THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011
PAGE 15
HEALTH
1.24
Trouble sleeping? You're not alone.
BY BRITTANY NELSON
bnelson@kansan.com
It's 2 a.m. on a Tuesday night, and Katie Meserko, a senior from Overland Park, is wide awake. She knows she has to teach Math 101 at 8 a.m., but she said she doesn't even try to go to sleep because she knows she won't be able to.
When she finally decides to snooze, Meserko said she cannot go to sleep without the TV flickering in the dark room.
"I will not fall asleep unless I'm somewhat focused on something in the background," Meserko said. "Otherwise, I constantly think in my head things I have to do or need to do, or get creative ideas."
According to the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Research, at least 40 million adults suffer from chronic, long-term sleep problems and 20 to 30 million suffer from occasional sleep problems. So, like many other adults, Meserko needs help getting to sleep.
Anne Owen, Lawrence psychologist, said that people need some kind of bedtime routine to go to sleep.
"Doing something that's not compelling or interesting can help shift you from thinking about your problems or worries of the day, and you will be more likely to fall asleep," Owen said. "Most people find that playing video games or surfing the web are activating, so reading quietly might be a better choice."
If every time you go to bed and feel anxious, even if you are tired, you will not fall asleep, she said.
Joe Sayegh, a graduate from Stillwell, said he has to have some sort of distraction to fall asleep, such as having the TV on or playing a game on his cell phone.
"Usually, I'm not tired enough to fall asleep by the time I want to," Sayegh said. "I'm too bored to sit there and I usually think about my busy day or random things. Watching TV gets my mind off things."
But Sayegh said if his girlfriend is with him, he doesn't need something else to distract him.
"If someone is there, I usually fall asleep fine," Sayegh said.
Owen said that if people don't have a serious sleep problem and falling asleep to a TV works for them, she sees nothing wrong with it. However, she said there are better wavs to prepare yourself for sleep.
"Mindfulness meditation is a good technique to help ease your mind for better sleeping." Owen said.
According to the medical dictionary, mindfulness meditation is defined as, "a technique of meditation in which distracting thoughts and feelings are not ignored but are rather acknowledged and observed nonjudgmentally as they arise to create a detachment from the and gain insight and awareness."
Keith Floyd, a psychologist at Counseling and Psychological Services, said that the more people get frustrated that they are not asleep, the more their insomnia will worsen.
"Instead of getting angry that you're awake at 3 a.m. and have to get up in two hours, mindfulness
meditation makes you think in a different way to where you accept your current situation," Floyd said. "Therefore you will not have anxiety, which leads to falling asleep faster."
There are also many things people should avoid before hitting the sheets. Owen said that our body temperature decreases throughout the night, and this drop in temperature supports the body's sleep system.
"It's bad to exercise late at night because it raises your core body temperature," Owen said. "If you are hot inside or outside of your body, you will not fall asleep."
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Reading a book is a bedtime routine that sleep experts recommend.