10 Be: Asleep When Aussies go to bed, we’re not necessarily going to sleep. According to Australia’s biggest ever sleep survey, we’re doing much more between the sheets than we should (and it’s not what you may think), discovers Priscilla Crighton. ISSUE 13
11 While a giraffe needs only two hours of sleep each day to survive, humans are far more sleep-thirsty requiring four times as long. And if we don’t get the right amount of rest our bodies react in more ways than one. Not only do we get irritable – hence the saying “getting up on the wrong side of the bed” – sleeplessness can affect the body’s natural healing mechanism, immune system, ability to cope with stress, memory function and weight control. Yes, that’s right – if you don’t get enough sleep you can kiss that diet success goodbye. ACCORDING TO CQUNIVERSITY’S RESIDENT SLEEP EXPERT AND HEAD OF THE APPLETON INSTITUTE RESEARCH CENTRE PROFESSOR DREW DAWSON, HEALTHY SLEEP HABITS ARE DIRECTLY LINKED TO THE WELLBEING IN YOUR WAKING LIFE. “WE KNOW THAT A POOR SLEEP ROUTINE CAN IMPACT ON ALL KINDS OF HEALTH FACTORS, CAUSING SIGNIFICANT DETRIMENT TO YOUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELL BEING. THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING GOOD, HEALTHY SLEEP THEREFORE CANNOT BE UNDERSTATED. “WHAT WE FIND IS THAT PEOPLE WHO DON’T GET ENOUGH SLEEP ARE FAR MORE LIKELY TO HAVE A COMPROMISED IMMUNE SYSTEM THEREFORE GET MORE COLDS AND FLUS. THEY ARE ALSO MORE LIKELY TO BE LESS PRODUCTIVE IN THE WORKPLACE AND HAVE MORE TIME OFF WORK.” National Sleep Census According to Australia’s largest and most comprehensive sleep survey conducted by CQ<strong>University</strong> and bed manufacturer Sealy, the vast majority, a whopping 96 per cent, of Aussies say they wake up tired from their sleep, leaving only 4 per cent waking refreshed. Most of us also feel tired throughout the day due to poor sleep. “Considering how important sleep is and how much time we spend in bed, these results indicate that the majority of us are not sleeping that well,” says Sealy’s sleep expert Ross Gage. While the majority of respondents to the survey recognised 8 hours as the recommended amount of sleep you need to perform at your best, many of us (70 per cent) wake up during the night due to some kind of disturbance, from noisy neighbours and animals to loud traffic and even the sound of rain. However our partners are also to blame, with 35 per cent of those surveyed saying they are often woken up during the night by their spouse, from snoring, going to the bathroom or answering phone calls or emails. Sleep affects work Do you work with moody colleagues? It may be that they are just tired. This latest survey revealed that most Aussies admitted to their work productivity being affected due to tiredness and more than a third of us admitted to falling asleep on the job. We even use lack of sleep as an excuse to call in sick. However sleeplessness can have more serious consequences. Many workplace injuries have a direct link to fatigue as a result of inadequate restorative sleep. According to Workplace Health and Safety <strong>Queensland</strong>’s (WHSQ) Chief Medical Officer Ki Douglas, fatigue leads to poor judgement, poor performance on skilled tasks (especially new or unfamiliar tasks), and slower reaction times. “Fatigue stops you appreciating how serious a situation has become. It is harder to undertake complex tasks when fatigued.” Research clearly shows that the risk of work-related incidents is increased in people working more than 60 hours a week, or working 12 hours or more in a day. Compared with an eight hour shift, incident rates are doubled after 12 hours at work if no other control measures are put in place. “For any single incident that WHSQ investigates, it is very difficult to prove that fatigue was causative as there are not tests that can be done. However it is generally a process of excluding other factors.” Douglas says WHSQ’s main message is that fatigue is a shared responsibility between both employer and employee. Tired and getting fat Scientists have for some time known that being overweight can cause sleeplessness, but recent studies have also found a correlation between poor sleep and obesity. Professor Dawson says while the research is controversial, it seems as though sleep deprivation may be a contributing factor to people’s weight gain and could also cause Type 2 diabetes. “There could be both physiological and psychological factors at play here. Firstly, researchers believe hormones may be playing a part, making our bodies misinterpret the feeling of tiredness for the need of food. Secondly, when we’re sleep deprived we simply can’t get motivated to exercise.” Sleep hygiene Like a continuous rollercoaster, people who suffer from sleeplessness feel like they can never stop to recoup their sleep loss. The hours awake continue to compound leaving them continually tired. However, experts believe that improving one’s sleep hygiene could hold the key to a good night’s sleep, improving the body’s restoration processes and providing suffers with some reprieve. Sleep hygiene is fundamentally habits that can help us to sleep or stop us from sleeping. Taking simple steps like improving bedtime routines, ensuring your bedroom is comfortable for sleep and learning how to relax, will increase your chances of getting the right amount of good sleep. ACCORDING TO DAWSON, ONE OF THE KEY FACTORS THAT CAN AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO FALL ASLEEP IS THE USE OF VARIOUS FORMS OF TECHNOLOGY JUST BEFORE WE CLOSE OUR EYES. “WATCHING TV, LISTENING TO THE RADIO, USING A COMPUTER OR TEXTING ON YOUR PHONE IN BED, MAY SEEM LIKE THE PERFECT WAY TO WIND DOWN, BUT THE RESEARCH SHOWS THIS COULD BE DOING JUST THE OPPOSITE.” DID YOU KNOW? People who exercise fall asleep faster More than half of Australians sleep with a fitted sheet, top sheet and doona combination The most popular activities in bed (aside from sleep and intimacy) are reading, watching TV, organising or folding clothing and using the computer 16 per cent of Aussies require some sort of medication to fall asleep More than a quarter of Aussies talk in their sleep 4 per cent of Aussies admit to sleep walking *Results from the Sealy Sleep Census ISSUE 13
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