Count the sheep

Sleep impacts physical and mental health, yet it remains a low priority

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Understanding sleep

Normal sleep spans seven to nine hours, but varies per individual. There is no fixed hours of sleep that everyone needs rather a block of uninterrupted sleep. The key is waking up energised. You should feel that you are ready to work, able to concentrate, and do not feel drowsy or have headaches. Sleep occurs in two phases: non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM), which is further divided into three stages, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

Stage three of NREM is the deepest level of sleep. Those who do not reach this level will not feel refreshed when they wake up.

When to seek medical help

Persistent sleep difficulties—trouble falling asleep, waking up frequently and unable to go back to sleep again, feeling exhausted despite having slept, experiencing headaches, or having trouble concentrating—require medical attention. Excessive sleepiness is also not right. People who have narcolepsy unknowingly fall asleep. This results in the loss of muscle tone. Shift workers often struggle with problems because of disrupted sleep patterns. If you have done all that you can to address these problems, it is time to see a sleep specialist, pulmonologist or neurologist, depending on your problem.

Major problems

Insomnia: This is lack of sleep, which could be brought out by reasons such as stress, underlying disease, work pressure, long working hours, excessive screen time, and lifestyle issues like lack of exercise, irregular food habits, and excessive consumption of caffeine, tea or alcohol. Consult a doctor if you have been suffering from insomnia for six months.

Parasomnia: The term refers to a range of problems: abnormal movements and talking while asleep, sleepwalking and hurting yourself or your partner while asleep.