Sleep Deprivation: The Great Myth

Many Americans are sleep-deprived zombies, and a quarter of us now use some form of sleeping pill or aid at night.

Wake up, says psychiatry professor Daniel Kripke of the University of California, San Diego. The pill-taking is real but the refrain that Americans are sleep deprived originates largely from people funded by the drug industry or with financial interests in sleep research clinics.

"They think that scaring people about sleep increases their income," Kripke told LiveScience.

Thanks to the marketing of less addictive drugs directly to consumers, sleeping pills have become a hot commodity, especially in the past five years. People worldwide spent $2 billion on the most popular sleeping pill, Ambien (zolpidem), in 2004, according to the BioMarket, a biotech research company.


LiveScience.com

I found this article very interesting and pretty cool.

I've never believed the whole thing about not geeting enough sleep screws you up, so this article just backed my thinking more.


Comments, Opinions?

I have been sleep deprived for more than 25 years... All you have to do is look at my post history on this board to confrim that...

I don't do the pharmaceutical thing, and I have never deeply researched the impact lack of sleep may cause over the long haul (

Its just another addition to the old theory that the drug companys are just trying to make a fast dollar.

Most people who would read this site (Im quessing) would be the type of people that would think about this and go: "Now wait, do I need to take a pill to sleep or is there something else that is keeping me awake?"

I read somewhere that many sleep disorders are linked to how people process stress and work loads.

There is many people that wait untill late at night to analyze their day-to-day problems what ever that might be. From what you need to shop for in the morning to your taxes, ect.

This leads to people thinking and stressing about things that they should be dealing with during the day and solving then, not when your tring to relax and shed some stress.

A healthy sleeping person will deal with what they have to do and plan for the next day before he/she sits down to relax for the night. A unhealthy sleeper will think things through at night time keeping them awake.

Now, of course there is people out there with different cases and reasons for not sleeping and maybe meds work for them.

Bottom line is if you slay awake all night just thinking and stuff. Try to get in a habit of solving things before your relax for the night. On the other hand, maybe this would also go to support the reason people are taking sleeping pills in the first place.... Modern people are way too stessed to deal with all they have to deal with everyday.

I definitely agree that it's exploited for financial gain, what isn't?

But I don't think it's a myth. People are completely over stressed in this world we now live in. Do you think we were designed (naturally or not) to live the way ppl do? Work, traffic, bills, pollution, competition, wars, fear, over population, etc... all lead to stress and then when you're stressed you don't sleep properly, no matter how long you stay in bed. Then stress leads to problems with people around you, and then that causes more stress, it becomes a huge snowball. A vicious circle you can't get out of.

I don't think people know how to relax anymore, or can't. I know I have problems relaxing and I don't even work, or have anywhere near the stressful life some have. We live in a very stressful society.
What do ppl do to relax, drink? Play vid games, watch TV? Guess what? ALL stressful pastimes! Our brains are never given a break. The only good way to relax, even though I find it difficult too many distractions, is to meditate.

I spent some time traveling a few yrs ago, no money, no car, no commitments.
Most of the time I didn't eat very well, didn't sleep very well. But guess what?
I had non of the stress caused by work, bills, the world etc...and I felt the healthiest, most alive I ever have. Not suggesting ppl do that though, just making a point.


[edit on 23/3/2006 by ANOK]

Originally posted by ANOK
I spent some time traveling a few yrs ago, no money, no car, no commitments.
Most of the time I didn't eat very well, didn't sleep very well. But guess what?
I had non of the stress caused by work, bills, the world etc...and I felt the healthiest, most alive I ever have. Not suggesting ppl do that though, just making a point.
[edit on 23/3/2006 by ANOK]

I belive ANOK knows the stresses Im feeling too

I remember when I was at collage... I would sleep so frigin bad it was retarded. I would spend all night thinking about the things I had gone over in class and when I did get to sleep, I was dreaming of AutoCAD commands and #...retarded. I finally did some talking with my naturalpath and he directed me to study/review what I did each day for an hour after I got home from school.... Guess what.... I could sleep again without AutoCAD "nightmares".

