Sleep... the silent star

Sleep. Probably one of the most underestimated health factors.

Sleep is pretty amazing. It's a process of shutting down conscious awareness to allow the body and mind to reorganise, de-clutter, and consolidate new information. An essential physiological process - without it, within a few days our mental state would deteriorate, possibly descending into psychosis. Throughout the night, our body cycles through sleep stages, each stage associated with a cascade of hormonal changes that are necessary for our physical and mental well-being. The release of growth hormone, for example, is tied to sleep (and one of the reasons why infants and adolescents require so much sleep!)

And yet, the vast majority of adults in Western society have accumulated a massive sleep debt. Many of us are barely functioning. Jolted out of bed by our alarms, propped up throughout the day with caffeine and sugar, and kept up late at night by televisions, computers, and phones. We go to bed too late, tell ourselves "I can get by on six/five/two hours of sleep", and stagger awake the next day only to start the whole process again . Sometimes, we manage to lull ourselves to sleep with alcohol, prescription drugs, or even just a food coma from a too-large, too-heavy dinner.

Too often, sleep takes a back seat to the more "important" things in our lives. But, we can all appreciate the value of a "good night's sleep". Problem is, it's the exception instead of the rule, and we are so quick to forget the immense benefits.

Aside from the sheer number of hours asleep, the quality of sleep is important. In general, our society has pretty poor sleep hygiene. Intuitively, we should start "winding down" at sunset. We should be minimising exposure to light and avoid engaging in activities that are physically or mentally stimulating. No TV, internet, newspapers, sorting out finances, or listening to loud music. Pretty tough in this day and age.

How much sleep is ideal? According to Dr. Douglas Graham, the author of "The 80-10-10 Diet", the short answer is: enough. If, during the course of the day, you could lay down and be asleep within a few minutes - you need more sleep.

Our body operates on circadian rhythms, which is why it takes more than a day to establish good sleep habits. My own sleep habits are continuing to improve although are far from perfect. I have yet to limit "screen time" before bed, although I seem to fall asleep much faster if I am reading a physical book rather than an e-book (the photoreceptors in our eyes are sensitive to the luminosity in the environment, which is why it's important to reduce "brightness" after sunset).

Personally, I've made several changes in recent years that have had a positive effect on my sleep habits. In no particular order:
* regular exercise
* elimination of caffeine and alcohol from my diet
* optimal hydration
* regular bedtime
* adoption of a low fat raw vegan diet (which means that my stomach is not struggling to digest a heavy meal whilst trying to sleep)
* establishing a regular sleep routine

Every system in our body runs more efficiently when we're adequately rested. Poor sleep throws off digestion, athletic recovery, energy levels... not to mention mood, concentration, memory, judgement, and problem solving skills.

My own goal is to continue to improve my sleep. Increase my number of sleeping hours to my optimum level, and also to improve sleep quality by reducing stress (and avoid frequent night-time or early-morning waking). I put out a challenge to adopt one healthful sleep habit, and monitor the effect that has on your mood, energy levels, physical recovery and fitness, and general wellbeing.

Why mental health?

You don't need a PhD to realise the links between lifestyle and physical health.

A diet high in processed and/or animal foods, sedentary lifestyle, elevated stress, low social connectivity, inadequate sunlight and fresh air, poor sleep..... it's the perfect recipe for obesity, cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension, to name a few.

Less is known about the impact of lifestyle on mental health. Mental health problems are the underestimated scourge of Western society. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, a quarter of adults are diagnosable with a mental illness at any one time. For adolescents, the lifetime prevalence of mental illness is almost 50%. Closer to home, around half of Australian adults will experience mental illness in their lifetime.


Search the literature, and the vast majority of published studies focuses on medication and therapy in "treating" diagnosable disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, depression, schizophrenia, autism, panic disorder, phobias, and Parkinson's disease. There's really only a handful of studies focusing on lifestyle factors, which is probably why mainstream mental health has very little focus on holism.

A fundamental problem is the difficulty in applying the scientific method to study mental health problems. The "gold standard" in medicine is the randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing similar groups of individuals who are being treated in a specific way. All other factors are controlled (i.e. all groups are matched). If you want to look at the impact of sunlight exposure, for example, you would compare groups of people who are exposed to differing amounts of sunlight, while controlling for age, body weight, diet, exercise habits, socioeconomic status, skin tone (melanin levels) etc. Sound tricky? It is. It takes an enormous commitment and a huge investment of time. Not to mention that there's relatively little money to be made - you just can't patent lifestyle factors.


There's a lot to be said for the reductionist scientific method, which I'll address at another time. However, I will say this: the scientific method is grossly inadequate in establishing the basis of holistic mental health. And it's happening at a time when the world is sicker than ever. Our sleep deprived, toxic, caffeinated, drugged-up, and clogged-up world.

Mental health is not just the absence of diagnosable disease. In my opinion, it also requires wellbeing, which includes optimum cognitive functioning, clarity of thought, and the experience of joy, security, and fulfillment. When we experience these things, we have our best life and we can experience everything that life has to offer.