Peaceful Sleep
Having trouble falling and staying asleep?
When you lie down at night is your mind still wide-awake and racing, even though your body is begging you to close your eyes? And when you finally fall asleep do you twist and turn; and wake up in the morning feeling more exhausted than when you went to bed?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, I recommend that before you invest in over the counter sleep-aids you listen to my soothing Peaceful Sleep CD.
On it, you’ll hear over 60 minutes of soothing therapeutic music; melodies and tunes I personally selected to help you erase the tension and anxiety that keeps your mind churning after a long, stressful day.
These musical compositions, played on a variety of instruments, will massage your mind, cleansing you of worries and concerns, allowing you to settle down, wind down, relax and sleep the night through.
Also included are 14 minutes of soft-spoken suggestions designed to help you identify and release pent-up energy and tension in your body; in your arms, legs, chest, and stomach.
The combined result is an effortless, deep and restful good-night’s sleep.
Get Peaceful Sleep now as MP3 downloads for only $15.95 You can have them on your IPOD in 10 minutes!
Click Here for physical CD mailed to you for $17.95 plus shipping
Hear Samples (each sample is 1 minute)
| 1. Sleep Meditation 14:27 Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
2. Magic Garden 8:59 Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
| 3. Night Song 10:46 Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
4. By the Lake 10:28 Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
| 5. Night Rain 10:41 Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
6. Brand New Day 11:17 Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
| 7. Cool Morning 9:49 Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. |
Most People Choose Sleep Over Sex
We have become so sleep deprived that most people would rather get a good night’s sleep than have sex. In a new survey of 12,500 travelers from a dozen countries, 51% chose sleep over sex. In a similar survey a decade ago, only 31% preferred sleep. Conducted for Westin Hotels & Resorts, the survey echoes numerous scientific studies showing that Americans are running short on sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 30% of Americans report trouble sleeping. Prescriptions for sleep medications have risen 7% over the past two years. According to data from pharmaceutical consultant IMS Health, 56,287,000 prescriptions for sleep aids were dispensed last year.
Chronic insomnia can drive people to take extreme measures in search of relief. Michael Jackson’s death catapulted insomnia into the headlines when investigators discovered he had been using the powerful sedative Diprivan and other drugs to combat sleeplessness. Diprivan may have contributed to Jackson’s death. Drugs alone won’t cure insomnia, experts say.
“Everyone’s instinct is to think this is something I can manage on my own,” sleep researcher Michael Perlis, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, told USA Today in an online article. “The problem is, insomnia is a little bit like a fire. Initially, it’s just a few sparks. Next thing you know, it jumps the fire pit and it’s burning the forest.”
Most people wait too long to treat insomnia. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night to stay physically and mentally healthy. While the occasional sleepless night is normal, sleep experts recommend seeing your doctor if insomnia lasts more than 2 to 3 days. Self-medicating with alcohol or over-the-counter sleeping pills can make the problem worse and can cause dangerous side effects that increase your health risk.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy, sometimes augmented by medication, provides the most successful treatment for insomnia, according to a study published in the May issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia should be conducted by a board certified psychiatrist like Dr. Tracey Marks who has expertise in treating insomnia and other sleep disorders. If you are having trouble sleeping, take control of the problem and contact Dr. Marks today.
Put the Chill on Heat Wave Anger
When the temperature rises, tempers flare. It doesn’t take long in 90-degree heat for small irritations to ignite into angry rants. The frequency and volume of childish squabbles escalates. Frustrated parents lose their cool and yell at their kids. Spousal bickering escalates to angry arguments. When it’s hot outside, everyone gets more than a little cranky.
It’s hard to keep your emotional cool when your body feels like it’s frying. Sweat, dehydration and exhaustion overwhelm us physically when the mercury climbs into the high 80s and 90s. Heat can increase heart rate and elevate blood pressure. The physical toll chips away at our emotional defenses, eroding our ability to cope with life’s ordinary challenges. Fueled by the heat, people who are normally pleasant and patient can become unreasonable and irritable. They snap and they snarl at the slightest irritation, lashing out at the closest target — often a spouse or child.
Psychologists and criminal justice authorities have long known that heat waves cause a spike in crime rates. Heat tends to make people more argumentative. They’re more likely to react to irritants without thinking. Iowa State University professor of psychology Craig Anderson who has studied the phenomenon told the Selma Times-Journal online, “Being uncomfortable colors the way people see things. Minor insults may be perceived as major ones, inviting retaliation.”
When the mercury climbs, your best defense against an emotional meltdown is a good offense. Cool down your body to cool off your psyche. Here are a few tips guaranteed to dial down your discomfort level during the dog days of August and help you keep your cool in the heat:
- Turn on the air conditioning and augment airflow with fans. No A/C? Mist yourself with water and sit near a fan.
