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Something happened to me in Secondary school. The day had just began, I got seated for class, then I felt this incredible urge to put my head down, and I did
Guess what?
I was awakened by the farewell greeting of the teacher that took the last period
I’ve never really been the brightest there is and on the same hand, I’ve never been the dullest. So it’s not typical of me to doze all day
It happened again
This time, I was on my way to evening class and I felt this strong urge again. I ran off to look for a place to lay down
Believe me, I didn’t get to my friend’s bed that I had in mind. I laid on the closest one I saw
I woke up after a few hours and everybody had been looking for me
I left for classes and never got there and no one could explain where I was
These are the only two instances I observed
It hasn’t happened again since that time
But the unusual nature of these two episodes remained with me until I came in contact to information that explained what happened
It’s called narcolepsy
The body skips the arousal stage of sleep & heads straight to “main sleep” without prior warming
I could have been in a Board meeting when that happened
I could hav been behind the wheels of a car
I could have been on top of a NEPA pole
This is just one form of sleep disorder
The most common one is “Insomnia”
It’s so pervasive and sadly is considered as normal by most people
People even take “advantage” of it by keeping themselves occupied during the hours they are unable to fall asleep or remain asleep
Some have accepted it as “routine”
They sleep at a certain time and by 1pm sharp, they wake up and are unable to sleep again for another two or three hours
Some people activate the Twitter night mode and enjoy all it brings
It can also come in form of waking up early, much earlier than you want to
Whichever it is, it’s still a problem
Scientists are unable to tell why we sleep
But sleep is so important that lack of it, or not enough of it, puts you on the frontline of sickness
In Psychiatry, problems with sleep is always recorded as the earliest sign of psychopathology
Some believe that non-communicable, inflammatory diseases are on the rise because humans have altered the natural marker of day and night(with artificial lighting), disrupting sleep and getting less and less of it. Leaving our bodies less hours to recoup from hassles of the day
Thereby burdening it and making it susceptible to just about anything
What am I trying to say ; sleep is important
It’s not a waste of time
It’s not what lazy people do(always)
Lack of it has repercussions. Admittably, mostly not immediately
Hardwork must not translate to little or no sleep
Most importantly, problems with sleep has solutions. Do not be hesitant to seek it
When people hear “mental disorder,” the mind of an average person goes to the scantily, dressed, untidy person talking to themselves in the street seated closed to heap of dirt
Well, sleep problems have an equal share on the round table of mental problems and it affects everyone at one time or another
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Tags: Ezinne Arua, Sleep, Sleep disorder