According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of the plural noun vital signs is as follows: clinical measurements, specifically pulse rate, temperature, respiration rate, and blood pressure, that indicate the state of a patient’s essential body functions. As someone who has experienced the glorious phenomenon of a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep approximately twelve times in fifty years, I strongly argue that sleep should be added to the list of vital signs.
From the Sleep Experts
In a Psychology Today article titled “Why Sleep Deprivation is Torture” , sleep experts tell us that the first signs of sleep deprivation are fatigue, irritability, and difficulties concentrating. Then come problems with reading and speaking clearly, poor judgment, lower body temperature, and a considerable increase in appetite.
If the deprivation continues, the worsening effects include disorientation, visual misperceptions, apathy, severe lethargy, and social withdrawal. As far as torture goes, it’s not even terribly effective because the cognitive decline can leave the information squeezed out of a person unreliable. For me on the other hand, sleep deprivation is terribly terrible and it truly is torture.
From Yours Truly
Good sleep has eluded me for most of my life. I vividly remember my first nightmare with its blood thirsty creatures snarling at me from never-ending rows of dark caves. The screaming brought my mother frantically running into my room, catching her long nightgown on the door violently jerking her back from me, her arms outstretched. I was four and it’s been downhill ever since. But over the past couple months, the effects of sleep deprivation have been particularly profound. I found myself desperately clawing to get out of the dark, underground cave in my head that I was calling home. It’s effing scary down there!
To say that I was depressed would be to say Norman Bates was a bit socially awkward. Tip of the ice berg! Both my body and my brain functioned like slow, churning cement. I would go days without breathing fresh air or eating fresh food. Decisions seemed impossible. Should I microwave yesterday’s coffee for 60 seconds or 90?
Overwhelmed by the need to think, produce and interact with others, I shut down at work and ended up using precious PTO days to catch up on sleep and/or bingeing terrible TV. In a nutshell, avoiding life.
PS Fuck you, Netflix!
Catatonia and creativity do not play well together, and my writing definitely suffered. If I even managed to open my laptop, I mostly just sat and stared at it. My memoir went nowhere for weeks and my last blog post red + blue = purple was published on February 15!
Every night the grumbling rumble from the man snoring in the apartment below me snuck up through the wood floor and shook my bed until I inevitably woke up. Once awake, the squirrel in my head chased down and presented me with every deadline I was behind on, all the people I was avoiding, and any random question about anything. Suddenly, it became imperative to find out whatever happened to Leif Garrett. (Yikes!)
Sleep Interventions
My attempts to quiet the squirrel (and the neighbor!) were futile. I created white noise with the drone of a fan, then added sleep music, sleep meditations, and sleep stories. Not even Matthew McConaughey could lull me to sleep with his smooth, come hither voice!
I took 100 mg of Trazodone, then 150 mg. I was so desperate that I even took 200 mg one night! That left me feeling like I was withdrawing from morphine the next day. Lesson learned. I put in earplugs then wrapped my head in the most ridiculous eye mask I could find.
But when the bed is vibrating, even if the noise could be blocked, the freight train below just cannot be ignored. I bought a big rug hoping to dull the train. No such luck. In the end, I had to rearrange my apartment. I swapped my office and bedroom which was a pain in the ass, but well worth the trouble.
Cautionary Tale
Sleep may not be a vital sign (yet!), but sleep deprivation is a sure sign that rough waters are ahead. Please take my misery as a cautionary tale and mind your sleep habits. If you experience more than a night or two of disrupted sleep, by God do something about it!
You’re on your way to healthier rest, thank goodness! I can feel your frustration…now need to take a nap.
I hope you had a great nap, Pam! Thanks for reading!
Wow! Noelle, you do a great job of hiding your sleep misery. But I am so glad that you have gotten some positive changes and some sleep. Wishing you some great sleep and perfect dreams.
Well, Mary, I’ve had a lot of practice putting on a happy face. It’s probably part of my obsession with red lipstick … distraction! Getting better sleep all the time! 🙂
Thank you for reading!
I am so sorry you are dealing with this. It is life-altering.
As someone who can relate, I can also understand the frustration and depression. Do what you have to to take care of you!!
You’re so right, Julie, it’s serious stuff. It’s hard to believe how fast things can go downhill. I hope you’ve managed to overcome the frustration and depression that you’ve experienced.
Thanks for reading and commenting. I always appreciate it! 🙂
I knew you were stressed, but I’m sorry you have this to deal with. I have sleep issues, but they are getting better since my surgery. Because of that drug assisted sleep, I formed some new habits and learned some meditative tools that help derail my “squirrels” (I call them “the committee”). You have new tools and your bed in a new room! Hopefully the new habits you are working with will help more and more ::HUG::
Thank you, Judy! Yes, things are working much better – thank God! I really appreciate you checking in on me!
The committee … I love it!!
You have a wonderful way with words! You give so many examples to bring the reader along with how you’re feeling and put them into your experience! After reading this, I think I should go to bed early tonight 😴
Yay Sarah! Thank you for reading, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And such thoughtful comments … double cookies for you!
Dang, I never knew, was Mom ok? Was I still sleeping soundly? Have you smacked the guy below like Raby did? Still remember how proud you were of her.
Love Dad
OMG Dad … I haven’t thought about that in a million years! You must’ve been sleeping soundly, which is kind of ironic seeing how I’m pretty sure I inherited my sleep “difficulties” from you! Thankfully, all the wonderful things that came from you far outweigh the less-than-wonderful!
What’s the deal with slapping the guy below like Raby did? Now I’m curious.
I knew you had sleeping issues but not really to the extent that it’s obviously been. This makes me sad to realize how it’s affected your life; however, hopefully things are now better getting away from your snoring nightmare. I’ve always been able to sleep good until recently and it is a struggle some nights for no identifiable reason. I go out on the couch and generally can go back to sleep but can relate to how it affects a person the next day.
I remember when you were maybe 3 or 4 and had a nightmare about a cat. You were screaming so I woke up abruptly to see what was wrong. I got my foot caught in the bedding trying to get to you and fell to the floor with a crash. There seems to be a pattern with the nightmare stories.
Also I’m thinking that I might get nervous when I see you wearing the red lipstick.
I was so little and so scared. It totally made an impression! There were wide bands of green, yellow and red repeating up the walls of my room, which were like three stories tall. Each row had black caves with something scary getting ready to come out and get me. One row was black cats, then bears, bats, and things where all I could see was eyes. One scary thing per band all the up as far as I could see. Terrifying!
About the red lipstick … be prepared to worry about me a lot!
Glad this one wasn’t hereditary. Yet…