- Chill out at the local shopping mall (most have a play area), senior center, public library or take in a movie.
- Wear loose, light-weight, cotton clothing. Declare a swimsuit day at home.
- Take cool showers. Let the kids play in a cool tub.
- Spend the day at the pool or beach.
- Fill up the kiddie pool and turn on the sprinkler. Join the kids in a water fight.
- Stay hydrated and eat some salty snacks. Avoid alcohol which can increase heat stress.
Working Night Shift Increases Health Risk
With jobs in short supply and bills to pay, more people are working when they used to be sleeping. Some are working a series of part-time jobs that keep them up past their normal bedtimes or working the night shift and struggling to readjust their body clocks. It’s not easy. Shifting your sleep cycle causes metabolic confusion that can lead to serious sleep disorders and increase your risk for certain health problems.
Every creature has a natural circadian rhythm, the natural ebb and flow of the body’s biological functions over a 24-hour cycle. Humans are programmed to wake when it’s light and sleep when it’s dark. Second and third shift jobs demand that we reprogram our body clocks to work at night and sleep during the day. Unfortunately, grabbing some shuteye when you’re out of synch with the rest of the world can be a challenge. Family demands, caring for young children, doctor appointments and a host of other necessary activities must be dealt with during the hours you now need to sleep. Daylight and noise make falling asleep during the day even more challenging.
What often happens is that instead of getting 8 hours of uninterrupted restful sleep, night workers start losing sleep. They sleep fewer hours overall and get fewer hours of consecutive sleep, decreasing their opportunity to enter crucial REM sleep. It’s not unusual for night shift workers to develop shift work sleep disorder (SWSD). Characterized by continual or recurring sleep interruption, SWSD can result in chronic insomnia or excessive sleepiness. Headaches, lack of energy and difficulty concentrating may also occur.
Individuals who suffer from SWSD are at greater risk for on-the-job accidents, are more vulnerable to illness, may experience increased irritability or moodiness, and are more apt to make errors on the job. Chronic sleep deprivation can contribute to heart disease, diabetes, obesity and certain cancers.
To reset their body clocks, late shift workers — and their families — must make sleep a priority. Set and follow a regular sleep schedule, even on weekends and days off. Try to sleep soon after your shift ends. Minimize exposure to light by sleeping in a room with light-blocking curtains or shades. Establish and follow soothing bedtime rituals. Take a warm bath or shower, read or listen to soft music. Strive for 7 to 8 hours of sleep.
Couch Time Causes Insomnia in Children
Many school-age children experience trouble falling asleep. As many as 16% of parents report having problems getting their children to fall sleep at night. Researchers say the solution could be as simple as getting more physical exercise during the day.
The amount of physical activity children receive during the day plays an important role in childhood sleep patterns, according to a study recently published in Archives of Disease in Childhood. Researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand found that inactivity can lead to insomnia in children. Too many hours on the couch playing video games, watching television shows or movies, even reading made it harder for children to fall asleep and stay asleep. Researchers found that it took children three extra minutes to fall asleep at night for every hour they spent engaged in sedentary activities during the day.
In the largest study of its kind, researchers compared the activity and sleep patterns of over 500 seven-year-olds. It took children from 13 to 42 minutes to fall asleep with 26 minutes being the average. Children who engaged in sedentary pursuits like TV watching and video games during the day took the longest to fall sleep. As physical activity increased, the amount of time it took for children to enter dreamland shortened. Those who were the most physically active during the day fell asleep the fastest and also slept the longest.
“These findings emphasize the importance of physical activity for children, not only for fitness, cardiovascular health and weight control, but also for promoting good sleep,” the researchers concluded.
Researchers found that parents universally overestimated the amount of time their children spent falling asleep. On average it took children 15 minutes longer to fall asleep than parents indicated on study surveys. Television and video games can over-stimulate children, making it harder for them to fall asleep. Limiting such activities in the evening can promote better sleeping habits. But healthy, physical exercise during the day is the key to tiring out energetic youngsters so they can fall asleep at night. Children who get adequate sleep at night (8 to 10 hours) do better in school and are less likely to become obese.
Dreams Help Us Process Emotion
Some people remember their dreams vividly well after they wake up. For others, the tenuous memory of dreams begins to slip away with the first flicker of wakefulness. An inability to remember our dreams does not lessen their impact. New research indicates that a powerful connection exists between our nightly dreams and our ability to process human emotions during the day.
In research presented at the annual conference of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, researchers at the University of California-Berkeley found that people require adequate sleep to understand complex emotions.
“Sleep essentially is resetting the magnetic north of your emotional compass,” Matthew Walker, director of the University of California-Berkeley Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab, told Time in an online article.
