We Learn Many Reasons Why We Sleep

Ten wide-awake Book Clubbers met to talk about Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker.  Although the group gave a general “thumbs up” about the book, there were complaints: Here are most of them, without attaching them to anyone specific. Many at the meeting contributed to this list!

More than just me fell asleep while reading Why We Sleep

Too clinical and not entertaining enough

First half of the book was repetitive, boring

Better book to skip through rather than read cover-to-cover

Sweeping generalizations about best sleep habits

More attention on working people than on those moving into their retirement years, thus less relevant to some of us

Everybody at the meeting admitted to having some sleep problems. I handed out several sleep scales for everyone to look at. It’s easy to find these online, and there are probably more:

The Pittsburgh Sweep Quality Index with some instructions for evaluating it.

SATED Questionnaire

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale

Sleep Scale from the Medical Outcomes Study

When we began discussing the questions, there were a few that were trick questions, e.g., Question #1 The author didn’t mention any organs of the body that don’t benefit from sleep.

Question #2 Making a list of consequences of not getting enough sleep regularly: Some of us added some consequences that weren’t mentioned in the book:

    Susan: Memory retention (this valid consequence was dealt with by some experiments the author described later in the book)

    Marcia: The tiredness nurses experience working a 12-hour shift regularly (not to mention their extra shifts and taking over shifts to help co-workers).

    Cindy: Young children can develop symptoms of autism by not sleeping enough.

    Joyce: Sleep-deprived children can be diagnosed, sometimes incorrectly, with ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). 

We talked some about the studies Walker described. Among the questions, there was a listing of a critical article someone had written about Why We Sleep accusing the author of massaging the data from the studies he described.

            Joyce said that the statistics in the studies tended to be very detailed, and in some cases very large numbers were used. She explained that the larger the study sample (number of people, rats, etc.), the smaller the differences the study can detect.  In some studies, very small amounts were said to be doubled or tripled, but these numbers could refer to “statistical significance,” which is measured in very small decimal numbers. When, for example, a statistical significance of 0.003 is doubled, that can indicate as small an amount as 0.006, whereas use of the word “doubled” gives the reader the impression that the significance was large. We had some good discussion about the studies and the criticisms. 

We all enjoyed a quote from the book that Marcia read to us about what the obstetrician might say to a brand new mother right after delivery: “Your child will, for the rest of his life, repeatedly lapse into a state of apparent coma; and while his body lies still, his mind will oft be filled with stunning bizarre hallucinations.”

Our discussion ranged from studies to sleep history to sleep deficits working people have because of schedules, long drives, and conflicting family obligations. Thinking of children, we discussed sleep needs, school activities that meet before and after the core school day, and the problems that can arise from lack of enough sleep and often be ignored or misdiagnosed. I thought we touched on much of the variety of sleep-related topics in the book. We agreed that the book is a valuable study of sleep and has good recommendations in it!