To Sleep. or Not to Sleep: Riddling Out My Insomnia
I have insomnia. Not the "gee, it sure is hard to get to sleep sometimes" insomnia most people complain about. No, I have the "I've only slept four hours in the last 48 hours" kind of insomnia.
What is weird about my insomnia is that it doesn't really bother me, not the being tired aspect anyway, I've long since learned to deal with being tired. What's frustrating about not being able to sleep like a normal person is the worry that I will die at the age of 42.
But, I've done some research and I may be worrying for nothing. As it turns out, as far as science can tell, we only sleep because we get sleepy. Psychologists believe that there are two main functions of sleep: 1. memory storage 2. escape mechanism.
We all know that sleep is linked to our brains storing away what we've learned, making sure the connectors are connecting at the right places.
Sleep is also considered an escape mechanism. Life is hard. It's difficult for everyone, hard to deal with, nearly impossible to figure out. That combined with this pesky habit we humans have called "consciousness" (meaning we think too much) makes us tired. If we couldn't escape and disappear into the nothingness of sleep we would all dry up and die (emotionally, mentally and sometimes physically).
This second function of sleep really resonated with me. The other "night" (if you can call 5:30 am "night") I was lying in bed contemplating my existence and why I never sleep. I came to the conclusion that I'm impatient. I don't like the idea that I'm supposed to clock out for seven to nine hours a day so that I can get to the next day of stuff. I really don't like it. I've decided to take this to mean that I'm a better coper than others. I don't need to escape, at least not for very long.
If I could have my way, I would just skip over that part and go to class at 2 am, talk about what I just read in my textbook, wrote in my article, or learned from this or that paper. But life isn't set up for people like me, life is set up for annoying morning people who thrive on their nine hours of sleep, acting like they're better than those of us who would rather exist in the dark hours (I know this just adds to my image as a "day walker" soul-less ginger, what can a girl do?).
I have no conclusion. I guess I'll go try and sleep or something.
What is weird about my insomnia is that it doesn't really bother me, not the being tired aspect anyway, I've long since learned to deal with being tired. What's frustrating about not being able to sleep like a normal person is the worry that I will die at the age of 42.
But, I've done some research and I may be worrying for nothing. As it turns out, as far as science can tell, we only sleep because we get sleepy. Psychologists believe that there are two main functions of sleep: 1. memory storage 2. escape mechanism.
We all know that sleep is linked to our brains storing away what we've learned, making sure the connectors are connecting at the right places.
Sleep is also considered an escape mechanism. Life is hard. It's difficult for everyone, hard to deal with, nearly impossible to figure out. That combined with this pesky habit we humans have called "consciousness" (meaning we think too much) makes us tired. If we couldn't escape and disappear into the nothingness of sleep we would all dry up and die (emotionally, mentally and sometimes physically).
This second function of sleep really resonated with me. The other "night" (if you can call 5:30 am "night") I was lying in bed contemplating my existence and why I never sleep. I came to the conclusion that I'm impatient. I don't like the idea that I'm supposed to clock out for seven to nine hours a day so that I can get to the next day of stuff. I really don't like it. I've decided to take this to mean that I'm a better coper than others. I don't need to escape, at least not for very long.
If I could have my way, I would just skip over that part and go to class at 2 am, talk about what I just read in my textbook, wrote in my article, or learned from this or that paper. But life isn't set up for people like me, life is set up for annoying morning people who thrive on their nine hours of sleep, acting like they're better than those of us who would rather exist in the dark hours (I know this just adds to my image as a "day walker" soul-less ginger, what can a girl do?).
I have no conclusion. I guess I'll go try and sleep or something.
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