User:Abwyong18
Beauty Sleep and Sweet Dreams: Improve Health? By Arthur B.W. Yong and Rachel Alcock
When we talk about sleep, we feel tired and go to bed. On average, most people sleep seven or eight hours a day. Out of curiosity, Arthur spoke with many of his friends about how many hours do they sleep a day? The answers varied from three to ten hours. For example, when undergraduate and postgraduate students, journalists and writers, financial planners, project workers and politicians have to meet deadlines, they have less hours of sleep. Arthur and his friends can associate sleep with much information related to comfortable beds and accessories, bed time stories, health, illness, stress, insomnia, employment, shift work, finance, books, stories, songs, movies, playing computer games, travels, memories, dreams, nightmares and even jokes. There are many health references about sleep, dreams, nightmare and insomnia.
Arthur recalled, in 1969, the night before his economics examination at Thornbury High School, he was in bed. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the text of all the relevant chapters of the economic book, which he thought, was important. Arthur was very happy when he found out that he passed his examination with a mark of 86.
The majority of people like to sleep in on Sundays. People with a cold or severe illness frequently sleep more than 14 hours. Some of you enjoy singing karaoke songs, A Hard Day’s Night; All I Have To Do is Dream and Sleepy Joe. Arthur does. Many children have read the book, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Some people have seen the movies, Aliens, Jaws, The Birds, Picnic At Hanging Rock, Psycho, Insomnia, Freddy Kruger and Friday the 13.
When Arthur and his team members compiled stories of local Chinese migrants for a book, Chinese Settlement in Whittlesea in 2008, a journalist reported in the Whittlesea Leader, “People said Arthur never slept”. Arthur’s friend asked him when he dreamt, he spoke in what language or dialects. Was it in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Hakka or Malay? Arthur replied it varied from time to time.
Arthur said, “When I was a young child, I used to have nightmares. My grandmother passed away when I was about three years old. A dog bit me in my neighbourhood. I used to watch many movies of ghost stories in the Malay, Chinese and Indian languages. After my grandfather passed away, I slept in his bed. One night, I dreamt that I stood at the end of bed and saw my own body lying in the bed. I got very scared!”
According to Associate Professor of Social Work, Jennifer Martin (2006) from RMIT University, different stages of sleep and dreams are associated with vivid imagery and hearing voices. The main times these occur are when a person is starting to go to sleep and just before waking up. (Reference: Martin, J. (2006), Mental Health Practice, ACT: Ginninderra Press, p. 49).
Arthur had a few conversations with Rachel about sleep and dreams.
Rachel said, “ My Dad and I have a running joke about going for "preliminary kips", i.e. a nap before going to sleep, the joke being that we never actually arise from the kip and in fact are going to bed. This is usually the direct result of indulging in too much good food and liquor. Another family joke, which extends to my Uncle in South England and cousins in London, is the Alcock Family hobby of sleeping. A true Alcock can/should/must be able to fall asleep anytime, anywhere to qualify. Again, a good feast is always extremely helpful in achieving this goal.
I can't always remember what I dream of, but I do frequently dream and sometimes they are incredibly vivid the following morning. I also have recurring dreams, some that go back to my childhood. At least once a year I will dream about a timid cat that by the end of the dream has turned feral and is attacking me. I have probably had this dream annually for roughly a decade. I will also frequently dream about all of my teeth shattering and falling out of my mouth. Two people told me that this is symbolic of wanting but not being able to say something.
I am a regular sleep talker and I am sometimes very coherent. I have solved problems and/or answered questions in my sleep, which I think says a lot about the human mind when it is in a relaxed state. I have woken myself up many times by yelling loudly or sobbing. This can sometimes be quite frightening and distressing for both the person and me asleep in the same bed/room. My Dad has sleep apnoea, which has been interesting to witness over the years. It has never seemed to bother him all that much, but it has made it quite difficult for my mother. He too is a big sleep talker and can hold down a conversation as I can with astounding lucidity. At a childhood birthday party one year he fell asleep on the floor on top of all my friends’ sleeping bags and we had a good laugh taking it in turns asking him questions. My brother is also not only a sleep talker but also a sleepwalker. He has started getting ready for school/work while still asleep, once even waking up in the shower. He also frequently thinks that he has seen a snake/dog/animal of some description in his room and woken up yelling for help. One night he knocked everything off the shelves above his bed when he stood up to fend off some figment of his sleeping mind. Ironically enough, my mother suffers from insomnia and so she does not have much of a chance to have strange dreams or experiences in her sleep.
In 2004, Arthur facilitated an information session of insomnia, when he worked as a project officer for the Men and Family Relationships program for the Chinese community at the Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre. The guest speaker, Dr Yuan Zhong Shen, advised people to go to bed before 12 am and have at least more than seven-hour sleep per day. Most of Arthur’s friends commented they would prefer more sleeping hours. Arthur wonders who would dispute the need for beauty sleep and that sweet dreams would improve health
