Who needs sleep? Tell me what's that for

[venta]

I mentioned in passing a couple of days ago that I had a very poor night's sleep one day last week. I was stopping at a friend's house, and I retired to bed in a sleeping bag on an air mattress.

It was a pretty comfy air mattress, and I settled down... and didn't go to sleep. I continued to not-go-to-sleep more or less until it was time to get up again.

This happens to me very occasionally, and usually only for a section of the night. I've never described it as insomnia; from what other people tell me, insomnia is unpleasant. I always think of it as asomnia - an absence of, or indifference to, sleep[*]. I don't toss and turn, I don't worry about things, I'm not unhappy about my lack of sleep. I'm warm, comfortable, relaxed and quite happy. I'm just... not asleep. I'd liken it more to the relaxing feeling of waking up at a weekend and knowing you don't have to get up yet.

The day after I was a little tired - and very ready for my bed by the time I got there at about 11pm - but otherwise fine. If I actually get very little sleep of a night, I feel absolutely rubbish the next day. When organising a rapper bash a year or two ago I was up doing things until half past four, slept badly, and got up at half six to help with breakfast. I spent the whole of the following day feeling very queasy, and very grumpy. I think I had to have a little lie-down mid-afternoon.

And so, I'm curious... does having been in bed, resting, mean I'm fit to tackle the next day? Or is it that, in between lying awake, I fitted in some decent chunks of sleep I didn't notice? Or even that when I believed I was awake, I was in fact asleep... Wikipedia has quite an interesting page on Sleep state misperception.

How do insomniacs feel about being awake in the night? I've always understood it to be an unpleasant state, but is that "just" because of the worry that you need to be asleep in order to tackle the next day?

I assume that if - say - someone was unable to sleep because of pain, that wouldn't be classed as insomnia. So do people who regularly fail to sleep "just" fail to sleep, or do they feel that there is something keeping them awake? I know some people talk about racing thoughts when trying to sleep, but I'm unsure whether they count that as a cause or an effect.

And, of course... does anyone else ever experience what I call asomnia?

[*] I tried to ask Wikipedia what the exact definition of the "a-" prefix was. It didn't go well.

Comments

[sammason.livejournal.com]

'How do insomniacs feel about being awake in the night?'

That's probably different for each insomniac. I generally feel all rightish during the atseis. Sometimes I use the time productively. But it hits me the next day, usually in the early afternoon.

'I've always understood it to be an unpleasant state, but is that "just" because of the worry that you need to be asleep in order to tackle the next day?'

I try not to worry about that, or about anything. Worry is nearly always useless and sometimes counterproductive. But I think what you're asking is whether the knowledge of the next day's suffering is the whole of what's nasty in insomnia. For me it's not the whole but it's a big part. Insomnia can take over my life in a bad way.

'I assume that if - say - someone was unable to sleep because of pain, that wouldn't be classed as insomnia.'

That's a big assumption. I think you should ask people whose pain keeps them awake whether, to them, that's insomnia.

'So do people who regularly fail to sleep "just" fail to sleep, or do they feel that there is something keeping them awake?'

Again that's an individual thing. Much of the anti-insomnia advice is 'sleep hygiene' which usually means 'how to fall asleep'. I cynically call that 'warm milk, window blinds and whale songs.' For me, falling asleep is usually easy, but staying asleep (or returning to sleep after a pee break) can be impossible. After years of fending off the sleep hygiene advice - kindly meant but irrelevant - I worked out that the largest causes of my insomnia are about my digestion and my body temperature.

'I know some people talk about racing thoughts when trying to sleep, but I'm unsure whether they count that as a cause or an effect.'

For me, the racing thoughts are nearly always an effect of being awake. That can involve doing my best science in bed. It can also involve being plagued by horrible self-doubt and suicidal urges. I look for the physical cause, fix that if possible, and try to shrug off the self-doubt.

Occasionally, painful thoughts or feelings keep me awake. But not often. I take it as a hint that I need to fix something in real life.

'does anyone else ever experience what I call asomnia?'

No I don't think that I do. Except the classic 'pulling an all-nighter' for work, which I did in my student days.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Part of the reason for this post was the hope that people who do have difficult sleeping would tell me what it means to them. So thank you for your comments on how insomnia affects you.

That's a big assumption. I think you should ask people whose pain keeps them awake whether, to them, that's insomnia.

I had thought - from a quick skim through Wikipedia - that insomnia is a "sleep disorder", and thus someone who can't sleep due to external factors wouldn't be insomniac. However, I missed the bit about "insomnia secondary to another condition", which would presumably cover not sleeping due to pain. Also, as you say, if someone feels that label is appropriate to them then I'm not going to tell them it isn't!

Except the classic 'pulling an all-nighter'

That's quite a different beast!

[sammason.livejournal.com]

There was a telly documentary a few months ago, which appealed to me because it was about sleep.

But there was a psychologist or psychiatrist, I forget which, stating that 'insomnia is the most common psychological problem.' That p****d me off because it sounded like the old 'all in your head' insult, used to oppress mentally ill people and also to oppress people who don't conform in some way. Uppity women, for example.

The 'common psychological problem' judgement also involved assuming that the racing thoughts are a cause of insomnia, not an effect of it. They can be cause, effect or both.

The same documentary showed a reporter trying to find out how insomnia feels, by setting his alarm clock to wake him frequently during a night. I think he only did this for one night. He got as far as the 'How do people cope?' stage but no further. I felt like telling him that we cope because we've no fucking choice. As with any disability.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I'm interested that to you "psychological problem" has those connotations. I've always thought of it as a fairly neutral, medical term and hadn't realised people might see it differently.

Out of curiosity, how do you think it should be better described in that context?

[sammason.livejournal.com]

What irritated me was the assumption that insomnia is always, or nearly always, psychological.

[venta.livejournal.com]

The pedant in me notes that it's possible for insomnia both to be the most common psychological problem and for insomnia to have chiefly non-psychological causes, but I see your point. If that's the assumption the documentary was working from I can see how that would annoy.