the psychology of sleep

TL;DR

• The importance of sleep for both physical and mental health, highlighting the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation, including impaired cognitive function, increased risk of health disorders, and reduced emotional resilience.
  
• Circadian rhythms explained and how modern technology disrupts them, leading to widespread insomnia. It provides actionable advice from sleep experts, such as maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, creating a relaxing bedtime routine, and optimizing the sleep environment to improve sleep quality.
  
• How natural elements of the environment provided soothing solutions during their sleepless nights, illustrating how a positive mindset and finding joy in unexpected moments can help cope with challenges.
  
  

There was a time when I would lie awake for hours in the middle of the night—a bona fide case of insomnia, caused by many factors. However, once I understood the physiology behind it, it didn’t bother me as much. I always feel calmer when I understand a process and its causes.  An effective technique for managing anxiety is leaning into the issue, and it works well for me.  So I committed myself to rolling with it and figuring it out. 

It became an exploration of human psychology and physiology—a couple of my favorite subjects. I figured that if I became tired enough, my body would eventually succumb to sleep. So I decided to make the best of it. Sometimes I’d get up and clean. For some reason, this made me feel as though I was also tidying my own psyche. More often than not this would lull me into the restful state I craved, my obsessions swept away with a dust rag and a mop.

Effects of Sleep Deprivation

What I didn’t realize was how the lack of sleep was affecting my mental and physical health. Years later, after facing a health crisis, I learned that neglecting a healthy sleep routine could have devastating consequences. Every individual has unique physiological needs. We all have different sleep requirements, but at the end of the day, our bodies and minds require rest to repair and rejuvenate.  If you disregard this necessity, and escape health challenges, consider yourself lucky.

One extraordinary case is that of Thai Ngoc, a Vietnamese man who has reportedly not slept since the 1970s following a severe fever. 

Some have speculated that his condition stems from trauma following the Vietnam War. However, no medical explanation has been confirmed. Despite his insomnia, he continues to live a simple but active life on the family farm. His story remains largely anecdotal—but it shows the variability of a body’s response to sleep deprivation.

My personal sleep deprivation impacted my ability to create. I’ve loved art as a mode of personal expression and exploration since childhood. I noticed that when I was tired, it was hard and sometimes impossible to come up with solutions or problem-solve. My inclination was to toss the problem aside for future rumination and strategic planning. In doing so, I sacrificed the joy and sense of well-being that the process of creating brought to my soul.  

The Physiology of Sleep

Researchers from Harvard and MIT have studied a state called hypnagogia—a brief period between wakefulness and falling asleep. During the brief period of hypnagogia, the brain is able to come up with creative solutions to more difficult problems. (MIT News, 2023).  Some researchers even suggest that deliberately tapping into this state—such as through brief naps or focused wind-downs—could help unlock creative breakthroughs.

Experts have studied human sleep, its patterns, and its effects on physiology and psychological well-being for decades.  Some key findings are:

• Sleep is necessary for memory consolidation. 
• Sleep deprivation impairs cognitive function, and increases the risk of mental health disorders. 

• Insufficient sleep is linked to numerous health issues including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and a reduced lifespan. 
• A lack of sleep increases vulnerability to stress, anxiety and depression, whereas quality sleep enhances emotional resilience.  
• For optimal sleep quality, we must align our sleep with our circadian rhythms. 

Circadian rhythms—natural human cycles influenced by sunlight and governed by the brain’s internal clock—regulate our sleep-wake patterns over a 24 hour period. Unfortunately, modern technology such as blue light from screens and artificial lighting, disrupts these rhythms, making insomnia a widespread issue today. 

Understanding and adapting to your unique circadian rhythm can significantly improve sleep quality.  While the ideal number of hours of sleep has been debated-–some swear by only five or six while others need nine or ten—research now suggests that the quality of sleep is just as important as quantity.  Achieving quality sleep means falling asleep at a consistent time, staying asleep, and then waking up naturally without an alarm. 

What Causes Insomnia?

So, what are the physical causes of insomnia? It’s a long list that includes both mental and physical origins. Some of these causes are diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and mental illness. A lack of sleep is a hallmark sign that underlying conditions may be surfacing and a check up is in order to discover the problem and start down the road to recovery. If sleep is restored, the patient will begin healing in earnest and hopefully reach a better outcome. 

Steps To Improve Sleep Quality

Dr. Charles A. Czeisler, a Harvard professor and leading sleep expert, recommends the following practices to allow your body to align with your circadian rhythms and improve sleep:

• Turn off all technology 30 minutes before sleep.
• Keep your bedroom cool.
• Avoid heavy meals before sleeping.
• Eliminate caffeine or stimulants close to bedtime. 
• Establish a relaxing bedtime routine.
• Keep naps short and avoid them close to bedtime. 
• Remove sleep-stealers from your bedroom, such as pets and electronics.

