Napping

by Andrew Ratcliffe

English 102

Professor David Brinkmeyer

November 3, 1998

Ratcliffe 1

Napping

The first lonely night was hard to survive. A young college student realized that he was the only one awake at that God-awful time of night. He tried doing homework. Surprisingly he managed to flip through two hundred pages in a book he was assigned to read. Short, brisk walks in the freezing weather while wearing a tee shirt and shorts helped him to wake back up. Finally morning came and a new day was about to begin. He went through the lows, but managed to stay awake. He also ran into the high created by sleep deprivation. Finally that night, after forty-three hours without sleep, his head hit the pillow. Unfortunately he only got six hours of sleep that night, and he definitely felt it the next day.

Sleep is a necessity for survival. Most people are intelligent enough not to pull stunts like the one mentioned above. Every once in a while, or more often than people like to admit, people will not get a decent amount of sleep during the night. There is no alternative for a full nights rest, but if a restlessness night ever does occur energy can be restored through the use of a lost art, napping. When used strategically and sparingly, naps will be very helpful for surviving a long, stressful day.

Naps must be well planned in order for them to provide the energy needed for the remainder of the day. First it must be decided how much time is available to take a nap. Next of all, a short nap could be used to restore energy just to make it through the rest of the day. A longer nap might be advised in order to provide energy to tough it through a long night shift at work, or for some other reason needing late night hours. Naps are helpful for those reasons, but should not be used to replace sleep. A study was taken to test the effects of naps on the body (qtd in Godbey 31)). Eight men were studied in this experiment. A couple of men were allowed a full night�s sleep. Another group received four hours of sleep with a nap, and the final group got the four hours but no nap. Of course the group that was allowed a full night�s rest performed the best on the tests taken afterwards and they were more attentive. It was noticed though, that the group that received the nap performed just as well on computer-alertness tasks.

Ratcliffe 2

A short nap can be taken if performance is needed along with some extra energy. A nap ten to thirty minutes in length will help to renew energy. Michael Bonnet Ph.D. suggests using a 30-30 approach when considering a nap. This means that a thirty minute nap should be taken around thirty minutes before performance is needed. A nap as short as 10 minutes will do wonders. Caution should be taken though when planning naps. The idea is to feel refreshed afterwards, although that feeling will not exist if a thirty minute nap is prolonged. Deeper sleep starts to occur after time. When awaken while in deep sleep the body feels less energetic and it is harder to recuperate (Godbey and Wolfe 31). That is why a thirty minute nap is suggested, no longer than.

Long naps may be necessary in order to make it through the long day, and or night that is to come. A long nap should range from one and a half to two hours because after that period of time the body will have passed through the complete sleep cycle. This allows �you to wake up in the light sleep stage� (Shappell and Wiegmann 24). If a nap needs to be prolonged it should be kept within those time limits. If a nap passes over the two hour mark the body may again enter the deep sleep stage making it more difficult to arise and get back to work or play. As mentioned in the earlier paragraph a nap should be complete around thirty to forty-five minutes before the desired performance is essential. If an attempt is made to dive straight from a nap into work then body motions may feel less coordinated. A nap needs to be carefully planned.

Sleep is the best recovery method for the body. Again, a nap is not a complete substitute for a good night�s sleep. They should be used randomly. If they are used to constantly catch up on sleep the body may adjust to these sleeping patterns. In this case deep sleep may start to occur during the short nap and a refreshed feeling will not overwhelm the body when the alarm sounds. Also, a nap should not be used for people with sleeping problems. For example, in the case of insomnia a daily nap should even be avoided so as to not reduce the need for sleep during the night (Borbely 94). Naps should be used sparingly and well planned. In order to feel the most satisfied, a good night�s sleep, an average of 7-10 hours, is the recommended route to take.

