I’ve been sleeping too much lately. In the winter, I tend to hibernate. Three years ago, when I was still drowning in my addiction, I would stay up until 2 or 3AM drinking beer and wine. I used to be a night owl.
But now I’ve turned into an early bird. It’s rare that I even make it to 10PM.
I love sleep. Too much. This means going to bed as soon as it gets dark and sleeping 10-12 hours.
There are downsides to being an early bird. I love going out dancing, especially to the Planet Earth ‘80s New Wave party at Late Bar in Chicago. But it doesn’t really get going until midnight. The Saturday night party goes until 5AM.
But there are upsides too. I get up early and blog or work on my book before going into work at the grocery store. Depending on my schedule, I come home from work exhausted either around 2PM or 6PM. I don’t feel like doing anything – even watching TV. All I want to do is sleep. I don’t believe I am depressed, but oversleeping is a sign of depression.
It takes me at least an hour to get to sleep. I take Klonopin, which is an anti-anxiety drug that relaxes me and helps me fall asleep. If I wasn’t taking it, it would easily take me 2 hours to get to sleep.
How important is sleep to those of us with bipolar disorder?
According to the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, sleeplessness can impact our daily functioning, appetite, hormonal balance and immune system.
A 2008 study by Allison G. Harvey, Ph.D. and others that appeared in the American Journal of Psychiatry concluded that 70 percent of bipolar patients who were not depressed or manic show a “clinically significant sleep disturbance” that includes “impaired sleep efficiency, higher levels of anxiety and fear about poor sleep, lower daytime activity levels, and a tendency to misperceive sleep.”
That’s evidence that for those of us who are bipolar, getting our ZZZs is one of the most important ways to treat our disease.
When you’re manic, you might not sleep at all for days on end. Or for just a few hours a night. When you’re depressed, you might sleep as many as 15 hours a day or more, when you include naps.
The goal of sleep hygiene is uninterrupted slumber that produces two hours of dreaming, resets your body’s cells and proteins and allows you to wake up alert and refreshed, also according to the DBSA.
Alcohol – especially excessive drinking of it – hinders healthy sleep. Watching TV in bed is a big no-no as is staring at a computer screen or smartphone before going to bed.
How can you practice healthy sleep hygiene?
One study says that ingesting caffeine even six hours before bed can disrupt sleep. The National Sleep Foundation recommends refraining from drinking caffeine or smoking before bed since caffeine and nicotine are stimulants. It also recommends daily exercise, but not before sleep.
If you’re having trouble with sleep, you can find a sleep professional here. WebMD also has a list of tips on how to sleep better.
As for me, we’ll see what happens in the summer months when it gets dark later. Will I enjoy the nightlife? Will I dance all night to The Cure, New Order and Duran Duran? Once in a blue moon a late night out at Late Bar is OK, right? Let’s hope so.
What are your sleep patterns? Do you practice healthy sleep hygiene?
