Sleepless in America

The police were called because a man had been badly beaten in his own home and needed to be rushed to the hospital. When they arrived the man was barely conscious, had multiple head wounds and was bleeding profusely. The ambulance was already on the way. His wife was in a state of shock but had the presence of mind to call 911 when she realized that the attack had occurred. Read More

Do you know someone who is barely functioning at work or in school because they are staying up all night on the Internet? This behavior certainly will interfere with good sleep and effective performance but is it an addiction? Read More

You may have seen the articles on Shaq O'Neal's discovery that he has sleep apnea. His situation is instructive because it says something about the nature of sleep apnea and the warning signs that indicate you or a loved one may be suffering with it.

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As we make the transition from stage 1 to stage 2 sleep a number of changes occur in the EEG that signal the increasing depth of sleep. Two prominent markers of stage 2 sleep are K complexes and sleep spindles. K complexes are large waves that stand out from the background and often occur in response to environmental stimuli such as sounds in the bedroom. Read More

It is now well established that teenagers have a tendency toward later bedtimes and rise times. Most high schools in the US have early morning start times. For many high school students this results in a conflict between their sleep needs and the requirements of their school schedules. So, do later school times really help high school students? Read More

Jasmine is 35 years old and recently was seen for intake at a private psychology practice. She appeared sad and sat quietly in the waiting room. When she was interviewed she reported that she had been feeling more and more down and lethargic since late August. She was tearful during the discussion and reported that she could see no reason why she was feeling so bad. Read More

Glamour magazine set off something of a sensation about a year ago when it published an article suggesting that you could loose weight just by improving your sleep. The program was straight forward. Seven women agreed to make no changes in their eating or lifestyle except to get at least seven and a half hours of sleep a night. Read More

When people talk about sleeping like a baby they usually mean that they slept deeply and soundly. But how similar to the sleep of an adult is the sleep of an infant? Are there significant differences? Do babies have the same kind of sleep as children, teenagers and adults? Read More

Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" explores a number of philosophical issues related to the nature of being human. It became the inspiration for the influential 1982 movie, "Blade Runner." The title of the novel indicates the importance we attach to dreaming as an important characteristic of the human experience. Read More

We frequently hear that life has become more complex, stressful and time pressured over the past few decades. It is typically assumed that this has led to people getting less sleep than in the past. This is a concern because short sleep durations have been linked to major health issues such as obesity and hypertension. Read More

What do the Challenger disaster, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown and the Exxon Valdez oil spill all have in common? At least in part, these terrible accidents occurred because workers were sleep deprived. Read More

You may have seen the recent Saturday Night Live skit about ‘Muammar al-Gaddafi' attributing his rambling UN speech to jet lag. While the skit was funny, jet lag is not. Read More

Kristin was running late again. Could she possibly make it to school on time? Why had she stayed up so late last night texting her friends? Read More

Matt was lying awake in bed, again. It was 3:30 a.m. His wife and young children were soundly asleep. The hours passed slowly. Thoughts drifted through his mind as he reviewed the day's events. The next morning he could not remember clearly what he had been thinking about all those hours in bed. Read More