When I was younger there always used to be the point in the night where I would get really slap-happy drunk (no, my parents weren't spiking my Kool-Aid!) and the slightest thing could set me off laughing. Jump ahead a half-hour or hour into the night, and if I was still up, the slightest thing could set me off crying. Then the next day, if I didn't get enough sleep I'd be grumpy and snappy -- definitely not my usual cute-kid self. Sure, I was young and childish then, and I've matured (?) since then, but my Mom who knew best then, and still does, as mothers often do, always says that I'm just not my "happy-camper" when I don't get enough sleep. Now it seems researchers are finally catching up to the wisdom of parents!
How much so? Here's what one researcher had to say about the study where young adult volunteers were kept awake for a day, a night and another full day.
"It's almost as though, without sleep, the brain had reverted back to more primitive patterns of activity, in that it was unable to put emotional experiences into context and produce controlled, appropriate responses," said Matthew Walker of the University of California Berkeley, who led the study.
Plus, does this sound familiar?
"They seemed to swing like a pendulum between the broad spectrum of emotions," Walker said. "They would go from being remarkably upset at one time to where they found the same thing funny. They were almost giddy -- punch drunk."
The end results indicate, that even the healthiest among us can become affected by sleep deprivation and develop some of the symptoms people with sleep disorders deal with on a day to day basis.
Here's to moving beyond the slap-happy-sleepy-grumpy cycle. With all the advances in our society, shouldn't our sleeping habits be as advanced as the rest of our lives? For ways to improve your sleep arrangements, try watching this "Not So Extreme Bedroom Makeover" video.
1. I hate it when I am sleep deprivated.
external hard drive at 4:30AM on Sep 25th 2009