Enter Sandman: Most of us need more time in never-never land

By Glynn Brothen

Kurtis Remple, a student at Thompson Rivers University, doesn’t have a bedtime. The last time he had one was before he started high school. With a full course load and a part-time job, time for a full eight-hour night of sleep is uncommon for Remple. Frequent insomnia further decreases his ability to pay attention in class.

“Not being able to focus in class, I think [is] directly derived from not sleeping,” said Remple. His lack of sleep may affect his focus, but Remple says it also affects his motivation in class.

Having a bedtime may seem reminiscent of childhood obligations, but having one as an adult can improve sleep health. By maintaining a bedtime, adults can improve their health and performance levels at work or school by helping the body’s rhythm establish a routine, sleep experts say.

Students like Remple who add a part-time job to their studies face working odd hours in between classes or at night and other people with jobs requiring shift work have a much greater chance of having irregular sleeping patterns.

Donald Munro, a security guard for Summit Security Group, says he doesn’t know if his shift work affects his sleeping patterns as he has had trouble sleeping for the past ten years.

“I think everyone has troubles sleeping,” said Munro. “No one ever says: I have a sleep disorder. There’s a lot of sleep disorders.”

Les Matthews, an associate professor of respiratory therapy studies at Thompson Rivers University, says memory is impacted by sleep and without enough of it, the retention of course material can be affected and result in students having to study more in order to succeed on tests. Students who plan “all-nighters” to prepare for an exam are best advised to study until bedtime and plan to get eight hours of sleep so that what was studied can be retained for the next day.

“There’s three things: The quality, the quantity and the regularity [of sleep],” said Matthews. “They’ve clearly identified that if you study then sleep, memory consolidation is improved. So if you study, sleep and then get tested you’ll actually score better.”

Proper sleep is not just necessary for students to excel. Matthews suggests everyone maintain a bedtime schedule. Getting into a routine is what the body wants and will aid its circadian rhythm – the cycle of activity in the body. Having a time set aside to go to bed is what will allow melatonin (the hormone for sleep) to rise in the body and prepare for sleep. Disturbing this process will delay sleep and lead to an unscheduled pattern.

One of the ways the brain is tricked into postponing sleep is exposure to light in the hours prior to bedtime. The body’s rhythm hasn’t changed much since the day of the caveman. Human nature is to wake up during light hours and sleep during dark hours. Once exposure to light decreases and darkness falls is when the melatonin levels begin to rise. However, human brains have not managed to completely differentiate between light sourced from the sun, or from a backlit screen. Although this phenomenon is being studied, light has been known by sleep professionals to contribute to a delayed sleep phase.

“If you turn the light on you’re basically fooling your body into thinking it’s daylight out," said Dr. Najib Ayas, associate professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia. "The body thinks it’s daylight when it’s actually not. A lot of people can get a delayed sleep phase where the body thinks it’s still daylight out even if it’s midnight.”

Matthews said excitement paired with light is a sure-fire recipe for a sleepless night. A scary movie or playing video games late at night are two examples of what could delay sleep. This interferes with the various stages of sleep and overall quality of it.

Using products that have a backlit screen such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and iPods can be contributors to restless sleep. Some companies have developed programs for backlit screens to reduce light emissions depending on what time of the day it may be.

Sleep relies heavily on routine, but so do many other facets of healthy living. Eating at the same time each day, scheduling naps and for students, finding the perfect niche of time each day to devote to studying will help program the body and mind to a routine that will ultimately help sleep patterns and memory retention.