Dr. James B. Maas, in his book "Power Sleep", explained his theory that our brains are like a "Sleep Bank". The quantity as well as the quality of sleep is very important for our health. Now this Sleep Account is accumulative. Every hour your sleep is like depositing a dollar--let's call it a Sleep Dollar. However, every two hours you are awake, your Sleep bank account loses one Sleep Dollar. Why two instead of one? Research suggests that, for the average person, eight hours of sleep is needed to cancel out the debt you incur when you are awake sixteen hours in a day.
Now I know not everyone needs eight hours of sleep. Some need as few as five or as much as ten hours to balance out the loss incurred by sixteen hours of being awake. I average about seven hours before my back begins to complain. Then again, the amount of sleep you need can change according to your age. Infants and teenagers seem to need more sleep then adults.
There, after any twenty-four hour period, your Sleep Bank account should be 0--that's right zero! However, it never seems to work out that way. Few people are consistent in getting the right amount of sleep to counterbalance the number of hours awake. Many different things can stop you from balancing your sleep account, such as partying late all night, getting intoxicated, working late hours, not practicing good sleep habits and not to mention a host of sleep disorders. It is hard enough for the average person to get the right amount. It is even harder for those of us who suffer from some sort of sleep disorder.
With my severe obstructive sleep apnea and periodic limb movement, not to mention my wild youth, dormant alcoholism (Thank God!) and working shift work for many years, my Sleep Bank account is way, way, WAY in the RED! It is unlikely I will ever balance my Sleep Bank account again. But that does not stop me from trying!
You also can start to rebalance your Sleep Bank account. You just need to make sure that you get enough sleep each night. How do you do that? Well, you have to find out how far in the red your account is. First step is to take a good look at how many hours of good sleep you actually get and then determine what your average numbers of hours are that you do sleep. Remember I told you about keeping a Sleep Diary? Check out my article at http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/slee...
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