Sleep is something we know we need, yet few of us get the amount we require. Today, let's delve a bit deeper into the subject of sleep - why we need it and the benefits of getting a good nights rest. We'll also explore some of the potential pitfalls of too little sleep and explore some ways to improve your sleeping habits.
Photo by Stephanie Swartz / iStockPhoto
Why Do We Sleep?
According to some estimates, people spend approximately one-third of their lives asleep. Why? Well, researchers have proposed a few major theories for why sleep is necessary, but not everyone agrees on the exact reasons why we sleep. Learn more about some of the theories that researchers have proposed to explain why we sleep.
How to Get a Good Night's Sleep
In a poll by the National Sleep Foundation, 29% of participants reported becoming very sleepy or even falling asleep at work during the prior month. Learn more about some of the things you can do to get a better night's sleep.
Comments
Interesting note, during my (autoethnographic? LOL) field work with college students, the nature of sleep becomes very complex. Oftentimes, students have to forcibly disrupt their circadian rhythms with psychoactives; sometimes forcing themselves awake with excessive amounts of caffeine or ADD medication, or forcing themselves to sleep with TylenolPM or NyQuil. [shrugs to self] Further, this desensitization to psychoactives has even tempted some of my fellow students to experiment with recreationally “mixing their uppers and downers” in beverages like FourLoko.