Sleepiness during the day of a businessman, or a college student, is common. A nap will help cure this feeling of drowsiness, nonperformance, or exhaustion. There are several times throughout the day where a nap should be taken and where it would be best if they were not. Post lunch hours always seem to bring drowsiness to people. This is the time when students in class begin dropping their heads. If a student has some free time between the hours of twelve and three in the afternoon, they should definitely take a nap then. Another natural time for the body to feel sleepy is in the late morning hours, not long after your normal hours of sleep (Shappell and Wiegmann 24). Another practice is taking a nap, again once during the day, eight hours after the rise from sleep and eight hours before the normal bedtime. There is a time of day when a nap is not suggested, which is between the hours of three and six in the afternoon. During this time of day the body is normally sleepy and functions at a lower pace than during the other hours of the day. If a short nap is attempted during this time recovery made be difficult. It would also seem that getting rest not long before a normal bedtime would make it hard to crash in the evening. Strategic napping is important if they are to be helpful in regaining performance or to catch up on lost sleep.

Naps are not that common in the fast paced, adult society of today. A 1992 report by the National Commission on Sleep Disorder Research mentions that twenty percent of the people get less sleep today than people a hundred years ago (Gould 65). People today are obsessed with weight loss and exercise, so why not with napping? Naps do wonders for the body. They�ve lost their prominence in today�s society. Speaking from personal experience, when used sparingly they are very helpful for the achievement of higher performance. Some people urge power naps on college students. If used randomly throughout the week, the may prove useful. But to be used all day, every day, and without much sleep the body will not appreciate the torture.

Naps are helpful to the human body for several reasons. As mentioned earlier naps do restore energy. Perchance a decent night�s rest was not attained, a nap will help to reestablish energy and allow an elevated performance. A longer nap will provide the strength to tough it over long hours in the evening. What other reasons would someone desire to take a nap? If he/she cares about the condition of his/her body, a nap helps both the physical and psychological aspects. In the course of a very short sleep - two minutes at most - I found myself standing at my study window, looking out at a curious collection of long straws which some birds have, in fact, made in one of the trees in the square. The object of the collection I cannot guess - it is certainly not a nest. In my dream I was surprised to note that the trees, instead of being in the other side of the wide roadway, came up close to my window, and that the straws seemed to have turned into a roughly circular heap of sticks, resembling a nest. After I awoke, the picture remained quite clear. This was all the dream. I call it a dream because it was somewhat less fleeting than a mere hypnagogic (sleep-onset) illusion. (qtd in Foulkes 122)

Dreams, perhaps common to this one or not, are a normal occurrence for every individual. They somehow work wonders for the human body. Before someone can really dream they need to fall asleep. Dreams were only thought to occur during deep sleep, during a long sleep period throughout the night. However, new research reveals that dreams �might actually occur at the �onset of nocturnal sleep,� � (Fouker 122) or short naps. Perhaps the dream mentioned in the opening paragraph is proof of this new hypothesis. Naps that have desynchronized, or irregular, brain patterns have been shown to decrease depression and increase energy (Hartmann 99). These patterns may be present as a dream is process. When a dream is in operation, psychological healing is taking place (Gould 65). This means that naps alleviate stress on the nervous and immune systems. �Dreams are viewed as the means by which the continuance of the state of sleep is assured and by which potentially harmful thoughts and impulses find discharge without any interference in wakeful personality functioning� (Fouker ?). Because of the positive effects of dreams, if they really do occur during naps then the more helpful a nap is for each and every individual.

Maybe one day naps will once again regain their importance in every day life. They are very helpful to use during life as a college student. Physical and psychological energy is restored, making it easier to perform well during a tennis match later in the day or on a long dreaded English test. A long nap will provide energy and the ability to stay awake for the dance late on a Friday or Saturday evening. The effects of a nap may deliver needed preparation in order to make a lasting first impression, hopefully a good one. Finally, if naps are taken under consideration of the proper time, they relieve stress, provide energy, and bodily healing of the mind.

Works Cited

Borbely, Alexander. Secrets of Sleep. New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1984.

Fouker, David. The Psychology of Sleep. New York: Charles Scribner�s Sons, 1966.

Godbey, Susan Flagg, and Wolfe, Yun Lee. �Snooze You Can Use.� Prevention. 1 March 1997: 31.

Gould, Meredith. �Power Napping.� Nation�s Business. 1 February 1995: 65. Hartman, Earnest C. The Functions of Sleep. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973.

Shappell, Scott A., and Wiegmann, Douglas A. �Strategic Napping.� Approach: The Naval Safety Center�s Aviation Magazine. 1 March 1996: 24.