Sleep Report

Sleep Report

Being after the winter break, on weekdays together with the children, we have to go to bed early because we have to wake up early for school. Hence, from Monday to Friday, the family has to be in bed by ten because we have to be up at five in the morning. On average, during weekdays, I sleep for at least 6-8 hours. On weekends I have to wake up to prepare breakfast for my husband, but I usually go back to sleep; hence I have some few extra hours for sleeping. On weekends, we usually go to beds early unless on special occasions where we stay out late. On average, I sleep 8-10 hours since there is no school. Sometimes I sleep in on weekends. Especially after the surgery since I need a lot of bed rest to recover from the surgical procedures. It was especially tough after the second surgery procedure.

Sometimes I wake up during the night to use the restroom. The children all old enough to go to school by themselves and none wakes me unless it is an emergency so not woken up at night often. After undergoing surgery, especially, I had to stay in bed most of the times while recovering. Sometimes I end up falling asleep for short periods and other times watching reruns. On the 14^th of February, I was admitted to the hospital, which interrupted my nighttime sleep. I had to sleep at the hospital despite it being Valentine’s Day.

For school days, it is a routine for us as a family. Some days I have to wake up to carry out cleaning and the cooking. For most weekdays, however, the method is the same and has become a norm upon which we have adopted for us all. On Saturday mornings, I usually wake up feeling disorganized. Other mornings, I wake up feeling overstretched and as such, make myself a cup of coffee before getting on with my daily routine. My sleep patterns are heavily influenced by my previous day’s night. Some days I wake up feeling like I have a lot to do to get going during the day. On January 15^th, I wake up feeling miserable and in a lot of pain. I have to plan for my surgery. The next day on Thursday, I wake up still feeling unwell, and it is a concern so I decided I might have to go to see my doctor. On Friday, however, I wake up feeling a little better, but due to the new concerns I have about my health, I decided to call my surgeon instead. On 31^st January, two days before the first surgical procedure, I woke up feeling anxious. However, I carry on with my routine cleaning and packing my bag

On first February, I woke up feeling excited as I will be driving over to my parents’ house as it is closer to the hospital. I am also anxious because I will have to get admitted to the hospital for the surgery. On Sunday, the next day, I wake up all nervous and feeling a bit sick in the stomach, probably from the anxiety since the surgery is due that day. After the surgery, on 3^rd February, I wake up feeling confused and in a lot of pain. Over the next few days, I wake up feeling better every day. On 6^th February, woke up feeling miserable and in a lot of pain. The first thoughts are that I should get back to the emergency room. On 14^th February, I am admitted again at the hospital for the second surgical procedure and is successful. The next day I wake up feeling happy since I am back at home with my family. In the days after, during March, I wake up feeling energized and getting better.

The previous’ days activities determine my sleeping habits. On instances I have had a typical day, I usually wake up feeling well-rested, and on such days I begin my daily routine on a high note. On the days, I have stayed out late; I tend to wake up feeling tired. On 29^th February, I stayed out till with my hubby as we had gone out for a date night, the next morning I woke up feeling quite tired wishing for the kids not to wake me up. Being a Saturday, I also wanted to sleep in on the weekend. For me to be able to carry out my normal daily activities, sleeping enough is mandatory. Failure to observe my healthy sleeping habits translating to a tiresome morning the next day and feeling tiresome.

I have some non-dream nights, some nights I dream, but I cannot recall, and also there are days when the dreams are so vivid that I can remember them. Sometimes, the dreams connect to the things going on in my life. If for instance, I am anxious about something, I experience bizarre dreams. One of the vivid dreams I recall was during the night of 14^th January. I dreamt that my husband and I had received a call from my step-son’s school. Upon arrival, they take my husband to a private room to speak with him in confidential. He returned after a while and seemed shaken though he was trying to maintain his composure. I somehow overheard their discussion and thus, could make a few conclusions and from what I gathered from one of the school workers is that my step-son had some altercation with another child and pushed the child injuring him in hand and would only be alive for only 24 hours. Looking at my step-son, however, seemed as happy as always. We continued with our stay at the school all this while, my husband was becoming a wreck and watching the other family was slowly killing him.

I also vividly recall another dream I had involving my son and I on 18^th January. It was a bizarre dream and was probably as a result of the anxiety because I was having concerns about my health. I dreamt that I had visited a waterpark in South America with my son. This waterpark had a large area inhabited by water and snakes were all around us swimming with us. The snakes through poisonous went about their businesses not attacking anyone. Though I was afraid of the snakes, I had to follow my son into the water. Suddenly, the scene changed to some type of an old theatre show. We sat at the solid pews, but there was no performance. Turning around to see the audience, I met with a familiar face; a girl who I went to kindergarten with. When I spoke to her, she told me that she had been sentenced to jail for three months for something she had been alleged to have committed. I comforted her telling her that she would be okay. My alarm woke me up.

I recall while I was still recovering from the surgery, I had a dream lying on my bed. Looking across the living room, I see my step-son on his computer. Next thing, I see a man with his shirt off, and so my husband and I leave the bed and walk towards the man. The man was a stranger in our house and was wearing a blue IHOP apron and was carrying out cleaning around the house. As we approach him, he stretches out his hand for money, and my husband hands him $6.00. Getting to the kitchen, we meet an old friend from high school days, Rich together with an unknown male. I see an assortment of raw meat in the kitchen drawers. I begin to wash dishes, but one side of the sink would not drain. The unknown male approaches me and says “Well Tiff it is Saturday, you know what that means.” It meant that I had to leave; hence I quit washing the dishes and leave. As I walk away, the unknown male slapped my butt, and when I tried to protest, he said to me what you are going to do about it. Then my alarm woke me up.