I incorporated these practices into my self-care routine and the results were life-changing. Once I was well-rested, my focus, endurance, and overall joy returned. Everyday experiences felt more vivid, and the everyday gifts of existence felt enhanced.  

That said, not every sleep expert recommendation works for everyone. Contrary to Czeisler’s findings, many pet-lovers swear they sleep better with their animals beside them. They cite the warmth, comfort and emotional support that a warm furry body provides. Cat-lovers, in particular, often describe the quiet companionship of their feline “guardians” watching over them at night. 

Cats also played a role in sleep studies. In 1958, Stanford Scientist William Charles Dement identified REM sleep while studying cats. Around the same time, French physiologist Michel Jouvet came up with the term paradoxical sleep after observing that cats in deep sleep sometimes displayed behaviors typical of an awake cat. For more on how our cats sleep, check out this Fear Free Happy Homes article. 

Taking an even deeper dive into paradoxical sleep, there is also Paradoxical Insomnia. In this rare condition, a person is actually sleeping but believes they are awake. People with paradoxical insomnia often report vivid dreams, experiencing them as awake, as if they never slept. Anxiety is a major contributor and accounts of paradoxical insomnia proliferate the internet. The good news is paradoxical insomnia is treatable with behavioral therapy and, in some cases, medication. 

Dream Incubation

Once I was able to sleep again, I explored a process known as dream incubation. In dream incubation I would think about a problem that I wanted to solve just before sleeping. I would think about strategies and formulate and plan different solutions, then sleep on it.  Often, the answers came to me in my dreams.  Throughout history, many people have credited their dreams with breakthroughs in art and science:

• Song Writer Paul McCartney of the Beatles

• Scientist Kekule who discovered the Benzene molecule

• Inventor Elias Howe, who invented the sewing machine 

• Author, Mary Shelley, who dreamed of Frankenstein and was inspired to write the novel 
  
  
  

The Royal Road To The Unconscious

Sigmund Freud, a psychiatrist, researcher and  prolific writer called dreams “the royal road to the unconscious”. He believed that dreams are a window into the unconscious mind, offering symbolic expressions of our deepest desires and anxieties. 

Building upon Freud’s findings, Carl Jung explored the concept of the collective unconscious‘—a set of archetypes that ultimately helped humans make decisions and plans for how to live out their lives.  The main archetypes are: the Innocent, Everyman, the Hero, the Outlaw, the Explorer, the Creator, the Ruler, the Magician, the Lover, the Caregiver, the Jester, and the Sage. Jung believed that the archetypes emerged in dreams to influence the development of human personalities.  Both Freud and Jung emphasized the psychological significance of dreams—not only as a tool for understanding of self, but for accessing the hidden parts of ourselves.

The Mockingbird’s Gift

Despite my struggles with insomnia, I never viewed it as a negative experience. I’m not sure why, but I attribute this most likely to a unique way of looking at life. Having experienced extensive challenges throughout life, I learned to adapt to crises with a positive mindset. One of the most memorable aspects of my sleepless nights was the presence of a mockingbird that took up residence in a tree outside my window. 

Every night, at about midnight, he would begin his song, continuing until around 4 am.  At first, I didn’t realize it was the same bird—-mockingbirds imitate other birds and rarely repeat a song in the same sequence. His repertoire was amazing, an endless variety of birdsong, delivered in a voice that was loud and strong. My neighbors, unfortunately, did not share my appreciation and often complained about their lost sleep.

The mockingbird made being awake in the middle of the night enjoyable. I would lie back and listen to the endless concert, contemplating the mysteries of the world. As spring progressed, his song became louder and more refined. I pictured him with a puffed-up chest, beak raised to the sky, his song soaring into the night air, reaching for the stars. He was confident, persistent, and talented—a true opera star of the night. 

The nocturnal serenade continued for at least a month. Then one night, the air fell silent. The music that had provided entertainment throughout my wakeful hours was gone. My neighbors were relieved but I was disappointed. My ears seemed to ring with the silence that had once been filled with music. 

The following spring, another young mockingbird appeared, but his song lacked the confidence and boldness of his predecessor. The year following that, there was no return at all. Over time, I forgot about the bird.  My insomnia faded and life settled into a normal routine. But every now and then, the memory of that talented mockingbird returns and I remember those wakeful hours we spent together. The Mockingbird, joyfully entertaining the neighborhood, and me, enjoying a concert when I needed it the most.