Tired and Wired: Sleep and hyperarousal - notes

Last week I attended an interesting webinar provided by Dr Anne Germain, Founder and CEO, NOCTEM Health. I am providing some notes for you in case I won’t be able to share the video once it comes out. Duration of sleep differs - most feel good with seven hours, as long as they feel rested. Sleep supports homeostasis across body systems - mood/irritability, anxiety, cardiovascular disease, weakened immune systems etc…….There is a correlation between obesity and lack of proper sleep, significant risk of psychiatric disorders. Main disruption is hyper arousal. Consequences - fatigue; malaise, daytime sleepiness, concentration. Insomnia include problems falling or staying asleep, at least one day consequence; at least three times a week for at least three months, despite an inadequate opportunity for sleep. Most insomnia is Comorbid, precurser to psychiatric disorders, relapse from previously treated and physical problems. In combat Veterans with PTSD - Combat exposure increase possibility of PTSD. Having insomnia or problems sleeping prior to combat is a risk factor for PTSD. Insomnia is a treated condition. CBT first. Stimulus control: Aligning time in bed to sleep duration (+30 minutes), relaxation and cognitive restructuring and behavioural experiments. Healthy hygiene is not a treatment of insomnia. Target sleep first when targeting other psychological conditions. Resources provided - Coleen Carney. I looked her up and she is at Toronto Metropolitan University (right here in my city. I would recommend you look up these references). Oversleeping - nine hours or more can cause problems. However, if you feel energized that is ok. Ages 18-30 period of vulnerability. If you sleep nine hours and have problems - good to go to a sleep clinic. Sleep apnoea - runs in families - nap and never feel rested. Regarding children 11-12, engage parents. Joey Mandel is an expert. Treatment with or without ADHD. Caffeine - amount and timing is important- quite a bit of variation between people - can take 10 hours to get out of the system. Cannabis - not enough science and data. Literature is all over the place. Very small - some negative and some positive. EMDR when used for nightmares can be useful, not a focus of insomnia.