“Ah-h-h-h…To
Sleep, Perchance To Dream!”
Part
I of IV:
What
do we mean by, ‘Sleep’; and how shall we define it?
10/29/12
To my very, very dear, and wonderful friends, and
ever-constant, loyal readers,
Sleep.
S-l-e-e-p—a word possibly derived from, ‘Middle or Old’, English, with
its almost harsh consonantal sound—nevertheless, can still lull when the sound
is drawn out, and even further out.
S----L----E----E----P----when intoned—thusly—mimics
the glottal sound of air expressed as would an exhalation, as part of a
natural, physical rhythm.
The word has a slow, hypnotic, beckoning sound; a
gentle admonition. Soft as a prayer. As
light as a billowy cloud. As melodious as a stream.
In fact, much
more, ‘relaxing’, than is the word, ‘awake’, with its sharp and abbreviated,
‘chopping’, sound. Sound it out yourself; listen to the distinction: ‘A-WAKE!’.
Bam. BOOM! “Get UP this INSTANT!!!.”
Sleep is an integral part of Life, such as is
breathing, or eating.
In the, ‘normal’,
scheme of things, sleep occupies a full third of one’s life; we spend YEARS—in
total—sleeping (or, trying to sleep!)
And while everyone has—perhaps—been made
overly-aware of the traditional, ‘phases’. Of sleep, that include, ‘Alpha’,
‘Beta’, ‘R.E.M’, ‘Delta’, and maybe, ‘Theta’, as they refer to the different
levels of sleep, and sleep consciousness, I would like—for the purposes of this
topic—to offer a more simplified, though no less subjective categorizing of,
‘sleep states’, from, ’normal’, to that which is affected by illness,
psychological aberrations, pain, etc., which will be referred to when needed
for comparison.
Thus—for our purposes—basic, ‘sleep’, can be
illustrated from, ‘beginning’, until that time, ‘just prior, ’to wakefulness.
And so, our, ‘sleep’ chart might look something like
this:
1)
Drowsiness # I. The individual begins to blink more often, in
an effort to clarify vision. Yawns
appear more frequently. If reading, certain
words must be re-read for understanding, and continuity. The body just begins to want to, ‘settle
down’.
2)
Drowsiness # 2. The eyes begin to , ‘grow heavy’, until
keeping them open and focused becomes a concerted chore. Whole paragraphs now have to be read, in
order to carry over meaning; it is often—during this time—where one might even
flip-through the book to see just how many pages remain until the end.
Fully-extended yawns become more prevalent; and natural respirations
lengthen. Here, the body may be
perceived as being, ‘too warm’, or not, ‘warm enough’. Movement slows. And an almost painful
lethargy floods the body. Only severe protestations (or, immediate bathroom
calls!), will serve to rouse one from, say the sofa, to retire—instead—to the
bed. This silent lethargy continues, until one has kicked-off one’s slippers,
and has, ‘slid’, into bed, between always cool--and hopefully
comfortable—clean, dry sheets, and/or blankets.
3)
Sleep #1. The eyes have been closed, and
a comfortable position for the body has been found. On average, it should require no more than
ten to twenty minutes to fall asleep before conscious thoughts begin to
intrude. Sleep—then—describes a sort of,
‘U-shaped’ curve. As the body falls
deeper and deeper into sleep, more and more, ‘voluntary’, functions of brain
give ‘way to more, ’involuntary’, functions, such as respiration, heartbeat,
digestive processes; gradually such concepts as hunger are damped down.
The body’s core
temperature begins to drop. Respirations become their longest and slowest.
It is—perhaps—during
this phase that the body begins a self-assessment of need, and begins—as may be
able—to repair itself.
The hormone Serotonin
floods the system, ‘paralyzing’, the muscles, so as to prevent harm or injury
to self (or others), by, ‘acting out’, dreams.
4)
At various times lasting from maybe twenty
seconds, to ninety seconds—especially during the first phase of sleep—the
closed eyelids of the sleeper can be observed twitching and blinking; this
phenomena is known as, ‘rapid eye movement’, or, ‘R,E,M,’, during which time it
is thought that the sleeping individual experiences dreams.
Dreams—of course—come
in all varieties, shapes, subjects, ‘good’, ‘funny’, ‘repetitive’, or take the
form of, ‘nightmare’.
