The sun sets into the lake and the sky begins to etch into darkness. The wind blows gently through the branches of the tall trees causing them to wave back and forth. It’s silent besides the occasional sound of cars driving by. I think I should probably go to sleep — so I brush my teeth, comb my hair, and make my bed. I set the perfect conditions for the perfect sleep and yet I lay there staring at my ceiling: I can’t fall asleep.
I wish I could say I’m surprised and able to pinpoint my problem. Unfortunately, night after night, it seems there is no quick fix. Ever since I was little, it has always been the same. I’ve tried everything — changing my sleep schedule, doing yoga, drinking warm tea, listening to rain sounds on my phone, and even reading random pages of my dad’s old history books. And yet no sleep! (However, I now have extensive knowledge of the Russian Revolution.)
My mind and body feel separate, like opposing forces. Physically I’m tired but my mind is active. Even after a long day of practically dragging around my half-awake self and finally making it to bed, I lay wide-eyed and alert. Sometimes my mind drifts to more important matters like recalling the answers to my seventh-grade science quiz or an obscure movie I watched as a kid.
Last year, I decided to finally get to the bottom of this pressing issue and I booked an appointment with my doctor. I don’t want to say the session was entirely fruitless but I am writing this article at 2 a.m. My doctor gave me a couple of options he thought would help me:
Keeping a sleep journal, no screen time before bed, cutting out caffeine, and not using my bed for downtime.
The last one piqued my interest so I decided to give it a go! Stimulus Control Therapy (SCT) limits stimuli that can affect sleeping schedules. I was instructed to not watch movies, read, do homework, or even casually sit in my bed while I was awake.
He suggested that doing these practices would psychologically condition my brain to associate my bed with sleep — and sleep only — in turn, making me fall asleep as soon as I made contact with my pillow. Although SCT is an interesting approach, I hate to say I couldn’t resist the temptation of watching Yellowjackets curled up in bed.
I thought maybe my problem was I didn’t understand what good sleep actually felt like. Perhaps I needed to get to the bottom of that before I could trick myself into deep slumber.
Sleep is such a complex topic but the easiest way to think of it is as a time for your body to hit the reboot settings. Sleep is important to many brain functions like organizing memories, recharging your energy, and removing toxins from your brain.
There are a few phases of sleep, one being non-rapid-eye movement (non-REM) sleep and REM sleep, according to John Hopkins Medicine. During the first phase, the body starts to regulate your heart rate, body temperature, and breathing rate to prepare for deep sleep. This stage is vital for restoring bodily functions and restfulness.
In the second phase, the sleeping brain activity acts similarly to awake body activity. You begin to breathe as if you were awake and your body becomes paralyzed for a short period for dreams to occur. This is when we tend to have our most vivid dreams. The phases repeat throughout the night until you wake up.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, without a proper night’s rest, our ability to process/remember what we’ve learned throughout the day can be affected. Lack of sleep stunts our alertness, makes concentrating during the day difficult, poorly impacts our moods, and can weaken our immune system and have repercussions on bodily functions in the long term, according to Healthline and the Mayo Clinic.
Statistics Canada reports that lack of sleep causes higher mortality rates, diabetes, heart disease, mental and cognitive disorders, and a greater chance of accidents and injuries.
So why don’t we just sleep?
There are some explanations as to why falling asleep is so difficult. The straightforward answer is due to a bad sleep schedule known as your circadian rhythm (aka your biological clock). For instance, your body may be releasing sleep hormones at times other than the night. Our feeling of sleeplessness has a lot to do with natural light. In the mornings our sleep hormone, known as melatonin, levels are low but rise after sunset.
Many stressors cause your circadian rhythm to be thrown out of whack. A major one is electronics that emit blue light. Blue wavelengths boost alertness and mood but suppress the production of melatonin, according to the Sleep Foundation.
The over-stimulation of your environment can affect your sleep. Things such as caffeine consumption, the temperature of your room, the comfort of your mattress, surrounding sounds, and excessive brightness can either keep you in a light sleep or completely stop you from sleeping, the Sleep Foundation says.
A concept I began researching and found interesting was the idea of “revenge bedtime procrastination.” This refers to individuals who purposefully delay sleep and instead do something they enjoy to make up for the lack of enjoyment they had for the day, as reported by the Sleep Foundation.
Say you had back-to-back classes and it was an overall stressful day but once you got home, you decided you didn’t want to sleep but instead wanted to watch a movie to compensate for the busy day. Essentially you extend your day for personal enjoyment and get “revenge” on working hours but at the expense of your sleep.
What can we do to improve our sleep schedule?
Making a consistent sleep schedule trains your body to feel sleepy at the right time every night. Limiting your screen time after the sun sets will help maintain your melatonin levels and avoid late-night snacks because they are linked to restlessness during the night.
Improve sleep hygiene by having a nightly routine that helps you wind down and adjust your environment to make it less stimulating. You can do this by making sure it’s not too cold or hot, it’s quiet and dim.
Maybe I need to take my own advice. Being sleep-deprived has become a norm. According to Statistics Canada, about 2.2 million to 3.7 million Canadians have a sleeping disorder.
My friends meet up bright and early for our morning lectures, we swap stories about what absurd time we went to sleep the night before. We go to sleep the same day we need to rise by extending our nights and punishing ourselves in the morning. We create empty promises of “fixing” our sleep schedule with no actual intention to change. Running on empty has become a common practice for many young people.
I think the best way to improve your sleep is to take it one night at a time.
On that note, sweet dreams and goodnight!