“Modern schedules can lead us to eat around the clock so it is important to understand how the timing of food can impact cogitation.

For the first time, we have shown that simply adjusting the time when food is made available alters the molecular clock in the hippocampus and can alter the cognitive performance of mice.”

The mice that snacked at night also had worse sleep.

Their sleep was more fragmented and they require more naps during the day.

Researchers will need to carry out tests on human subjects to see if the effect is the same.

However, we already know from other studies that shift-workers under-perform on cognitive tests.

We also know that eating less at night may help to reduce the mental problems caused by lack of sleep.

The study was published in the journal eLife (Loh et al., 2015).

Brain image from Shutterstock

Pets In Bed: Study Reveals If It Helps or Hurts Sleep

Is having a pet in bed beneficial for sleep?

Is having a pet in bed beneficial for sleep?

Having a pet in the bed may benefit some people’s sleep, a new survey suggests.

The conclusion comes from 150 patients at the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Sleep Medicine in Scottsdale, AZ.

They found that just over half of pet owners allowed their pets into the bedroom.

One-fifth of those reported some disruptive behaviours like whimpering, wandering and snoring.

But 41% said their pets did not disrupt their sleep, with some claiming it helped them sleep.

Single people in particular said their pets provided relaxation, companionship and security.

One single 64-year-old woman spoke of feeling more confident with her dog in the bed at her feet.

Another woman said her two small dogs were good bed-warmers.

A cat lover described the animal as providing a soothing presence.

The study’s authors said:

“The value of these experiences, although poorly understood, cannot be dismissed because sleep is dependent on a state of physical and mental relaxation.”

The researchers note, though, that pet owners could have been biased in their responses:

“Respondents appeared eager to disclose whether they owned a companion animal and where it slept but seemed more reluctant to reveal any undesirable consequences.

This response bias may have resulted in these data underreporting the frequency of disrupted sleep.”

The authors conclude:

“Many pet owners view companion animals as family members that they wish to incorporate into as many aspects of their life as possible.

Because humans spend considerable time sleeping, a pet owner’s desire to have animals close at night is understandable.

As more households include multiple pets, the challenge of securing appropriate sleeping arrangements is increased.”

The study was published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Krahn et al., 2015).

Pet in bed image from Shutterstock

Interrupted Sleep Has a Fascinating Effect On Some Emotions

The type of sleep linked to feeling more positive emotions.

The type of sleep linked to feeling more positive emotions.

More sleep isn’t always better for your mood.

In fact, more sleep that’s disrupted reduces positive moods more than less sleep that’s uninterrupted, a new study finds.

Uninterrupted sleep is particularly beneficial for the positive emotions of friendliness and sympathy for others.

Dr Patrick Finan, who led the study, said:

“When your sleep is disrupted throughout the night, you don’t have the opportunity to progress through the sleep stages to get the amount of slow-wave sleep that is key to the feeling of restoration.”

The study compared three groups who came into a sleep lab for three nights:

  • One group were forcibly awakened throughout the night.
  • Another group had their bedtime delayed.
  • A final group were left to sleep normally.

People were asked about their positive and negative moods during the day.

After two nights, the different groups started to diverge.

People whose sleep was interrupted had 31% less positive mood during the day.

Those who had their sleep delayed experienced 12% less positive mood.

There was little difference in negative moods.

Naturally those in the study who’d slept solidly also felt more energetic.

So it seems that interrupted sleep mainly dampens the feelings of positive emotions rather than increasing negative emotions.

Frequent awakenings during the night is one of the symptoms of insomnia.

Dr Finan said:

“Many individuals with insomnia achieve sleep in fits and starts throughout the night, and they don’t have the experience of restorative sleep.”

The study was published in the journal Sleep.

Jumping image from Shutterstock

A Fact About Sleepwalking That Few Appreciated — Until Now

One sleepwalker had jumped out of a third-floor window and sustained severe fractures.

One sleepwalker had jumped out of a third-floor window and sustained severe fractures.

