Taking An Inventory Of Your Sleep Habits

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Medically Reviewed On: March 31, 2003

By Tina Pavane

You know the signs: lead in your jowls, dragging feet, million-dollar mistakes at work, lowered eyelids at the stoplight, snapping at the kids, drool on the computer keys. Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy all rolled up into one. Turns out you have some company in the sheep-counting club. Millions of Americans don't get the quality sleep they need-and suffer from consequences that affect every aspect of waking life. Still, many think sleep problems are a natural fact of life. In fact, people who suffer from sleep problems typically wait about 12 years before they seek help. But experts say most sleep problems can be resolved, it just takes close examination and perseverance.

"People feel that sleep problems are a part of life and that they are something that they should endure," says behavioral sleep medicine specialist Dr. Saul Rothenberg of Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York City. "They don't realize that there are many excellent strategies for solving sleep problems."


"I think the first question you need to ask yourself is whether you're satisfied with your current set of sleep habits and pattern," Dr. Rothenberg continues. "And if the answer is no, then you have to change something in your life in order to improve the sleep pattern. What you want to do is trading one set of habits that don't work to your satisfaction for another set of habits that will hopefully work a lot better for you."

Dr. Michael Thorpy, director of the Sleep Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, says the problem need not spiral out of control. "One of the things that we've learned in recent years has been that the longer a sleep problem continues, the more ingrained it becomes and the more people become conditioned to that sleep problem. Just like a snowball building up, it gets bigger and bigger as time goes on."

As we begin National Sleep Week, Americans will be happy to know that most sleeping problems can be overcome if they just take the time to assess their sleep habits, make lifestyle changes and fess-up to their doctors so they can get the help they need. Here are some of the tips leading experts in sleep medicine recommend.

Take an inventory of your sleeping patterns
A good first step is to keep a sleep diary to identify specific problem areas. In the diary, you should note the time you go to bed; when you wake up; how long it takes you to fall asleep; if you wake early; and the time you spend napping during the day. If you plot out this information in a sleep diary for a couple of weeks, you may discover patterns.


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