Now that I work, its a little harder to review your days work. But I try to do that same things before I leave work each day. Plan what Im going to do they next day, try to finished everything I can this day, and then review things than need to be reviewed to make sure I understand... all before I leave work. It sure helps me to just drop all the stress off as I walk out the door.

.... Or I could just buy those pills and get 8hours of sleep a night.... Not.

There really is nothing new here. All sleeping pills are for short-term use, even though MDs do prescribe them for longer. I won't argue with the findings of the study because the abuse of any drug is dangerous.

But, sleep deprivation is no laughing matter and nothing to ignore. There are other ways to treat sleep disorders other than with drugs, but for some drugs are what works.

For most people sleep issues will resolve on their own, because fatigue usually wins out over whaterver is causing insomnia. They are the lucky ones. The MD and the patient are the best ones to arrive at the best solution because no treatment plan meets everyone's needs.

I should be more clear when I say things..

When I said sleep deprivation, I mean the thingsa like these people saying that everyone needs so much sleep a night, or this sleep debt thing.


I've stayed up 5 days in a row, and the only thing I felt was boredom.

EDIT:
Double post.


Come one now, nothing to see here, go back to your droll monotanous lifes making the rich richer.

[edit on 3/23/2006 by iori_komei]

New drug offers jitter-free mental boost

A new class of drug may increase alertness without any of the jitteriness of over-stimulation, suggest the results of a small clinical trial released this week.

A compound dubbed CX717, a member of the new class called ampakines, significantly improved performance on tests of memory, attention, alertness, reaction time and problem solving in healthy men deprived of sleep.

The study was carried out by Julia Boyle at the Sleep Research Centre at the University of Surrey, UK, and her colleagues on behalf of Cortex Pharmaceuticals Inc., based in Irvine, California, US.
www.newscientist.com...

The pharmaceutical companies are willing to help you either way. I can see this new drug being promoted to students, truckdriver, executives, etc... Anyone with a demanding work schedule that needs to keep going. I also read in another story that military pilots use something simular for extended missions. I'll see if I can find the link to that.

Now, if you question the drug company's wisdom, they can put you on something for paranoia and anxiety.

In a perfect world (from a pharmaceutical executive's point of view) the consumer will take both pills.

Take a sleeping pill because you can't sleep and when you have to get up, you're so groggy you need to take a wake-up pill.

Well, it was good enough for Judy Garland. Wait a minute. Didn't she...well. Never mind.

How about Elvis then?

Oh right, that didn't turn out so good either.

Originally posted by iori_komei
I've stayed up 5 days in a row, and the only thing I felt was boredom.

Hmmmm I find that a bit hard to believe. After 5 days with no sleep you would be halucinating. After about 3 days you get a natural high, l've known ppl do it on purpose. I've been there myself, but not on purpose. But that high is short lived and you become completely drained. If you only got bored then maybe you should be tested, you are a unique individual

The longest anybody has gone without sleep is eleven days;

amos.indiana.edu...

Expect more of these stories as more and more people start 'killing themselves', trying to keep up with never ending multi-tasking in order to become 'more successfull'.

It will work really great at building more hatered too, as more people 'resent' those 'unemployed bums' who keep growing in number, as more 'successfull' people swallow their 'employment oportunities' doing those 80 hr. weeks.

Insomnia is not only bad for you, bad enough, it leads to 'accidental' death and suicide. Yes drugs do make it worse but telling folk (with the 'control words', 'cancer' and 'million studied') that 3.5 hours sleep will make you 'live longer' is highly suspect of 'another agenda'.

suzy

Judging by that avatar you've been awake just a bit too long yourself. Maybe you ought to hit the sack and cut a few z's.

My name is arius and I....am an insomniac
I tried massive doses of ambien and still couldn't sleep
I tried mucho massive doses of ambien and had no motivation for a month
I threw away the ambien and now I still don't sleep

Ambien did make me feel better about the fact that I didn't sleep. I felt like I was resting while awake.

I'm surprised that the drug companys havent come up with a stimulant/sleeping pill in one convenient time released gel tab.

First thing in the morning---zip----then around 10:00pm after the news----yawn----nite, nite.

