Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Sleepless Insomnia

Ever wonder why you & your body still feel so incredibly tired even if you've gotten 8 hours of sleep, or maybe more? Well it's basically because your mind wants to be on auto-pilot for one reason or another. A Break-up, a test you haven't (or have) studied for, closure, exciting trip, etc. I always assumed that it was because of something like that, but of course, never looked too far into it.

So upon waking up at 1:30 AM today and forcing myself back to slumber, I asked my brain in its half wake mode why I felt so worn down despite the 9:45 bedtime retreat. I couldn't really get anything out of it but jumbles and different visuals from today. So back to sleep I went. Fortunately for Arden, I didn't get to sleep very long. His constant stratching at the door called for my immediate attention, so here I am at 5:29 AM writing about sleep deprivation and the reasons that cause it. Check this out;
"In animal sleep, a sloth sleeps 20 hours a day while a porpoise sleeps half a brain at a time. Birds do not sleep and rabbits and squirrels sleep 10-14 hours a day. People need a wide variation of sleep and can range from 1-10 hours a day. There is more need for sleep at birth, while as we age our sleep needs are less and lighter.
Sleep problems are a common symptom for people who are recovering from traumatic events. One's usual methods for falling asleep may no longer work. Disturbing thoughts of reenactment, rescue or reunion may interfere with one's sleep cycle. Nightmares and sleep terrors occur in response to adjusting to shattered realties."

Certainly explains a lot about my sleep behavior currently/recently and in the past. I suppose you can't blame it all on the ole noggin and its busy activities. It can be asinine reasons such as your fucking stupid piece of shit clock that seems to click like a car crash every second, or maybe just the reality of the silent minutes mounting on your LCD alarm clock. Maybe it's the full bladder of your obedient cat, or the persistant doubt & regret that's always been in the pit of your stomach.
Whatever's keeping you up tonight or tomorrow night, just invest in some Dewar's Scotch. You may trade insomnia in for alcohol abuse--but at least you got some sleep lastnight.





1 comment:

Angel of Pathos said...

The best night's rest always comes from crying yourself to sleep.