Sleepwalkers are unlikely to feel pain while sleepwalking despite suffering horrendous injuries, a new study finds.

Despite that, sleepwalkers are more sensitive to getting headaches and migraines when awake.

Dr. Regis Lopez, who led the study, said:

“Our most surprising result was the lack of pain perception during the sleepwalking episodes.

We report here, for the first time, an analgesia phenomenon associated with sleepwalking.”

The conclusions come from a survey of 100 sleepwalkers.

Amongst sleepwalkers who had injured themselves, 79% felt no pain and the injury did not wake them up.

They only realised they’d injured themselves later in the night or in the morning.

One sleepwalker had jumped out of a third-floor window and sustained severe fractures.

But he hadn’t noticed it until waking later in the night.

Another sleepwalker climbed onto the roof during an episode and fell, breaking his leg.

He felt no pain until he woke in the morning.

Despite this, sleepwalkers were more susceptible to pain during the day.

They were ten times more likely than normal to report migraines and four times more likely to report headaches.

Dr. Lopez said:

“Our results may help to understand the mechanisms of the sleepwalking episodes.

We hypothesize that a dissociate state of arousal may modify the components of sleep-wake behavior, consciousness, and also pain perception.”

The study was published in the journal Sleep (Lopez et al., 2015).

Sleepwalking image from Shutterstock

How The Brain Controls Sleep

Weird ‘zoning out’ sensation when sleepy explained.

Weird ‘zoning out’ sensation when sleepy explained.

Parts of the brain can fall asleep while the rest of the brain stays awake, new research finds.

It might explain the weird sensation of ‘zoning out’ people get when they are trying to avoid falling asleep.

The effect is triggered by a brain structure called the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN).

The TRN relays signals including a slow oscillating brain wave typical of sleep.

The TRN may be important in how we consolidate new memories.

Dr Laura Lewis, the study’s lead author, said:

“During sleep, maybe specific brain regions have slow waves at the same time because they need to exchange information with each other, whereas other ones don’t.”

Dr Lewis said their animal experience revealed that…

“…when you induce these slow waves across the cortex, animals start to behaviorally act like they’re drowsy.

They’ll stop moving around, their muscle tone will go down.”

The brain circuit could also be responsible for the weird sensation of ‘zoning out’ people get when they are trying to avoid falling asleep.

Dr Lewis said:

“I’m inclined to think that happens because the brain begins to transition into sleep, and some local brain regions become drowsy even if you force yourself to stay awake.”

Professor Emery Brown, a co-author, said:

“The TRN is rich in synapses — connections in the brain — that release the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA.

Therefore, the TRN is almost certainly a site of action of many anesthetic drugs, given that a large classes of them act at these synapses and produce slow waves as one of their characteristic features.”

The study was published in the journal eLife (Lewis et al., 2015).

Brain image from Shutterstock

The Natural Response That Psychopaths Tend To Lack

The connection between psychopathy and contagious yawning.

Psychopaths display less empathy, which is why they are less prone to this normal behaviour.

People with psychopathic tendencies are less prone to ‘contagious yawning’, a new study finds.

Yawning after seeing someone else yawn is linked to empathy and bonding.

But psychopaths are selfish, manipulative, fearless, domineering and, critically, lack empathy.

Mr Brian Rundle, the study’s first author, said:

“You may yawn, even if you don’t have to.

We all know it and always wonder why.

I thought, ‘If it’s true that yawning is related to empathy, I’ll bet that psychopaths yawn a lot less.’

So I put it to the test.”

The study found that people with psychopathic tendencies were less likely to yawn when they saw someone else yawning.

Mr Rundle said:

“The take-home lesson is not that if you yawn and someone else doesn’t, the other person is a psychopath.

A lot of people didn’t yawn, and we know that we’re not very likely to yawn in response to a stranger we don’t have empathetic connections with.

But what we found tells us there is a neurological connection — some overlap — between psychopathy and contagious yawning.

This is a good starting point to ask more questions.”

The study was published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences (Rundle et al., 2015).

Yawn image from Shutterstock