And just to make sure, include in the pill an antidepressant/tranq, and an appetite suppressant.

The all in one pill for todays young upwardly mobile, career minded exec.

Next on the drawing board R and D; the vacation pill.

Not sleeping is a youthful luxury. I love a nice "siesta" after lunch!



[edit on 23-3-2006 by whaaa]

I can agree with certain aspects of your post.

I certainly agree, "illness's" have been "created" so they can be cured.

But, on the area of sleep loss, u are way off base.
Personally, I have insomnia-that is i often can't sleep at night.
When it goes on for too many weeks, i find a good prescription sleep aid-I have used ambian- works wonders.

As far as sleep loss not effecting u-BS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will admit that it will affect everyone differently, but for me, if i don't sleep at night, I am zombie the whole next day.

Originally posted by ANOK

Originally posted by iori_komei
I've stayed up 5 days in a row, and the only thing I felt was boredom.

Hmmmm I find that a bit hard to believe. After 5 days with no sleep you would be halucinating. After about 3 days you get a natural high, l've known ppl do it on purpose. I've been there myself, but not on purpose. But that high is short lived and you become completely drained. If you only got bored then maybe you should be tested, you are a unique individual

The longest anybody has gone without sleep is eleven days;

amos.indiana.edu...

I doubt I'm special, atleast with sleep related things.

To be fair, I in that time drank like 8 liters of cola.

And I slept a full day afdter staying up.

Oh, and I went for an hour long walk n the cold in the middle of the night on all 5 days.

Yes, drugs are over used, and used from the wrong reasons.

I worked on that Time Release Ambien Study that was mentioned in the article, as well as others, and in finding “True” Insomniacs to use for such studies, the wash out rate was somewhere around 80%. The reasons for this is that most people that believe that they have insomnia, in fact have some level of Apnea. To the person experiencing it, they just feel as though they have not slept, or have laid awake for hours on end, yet in reality they repeatedly dose off for a few seconds, have a respiratory event, and wake back up. They may do this a hundred times an hour, for example. This pattern of dosing off, choking, and waking back up happens quickly and to the person they think that they have stayed awake the whole time.

The biggest risk with someone taking a sleep medication without having a sleep study preformed first, is that a normal person that stops breathing in their sleep will wake up once the brain senses their O2 levels dropping. This usually happens before the O2 gets down to severe levels, as the person becomes more sleep deprived they tend to desaturate to lower and lower levels. If you add a drug into the mix you are now forcing your brain to stay asleep as your O2 drops and this can make it drop dangerously low.

By way of example, I have personally seen a patient have respiratory events while not medicated and their O2 levels drop to 80%, then this same person when placed on medication remain asleep until their O2 levels reached 50%.

The real issue here is denial, there are many people out there that know they have a problem and refuse to fix it the right way. They self diagnose what is going on, and want to take a pill to fix the issue, when a Cpap machine is required. There is no magic pill or spray that is going to fix sleep related respiratory issues. Even the drug companies themselves know this, which is why we screen for those types of patients when choosing test subjects. To make matters worse, there are many doctors out there that have no experience with sleep medicine and when a patient comes to them stating they cannot sleep, they prescribe a sleeping med as opposed to sending them to a sleep specialist.

The pill-taking is real but the refrain that Americans are sleep deprived originates largely from people funded by the drug industry or with financial interests in sleep research clinics.

When I can show that almost every patient that is referred to our lab has a legitimate sleep disorder, and those test results sit on file for 7 years so that the government can come in and recheck them anytime they wish, I would have to say the above statement is in fact false or at the least very misleading. Most people with sleep disorders go with them untreated, and it will in fact effect their overall quality of life if not taken care of. Since the majority of those with a disorder are suffering from apnea, not insomnia, I would like to know if this articles author is willing to tell people that apnea has no effect on the long term health of those with the disorder, especially since it is proven that there are serious long term side effects associated with it. While it may be arguable as to whether or not 8 hours of sleep are required in a night, it is also proven that deprivation of REM stage sleep, will adversely effect your health.


[edit on 3/23/2006 by defcon5]