Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Sleep that knits up the raveled sleave of care,
The death of each day’s life, sore labor’s bath,
Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,
Chief nourisher in life’s feast.

- Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 2

To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.

- Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1

The Bard has said it all.

----------------------------------

Of late, I am having bouts of anxiety which is preventing me from getting a full night's sleep on weekends. I wake up early in the morning, then toss and turn trying to go back under. Not getting enough sleep makes me anxious, which again contributes to my insomnia, thus creating a negative feedback loop. (Maybe my weekend drink also contributes to the problem - but I'll never admit that!)

I approached this book with the idea that it will enlighten me about sleep. It did � but not in the way I expected.

This is a book written by a journalist: intensely readable, terrifically informative and covering a lot of areas � but it’s not your scholarly tome. It will give you a lot of info on the field of sleep research, all fascinating and new, but largely superficial. It’s a fun-to-read primer on sleep, and will give you pointers for further study.

Fun Facts I Learned

1.People did not sleep for one continuous stretch at night in the past. They went to sleep not long after sunset and woke up in the middle of the night for an hour or two: then again went to sleep and slept till dawn. These were called the “first sleep� and “second sleep�. The time in-between was used for reading, praying or having sex (and from all reports, it was awesome � I should have learned this two decades ago, dash it!).

2.Sleeping alone will guarantee a better night’s rest than sleeping with your partner (my wife adds: “especially when your partner sounds like a sawmill in operation�).

3.There are two schools of thought whether infants should be given a separate bed or whether they should sleep with on their parents� bed. There are huge cultural differences involved here. (I don’t know what’s good for the kids, but can say from personal experience that children sleeping alone will do wonders for dad’s sleep).

4.Forget Freud and Jung. There is no symbolism in dreams � it’s all rather straightforward. (I don’t fully agree.)

5.Sleeping on a problem will clear the mind of clutter and allow you to go to the heart of the matter (old hat, that).

6.Lack of sleep is one of the reasons many mistakes committed by the military (could be true). Lack of sleep is one of the reasons for invading soldiers misbehaving with the “natives�, especially American GIs in Iraq (a load of bovine excrement).

7.There are cases of murder being committed while a person is sleepwalking, and it has proved a valid defense in many cases of homicide (this was totally new for me � and somewhat frightening).

8.Teenagers will perform better by going to sleep late at night and waking up late (hopefully, my son won’t read this review!)

9.The best cure for insomnia is relaxation, not pills. Don’t think of sleep at all (easier said than done).