WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — There are no sheep keeping Mari A. company at bedtime. Rather, she counts thoughts of layoffs, mortgage payments and plummeting stocks. Her insomnia started in November, when the economy hit a critical low.
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Restless, she manages to fall asleep but wakes up in the middle of the night. Instead of lying in the dark, she gets up and reads the newspaper or watches television as a retreat.
"It’s difficult,” says the Oakland, Calif., resident, who wished not to disclose her last name to protect her job stability. She hasn’t seen a doctor because she says she knows what her problem is. "These issues are a big part of my life, so I just try to stay positive.”
According to the National Sleep Foundation’s latest Sleep in America Poll, about two-thirds of adults experience trouble sleeping at least one night a week; about one-half report sleep problems almost every night. And that research was culled before the recession was official.
As the economy worsens, those numbers will likely increase, according to sleep medicine experts. For starters, those at Stanford and the University of California-San Francisco report waiting lists of up to two months. While that’s not entirely unusual, they are hearing complaints from existing patients that the economic crisis is exacerbating sleep problems or causing their insomnia to resurface.
Most patients have an inability to fall asleep or stay asleep, says Christine Won, associate director of the Sleep Disorders Center at UCSF Medical Center. "They complain about a lot of anxiety, mind racing and an inability to relax and unwind,” Won says. "I can only assume that the more our economy is in turmoil, the bigger toll it will take on our sleep.” Research has yet to prove why we need sleep. Some studies suggest a purging of chemicals; that the body somehow resets itself overnight in slumber mode, Won said. But we know that a lack of sleep results in a lower immunity, cognition and emotional health. And fragmented sleep has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Prolonged insomnia can lead to or increase chances of anxiety, depression and other mood disorders.
When a patient comes to see Won, the physician first rules out underlying diseases that may contribute to sleep problems. After that, if she determines that the issue is due to acute stress, Won starts the patient on a regimen of good sleep hygiene, which can include everything from avoiding caffeine to hitting the sheets at the same time every night.
She also tries to undo poor sleeping habits. For instance, fragmented sleepers should not look at the clock every time they wake up because, over time, they may be training their bodies to wake up. Also, Won condones relaxation exercises — yoga, imagery, biofeedback and breathing techniques — an hour before bedtime.
All of these lifestyle changes can take up to six weeks to prove effective, but they work for about 70 percent of patients, Won says.
Those who don’t experience relief typically spend a night at the clinic, where their sleep is monitored for evidence of disorders such as sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome. If none is present, Won diagnoses the person with psychophysiological insomnia and prescribes hypnotics, or sleeping pills. A small number of chronic insomniacs require sleep deprivation therapy, or, what Won calls "boot camp for insomniacs.”
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services
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Nope, I sleep like a baby. Took nearly everything out of the market in late 2007 after reading a paper from the ECB (European Central Bank) that laid out the CDO (ponzi) scheme and drew conclusions on 10-14 Trillion dollars of bad debt at that time. We now find out it's more like 30-40 Trillion. I'm just astonished at the lies that get told about how housing is to blame.
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