Jan 15th 2014
Today with Sean O’Rourke
Sleep Advice
 Sleep patterns have changed in the past 100 years. Then sleep patterns dictated by
daylight + rural way of life. Average person got 9 hours sleep.
 Average sleep time now is 6.8 hours a night
 Some people do sleep less than others. Short sleepers are those who sleep less than
6 hours a night. Margaret Thatcher famously survived on 4 hours a night. Dr Liam
Doherty points out in later life she developed dementia.
 7 – 9 hours is the ideal length of sleep
 It’s all about the quality of sleep not quantity. Our body tells us when we need to
sleep. One person could be getting by on 6 hours a night and another drooping with
tiredness after 8.

Sleeplessness becomes a problem when it causes distress and layers of frustration a
person associates with sleep and not getting it
 What is quality sleep? Determined by ourselves. We can disturb our own sleep –
burning the candles at both ends, stress, jet-lag, irregularity of schedule
 For babies, children and adults the key is ROUTINE. Go to bed at the same time and
get up at the same time – even at weekends. Sunday night insomnia common
because of the lie in on Sunday morning.
 Sleep hygiene – getting good sleep linked to good lifestyle wrt alcohol, nicotine, diet
exercise
 All about basic comfort, noise disturbance (you can live near a railway line and get
used to it) and lack of light
 How to get a good night’s sleep – have a cool bedroom; eliminate caffeine after 6pm
ideally – not just coffee and tea – chocolate + some over the counter pain medication
can contain caffeine so be careful. No hot baths or showers for at least 2 hours
before bed – the candle-lit lavender bath is not the answer.
 Reserve your bedroom for sleeping – don’t watch TV there.
Today with Sean O’Rourke
Jan 15th 2014
 People with sleep difficulties should eliminate ALL screens at least 1.5 hours before
trying to sleep. No TV; No laptops; No phones for checking emails + twitter; no
reading on a kindle
 For people with a sleep problem Deirdre advises a ‘dump your day’ routine. Ten
minutes after your dinner before you load the dish-washer write a short list of things
you did/that happened that day. Write your ‘To Do’ list for tomorrow. This will help
prevent your mind racing if/when you do wake up
 Avoid exercise late at night – some people think going to the gym or for a walk late at
night will tire them out – it won’t – you come home buzzing with endorphins and
need time to wind down before the body will even consider sleep
 Insomniacs should avoid clock-watching – it’s a quarter to 4 now – I’ve been awake
since 1.33am