The Guardian

Six myths about sleep: if you got up early to read

this, youre in trouble
According to recent news reports, its a myth that we all need eight hours sleep a
night because a study involving hunter-gatherer societies in Africa and South
America, whose habits are thought to mirror how humans used to live, showed they
made do with six.
In fact, the research from UCLA and other universities, which spurred the news
stories, said no such thing. The research was measuring sleep duration in a very
specific way, a highly technical approach not reflected in the reporting of the studys
conclusions.
But if you are looking for sleep myths to debunk, here are six that have come out of
our research review at Oxfords Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciencesthis
year.

1. The early bird catches the worm

One start time doesnt suit everyone. Too many people believe starting early is the
sign of a good employee: up at 5am, gym at 5.30, work at 7.
But these early-rising larks are extremely rare (and smug). And theyre welcome to
catch and eat worms. Highly productive, creative workers sleep well and arrive
later. Early starts leave almost everyone reaching for coffee to wake up and alcohol to
go to sleep.

2. I only need four hours sleep a night

Politicians and leaders of industry brag about their need for only a few hours of sleep.
Yet too little sleep can destroy successful leaders. Margaret Thatcherdeveloped
Alzheimers probably after leaving office. The former UK prime minister Harold
Wilson and US president Ronald Reagan probably had the condition in office. Whats
the connection?
Natural sleep has restorative functions in sleep it detoxes the neurotoxic waste that
accumulates when youre awake. Too little sleep, and this waste remains. Lack of
sleep can be dangerous in other ways: it is a central contributor to CEO burnout.
Jetlag is known to lead to bad decisions. And poor sleep causes millions of road
accidents.

3. Teenagers are lazy

Its a common belief that adolescents are tired, irritable and uncooperative because

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they choose to stay up too late and are difficult to wake in the morning because they
are lazy. The real problem is their biological timing system their body clock
which shifts their wake/sleep times to two to three hours later in the day than might
be expected. Adolescents should be sleeping in two to three hours later than their
school or work schedules allow instead, they regularly lose a few hours of sleep.
This is unnecessarily risky when we know that more than 50% of all mental illness
starts in adolescence, and those illnesses include schizophrenia, psychosis, eating
disorders, panic attacks, substance abuse and bipolar disorders. When school starts
are moved later its not just performance that improves: health does as well.

4. Shift work is a fact of life

We know instinctively that working long, tiring shifts impacts on performance.
Imagine: 10am and your partner is rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack.
Two doctors are available, one near the end of her 24-hour shift, another just arriving.
Which do you choose?
Harvard Medical School checked the performance of their doctors on 24-hour shifts.
They were shocked. Interns towards the ends of their shifts made 36% more serious
errors. Of consultants who regularly worked 24-hour shifts, 74% showed signs of
burnout or depression. The research found that shorter shifts and more informed
placement of recovery days got much better results.

5. Early to bed, early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy and

wise
If only it was that easy. Continue to start work early and most people will still lose far
too much sleep. They will have a price to pay: increased risk of obesity, diabetes,
cardiovascular disease, hypertension, greater stimulant/sedative/alcohol use,
exhaustion, irritability, anxiety, depressed mood, frustration and anger. In contrast,
later starts improve output, efficiency and quality of life.

6. My bedroom is where I go to escape

Many of us feel our bedroom can be a sanctuary from our 24/7 world. We make it
warm, stimulating and welcoming; put a television in the room to watch to relax, an
iPad to keep in touch with friends via Facebook. Its your reward after a busy day at
work, and time at home cooking and cleaning. Were aware of advice to stop using
technology an hour before we sleep, but we also deserve time to unwind, and the TV
and web often feels like a part of that. Sleep is better when the temperature is low, the
screens are off, and its quiet. If we all only had more time.
Sleep matters. Organisation leaders can boost productivity, mood and health

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bychanging the times people work. The NHS can improve care by improving shift
patterns. Schools and universities can improve learning and health. Now we
understand so much more about sleep, we can use that knowledge to improve the
quality of life of everyone. Sweet dreams.