Psychologists help patients with insomnia (Feige et al., 2018). Insomnia is as a result of developing a sleeping pattern behaviour that affects good sleeping habits. Difficulties in sleeping are often as a result of stress, depression or anxiety. If you experience sleeping problems, it is recommended that one visits a psychologist. Psychologist aid in talking about your overall physical and emotional health and thus, help in identifying any underlying health or psychological causes of stress that may be causing the sleeping difficulties. Psychologists advise an individual to avoid caffeine, especially hours before sleeping, to be active during the day as well as creating a comfortable environment around the area of sleeping. Besides, it is advisable to avoid long naps during the day.

I decide to embrace some of the measures to aid in my sleeping habits. I ensure I am active during the day and because of my health condition, I usually take a walk around the neighbourhood. Sometimes I join my husband during the mornings as he goes for his regular jogging. During the weekends, we all go out for hikes. I also avoid taking coffee in the evening, especially hours before sleeping.

Sleep is of importance, especially to adolescents and generally for the well-being of all individuals (Clinkinbeard et al., 2010). Sleep is crucial to the development of effective cognitive functioning and in regulating emotions.  Sleep duration will vary depending on the lifespan and has been shown to relate with age inversely. Sleep durations are crucial to aid in surveillance as well as in assisting in formulating intervention policies that seek to emphasize on healthy sleep behaviour. The amount of sleep is dependent on genetic factors as well as the prevailing social, physical and economic status of an individual as they determine to a great extent how healthy a person is (I McFarlane, 2018).

Epidemiological studies have shown that there is a significant relationship between the rate at which individuals contract diseases such as Diabetes, Hypertension and habitual sleep habits (Theorell-Haglöw et al., 2010). The studies have been supported by the finding that short sleeping duration produces short metabolic by reducing glucose intake and causing increased appetite. Sleep duration is thus, considered a risk factor for chronic diseases, especially in people with pre-existing conditions. Sleep resistance and waking up at night are common sleep challenges. These challenges lead to difficulties in cognitive functioning. Sleep challenges suggest sleep loss or poor sleep habits. Behavioural sleep problems are common, especially during childhood (Turnbull et al., 2013). They result in short durations of sleep, and most cases may lead to chronic sleep disorders that may affect the development of children. Children may refuse to go to bed for several reasons. Among the reasons could include not feeling tired, fear of sleeping alone of other concerns alluded to nightmares. Also, if a child is resisting to go to sleep, it may result in shorter durations of rest.  Night waking occurs when a child wakes up and is unable to go back to sleep.

An individual’s behaviour during the day and hours before bedtime can impact one’s sleep patterns, either positively promoting a healthy sleeping habit or negatively by causing sleeping problems. Drinking caffeine hours before sleeping, for instance, can lead to sleeplessness. The quality of sleeping is directly affected by what the individual eat, drink, the medications one takes as well as the routine one observes before going to sleep. To understand how sleep habits affect your sleep, it is advisable to keep track of your sleep patterns by recording daily entries into your diary.

Good sleeping habits promotes optimal health and have effects on the hormonal levels, a person’s moods as well as their weight. Snoring, sleep apnea, insomnia, restless sleep and sleep deprivation are common sleep problems (Rosen et al., 2019). In sleep apnea, an individual experiences regular breathing difficulties translating to disruption of sleep. Insomnia, on the other hand, refers to difficulties in sleeping; hence, stays awake (Palagini et al., 2016). Other sleep problems, including hypersomnia which means that the affected individual has trouble staying awake during the day.

References

Clinkinbeard, S. S., Simi, P., Evans, M. K., & Anderson, A. L. (2010). Sleep and Delinquency: Does the Amount of Sleep Matter? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40(7), 916-930. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9594-6

Feige, B., Nanovska, S., Baglioni, C., Bier, B., Cabrera, L., Diemers, S., Quellmalz, M., Siegel, M., Xeni, I., Szentkiralyi, A., Doerr, J., & Riemann, D. (2018). Insomnia—perchance a dream? Results from a NREM/REM sleep awakening study in good sleepers and patients with insomnia. Sleep, 41(5). https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsy032

I McFarlane, S. (2018). Sleep health disparity: the putative role of race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Sleep Medicine and Disorders: International Journal, 2(5). https://doi.org/10.15406/smdij.2018.02.00057

Palagini, L., Bruno, R. M., Cheng, P., Mauri, M., Taddei, S., Ghiadoni, L., Drake, C. L., & Morin, C. M. (2016). Relationship between insomnia symptoms, perceived stress and coping strategies in subjects with arterial hypertension: psychological factors may play a modulating role. Sleep Medicine, 19, 108-115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2015.09.026

Rosen, D. M., Kundel, V., Rueschman, M., Kaplan, R., Guo, N., Wilson, J. G., Min, Y., Redline, S., & Shah, N. (2019). Self-reported snoring and incident cardiovascular disease events: results from the Jackson Heart Study. Sleep and Breathing, 23(3), 777-784. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-018-01776-1

Theorell-Haglöw, J., Berne, C., Janson, C., Sahlin, C., & Lindberg, E. (2010). Associations between Short Sleep Duration and Central Obesity in Women. Sleep, 33(5), 601-610. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/33.5.593

Turnbull, K., Reid, G. J., & Morton, J. B. (2013). Behavioral Sleep Problems and their Potential Impact on Developing Executive Function in Children. Sleep, 36(7), 1077-1084. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.2814