It is widely thought that the
dream-images—themselves—are a kind of telegraphed information of the subconscious
part of the brain to the conscious part, that attempt to resolve, ‘waking’,
conflict, anxieties, worries, or to problem solve, finding sometime cryptic
answers that—when deciphered properly—assist in the healthy reintegration of
the, ‘Id’, the, ‘Ego’, and the, ‘super-Ego’, in the predominance of Self among
Self, and of Self, in regard to others.
And while these, ‘dream
states’, actually represent only a very small part of the entire, ‘sleep
experience’, ‘dreams’, often seem to last for hours, and hours…days, and years,
‘lifetimes’, even.
Please recall—for a
moment—the bottom of the curve representing the lowest part, or, the,
‘bottoming-out’, of this first phase of sleep.
Heartbeats slow, as do respirations, and there is a pronounced drop in
the body’s core temperature by as much as a degree and-a-half.
It is this time, from
about 4:30 a.m. to perhaps, 6:00 a.m., that in nursing homes, more patients die
from, ‘natural causes’, than at any other time of either night, or day.
I have personally seen
this happen; we once had a very, elderly woman who was clearly hours from
death.
But because the on-duty
C.N.A. did not want to have to bother with the paperwork needed, or to have to,
‘wash, and prepare’, the body for the funeral home, she kept mildly,
‘irritating’, the patient, with more frequent turning, and positioning,
grasping the patient’s hands, speaking loudly to her, moving the
head—frequently—to change, and, ‘plump-up’, pillows.
To me, the C.N.A. said,
“Now watch…in doing this, I can probably keep her alive until the next shift
takes over. And then, it’ll be ‘their’
problem.”
This went on for better
than two-and-a-half hours…and…it worked.
The poor woman expired probably no more than twenty minutes into the day
shift!
5)
Sleep # 2. Just as the mind and body—in falling
asleep—described a downward curve until the very deepest sleep is found, so
must the body and mind follow an upward curve, from that of sound sleep to
eventual wakefulness.
As sleep become lighter
and lighter, the individual becomes more easily roused (for the most part!),
and can thus attend to things such as an alarm clock, a street noise, or the
sound of a kettle (or the aroma!) boiling to make blessed coffee.
Thus the individual—having had time-enough to,
‘sleep’, in an environment conducive to sleep, and of a, ‘depth’, of sleep
sufficient for bodily restoration—can awake, and arise refreshed, better able
to cope with the stresses of everyday life, to plan, and to problem solve in
areas that might otherwise cause frustration, or anger.
To be, ‘clear-headed-enough’, to learn from past
mistakes, to make appropriate judgment calls, and—with greater effectiveness—be
able to interact, socially, with family members, friends, co-workers, and
employers, to name just a few.
And, to enjoy better
health, in general, with more energy at his or her disposal to survive and even
to prosper in this busy, distracted, uncertain, and quite unpredictable world
as we know it. And to better, and with
greater facility, enjoy life!
Thus, we arrive at the end of, Part I, after having
defined—for purposes of this entry—the different phases of, ‘sleep’, in
particular, ‘good sleep’, in order to—perhaps—better explain that which we all
need, but seldom get.
Part II will consist—in part—of that which all too
often takes away from, and prohibits the natural desire to sleep, and of the
initial conflicts—both in nature, and in, ‘need’, that lead us astray from the
actualization of, ‘good, solid, and restorative’, sleep.
Part III will attempt to address some of the
physical, mental, and pain-responsive conditions that limit or ruin various
phases—where indicated—of sleep, as put forth in Part I, and how, subsequently,
overall health is affected.
Part IV will conclude this particular series on, ‘sleep’,
by the acknowledgement of problem areas, and hopeful suggestions that may prove
to be of some help.
In trying to address such an enormously varied topic
such as, ‘sleep’, and of any examination of quite individualistic-specific, ‘causes
and effects’, and any subsequent, proposed, ‘answers’, the scope of such an enterprise—within a
diary-type forum—may well prove to be an impossible failure, especially as I
tend to run overlong anyway!
And so, my precious friends, and caring, gentle
readers, I most kindly ask for your comments and suggestions for necessary
corrections, as well as for my own edification!
Please, please do make comments, below. I cannot know your reactions, and true
feelings without them.
And I remain ever so grateful to you for taking your
time to both read, and make comments to my diary entries!
Please do know that I think of you so very, very
often, and that I write to you, and, ‘for you’, more than I write for myself.
I so want you to be safe, secure, to not know want
or despair, and to be well, with all the genuine happiness your kind hearts can
hold!
And…please,
please always know that I love you dearly!
‘Zahc’/Charles
