Positive Choices
Anxiety and Depression. A faith-based approach
Week 6 Sleep/Rest
Anatomy
GABA – Gamma amino butyric acid
Inhibitory – prevents transmission, turns brain off.
Reticular activating system – helps us stay awake
Brain stem to hypothalamus, midline raphe.
Part of going to sleep is turning off RAS
GABA agonists – temazepam, Ambien, Sonata, Lunesta, (valium, xanax, lorazepam)
Trazadone – nonGABA
1/3 of blood flow goes to brain. That is a lot of energy.
Once you start giving artificial GABA – your own GABA stops working.
Brain wave sleep patterns
Awake – narrow high frequency waves – alpha waves
NREM – high amplitude, low frequency
REM sleep – low amplitude, high frequency.
NREM sleep – stage N1, N2, N3. (old terminology N4 also)
Stage 1->4 then up to REM, repeat 4-5 times a night.
REM sleep – paralyzed.
Stage 1 – light
Stage 2 – heart rate and breathing slow, brain waves slow, but brief bursts of electrical activity
Stage 3 – largest amount in early part of night. – sleep walking, sleep talking
Infants spend 50% of time in REM sleep.
REM sleep decreases as we age. by age 5 – 20% of sleep is REM.
As get to age 60+ often people only sleep 6 hours, but most still need more hours.
Most dreaming is in REM sleep.
NREM sleep is what makes us feel rested.
If deprived of REM sleep —> anxiety, irritable
If deprived of total sleep lose ability to focus.
Research:
Over 200 studies document deteriorate in cognitive performance with sleep deprivation.
This includes attention, reaction time, vigilance, mathematical abilities, working memory, long term memory, visual motor skills, procedural tasks, logic and reasoning, verbal fluency, and many other functions.
Consolidate memories during sleep.
Short term memory is in hippocampus. Sleep moves memories to neocortex where they become long term memories.
We need both the hippocampus and neocortex for memory function.
In Alzheimers the hippocampus is injured. The neocortex is intact. So no new memories, but old memories are intact for a much longer time.
In sleep deprivation, the hippocampus is intact, but the transfer to neocortex does not occur, so long term memories do not get laid down.
Sleep and suicide
trouble falling asleep Risk of suicide
No problems 1.0
Sometimes 1.6 x
Often 2.3 x
Almost Every night 5 x
Lifestyle therapies for insomnia:
Avoid stimulants
Avoid alcohol – disrupts sleep architecture.
Avoid benzodiazepines – indigenous GABA works less well
Avoid late night meals
Exercise
No TV in bedroom
If lay awake, better to get up and do something.
Melatonin – 3-10 mg
Valerian root – sometimes helpful, weak
CALM – powdered form of magnesium citrate
Spiritual Rest
Proverbs 3:24
When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
This is a promise. Claim it.
Ex 20
Remember the Sabbath day to rest.
He is claiming a day of our time.
Ex 34
Even during the plowing time and harvest – he wants people to rest.
Constantine
Sunday law only applied to people in the city.
The country people could do anything they wanted.
Finances
If you survey property – the reference point is the most important.
In finances this is the same thing – Who is the owner?
Who is the owner
Capitalist – person is owner. Motivation is high, but in reality – pollution, corruption, grinding poor.
Socialist – society/state is owner. Person is employee. Promise – protect everybody. Reality – killed more people than any other form of government.
In truth – God is the owner, we are stewards. How treat others is a mirror of how you are treating God.
Matt 25:14-30
The master goes on a journey. Talents. Who was the owner – The man who went on the trip.
Recognizing God is owner of all our talents. Our money and our time.
When he says to rest, he owns our time.
Story of the Finnish tailor:
He said, “We are lucky ones, we have an Almighty Father, who cares about us.”
We have this same Almighty Father, who also cares for us.
There is nothing even close to as good as this for both sleep and anxiety.
