Sleep

Take a seat.

Sleep is having a moment. After decades of being treated as a negotiable item in a busy life — something to be compressed when necessary and caught up on at weekends — it is now recognised as one of the most consequential things a person can do for their health. The evidence is substantial and still accumulating: sleep affects cognitive function, physical repair, emotional regulation,  pattern recognition, immune response, and the consolidation of memory and learning. Sleep is not optional.

Most people know this by now. Fewer people sleep well — and in retirement, the reasons for that are worth understanding rather than simply managing.

Sleep patterns change with age in ways that are normal and predictable, but are widely misinterpreted. The deep, uninterrupted sleep of younger years tends to give way to lighter, more fragmented patterns. Waking earlier, taking longer to fall asleep, or waking briefly during the night are not necessarily signs that something is wrong. These may be  signs that the brain and body are ageing normally. Treating every departure from your sleep of years gone by as a problem to be fixed — usually with medication or supplements — can create its own problems.

Understanding your sleep pattern is more useful than measuring it against any population average. The commonly cited figure of six and a half to seven hours is a general recommendation, not a personal prescription. Everybody is different and every body carries a brain that has been fairly described as  maddeningly unique. The right amount of sleep for one person may be quite different from the right amount for another.

The more productive question is not whether you are meeting the recommended figure, but whether you are waking reasonably restored, sustaining your energy and concentration through the day, and recovering sufficiently from physical exertion.

Sleep  is also directly connected to learning, on which the earlier commentary on Mental Acuity touched,. Sleep is not passive. During sleep the brain actively consolidates the day’s learning, processes experience, and clears metabolic waste that accumulates during waking hours.

Skimping on sleep does not simply leave you tired — it compromises the  processes that keep the mind sharp and the memory reliable.

Retirement does not always improve sleep. The loss of routine, changes in physical activity, and the psychological adjustments that accompany this stage of life can all affect sleep quality in ways that are worthy of  thoughtful attention.

Jack Lack’s Listening Chair is always here, as is your welcome.