In the study, adults who took a 60- to 90-minute nap and reached REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the sleep stage where most dreaming occurs, were more likely to identify positive emotions like happiness when looking at photos of other people. Those who did not achieve REM sleep or did not nap more often identified negative emotions like fear and anger.
Our response may be rooted in evolution. In previous research at Harvard Medical School, Walker found that activity in the prefrontal lobe, the brain area that controls emotion, diminished when people were sleep deprived. “If you’re walking through the jungle and you’re tired, it might benefit you more to be hypersensitive to negative things,” he explained. When mental energy lags, self-preservation forces us to focus on immediate threats. When we’re rested, we’re more likely to tune in to positive emotions associated with long-term survival like personal relationships and food.
REM, or dream, sleep “tries to ameliorate the sharp emotional chips and dents that life gives you along the way,” Walker explains. “It’s not that you’ve forgotten. You haven’t. It’s a memory of an emotional episode, but it’s no longer emotional itself. If you don’t let go of the emotion, what results is a constant state of anxiety.”
People who experience insomnia or other sleep disorders that prevent them from entering REM sleep lose the restorative power of sleep necessary to good health. When sleep problems interfere with the mind’s opportunity to process emotions, chronic insomnia can lead to the development of psychiatric disorders.
Lack of Sleep Increases Risk of Dying
That sleepless night that makes you grouchy and tired the next day can be a killer — literally. New research shows that getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night increases your risk of death from cardiovascular disease. In a study of 4,600 men and women aged 35 to 55, researchers at University College London and the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom found that women who slept less than 8 hours per night had a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than men. Differences in hormone levels may play a role.
According to data recently published in the journal Sleep, women who slept less than 5 hours per night had significantly higher levels of the inflammatory markers that are indicators for heart disease. Compared to women who were able to achieve a full 8 hours of sleep, risk levels increased dramatically with every hour of sleep lost. Even women who received 7 hours of sleep a night showed much higher levels of risk indicators than those who slept 8 hours.
A growing body of research indicates that sleep is a vital component to good physical and mental health. Chronic insomnia is also known to increase anxiety and contribute to depression, particularly in women. Another study reported in Sleep indicates a relationship between postpartum depression and the lack of sleep common to new mothers. In the Norwegian study, 60% of new mothers reported sleep problems with 16.5% showing symptoms of depression.
Researchers found that postpartum depression not only aggravated insomnia, but that complaints about sleep problems often interfered with the diagnosis of postpartum depression. Researchers found that many women who continued to report sleep problems two months after delivery were suffering from postpartum depression. However, because tiredness and lack of sleep are common complaints of new mothers, those suffering from postpartum depression often remained undiagnosed and untreated.
Researchers emphasized the importance of doctors discussing sleep problems with new mothers. Chronic lack of sleep that affects daytime functioning, results in a general lack of energy or that impacts other aspects of a new mother’s life could indicate postpartum depression. Depression screening is recommended to new mothers who continue to experience chronic insomnia. Treatment by a board certified psychiatrist can help women overcome postpartum depression, find solutions to chronic sleep problems, and enjoy their roles as new mothers.
Can Insomnia Be Inherited?
A new study presented at Sleep 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Studies, suggests that insomnia may be inheritable. The study of 1,436 eight- to 16-year-old twins found that the same genes that impact depression and anxiety affect adolescent insomnia. Study results are consistent with the results of similar studies connecting insomnia to depression and anxiety in adults. Shared genetic effects suggest a probable genetic link between the three disorders.
According to an online article posted on the Science Blog, lead author Phillip Gehrman, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said researchers had expected to find a sleep-specific genetic indicator and were surprised to instead find a shared indicator with depression and anxiety. A number of previous studies have indicated a causal connection between insomnia and depression/anxiety. Chronic insomnia can lead to the development of depression or anxiety, and depression or anxiety can cause insomnia. The discovery that the same genetic effect links all three conditions sheds new light on their interconnectedness.
Periodic sleeplessness is normal, generally lasting only a few days and going away on its own without treatment. However, more intense levels of insomnia lasting several weeks can be triggered by stress. Such chronic insomnia will not go away without treatment and can cause serious short- and long-term health problems when left untreated. If you or your child exhibit chronic insomnia — sleep problems that last for more than a week — you should be screened for depression and anxiety. Likewise, those diagnosed with depression or anxiety may also need to be treated for insomnia.
In another study reported at Sleep 2009, cognitive behavioral therapy was shown to help alleviate chronic insomnia. By learning to identify thoughts and patterns that interfered with sleep, nearly 60% of study participants aged 14 to 81 were able to alleviate insomnia and decrease or stop using sleep medication. Even when depression and anxiety exacerbate insomnia, researchers found cognitive behavioral therapy to be an effective method of treating chronic insomnia. To find out more about cognitive behavioral therapy, visit the Marks Psychiatry website.
