Sleep

George Gurdjieff, the inscrutable Armenian mystic of early last century, insisted that we humans are constantly bearing false witness against ourselves, by glibly using the pronoun "I" to refer to who we are. Rather, he pointed out that careful scrutiny would reveal that this presumably singular person we call "I" is in fact a constantly changing persona simply sharing the same name.   Read More

"If it was as easy as you make it out to be, why do you think I'm back again? I've tried all that, and it just isn't working. My one year old still keeps on waking up and it's driving me and my husband crazy". Despite the upbeat message in some of my previous postings on this subject, which could have been interpreted as if I was claiming that changing a toddler's sleeping patterns is easy and that is only a matter of the parents making up their minds to "set things right", I am very aware that it is not always easy for some parents to break the cycle of sleep association behavioral insomnia in their toddler, who demands his parents' presence (sometimes the father's, usually the mother's) on multiple occasions across the night so that he can be lulled back to sleep. By "not easy" I am referring not to the technical aspects of this, which, I think, are fairly simple and straightforward, but to the guilt, angst and anxiety that develop and accompany the process itself, undermine the possibility of success, and leave those parents worried that they are causing more harm than good. Read More

Eye candy is, by definition, good-looking people: Sweet to stare at, they tempt us with their addictive visuals. But the term has another meaning, especially when we remember that our brain's primary fuel is sugar. Eye candy is also a special kind of mutual gaze -- one that is dense with energy, sends our pleasure chemicals surging, and looks absolutely delicious. And it's good for you. Read More

Lots of people snore. About 25% of all adults, and 12% of children snore on a regular basis, and people's responses to it range from annoyance (husbands being banished to the "snore room" so that the wife can get a decent night's sleep), pride ("my two year old snores just like his grandfather") to making it the butt of jokes.

However, in many cases, snoring can be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea, a serious medical condition in which the throat collapses during sleep, preventing breathing. When this happens repeatedly across the night, the consequences can be very significant...  Read More

Earlier this week I covered a new study that points to the disturbing effects (literally) of noise pollution in intensive care units. The second half of the article discussed several methods to reduce noise and their effectiveness. Read More

In the last post I discussed the use of stimulus control methods to help manage and overcome insomnia. This post will discuss the use of cognitive techniques in the treatment of insomnia.

A fascinating study was presented today at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, which showed that people lose weight three times as fast during sleep as they do while just lying in bed awake. 

It turns out that the more you snooze, the more you lose, but in a good way... Read More

Dreaming is such a common, yet mysterious phenomenon. Why do we dream, and what purpose does it serve, anywyay?  It turns out that there are more than a few answers to this question. Read More

In the last post I discussed ways to evaluate your sleep. After determining what your sleep pattern is and what factors are contributing to your insomnia, you are prepared to start working actively on getting better sleep. Read More