Sleepy in South Korea - 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from

BBC Learning English. I'm Sam.  

And I'm Neil. Sleep - we all need it - some more

than others. I can usually get by

with around seven hours a night

but I do like to have a nap - a

short sleep - in the afternoon,

when I'm not working of course.

How about you, Neil? I'm always tired and as soon as

my head hits the pillow, I'm out

like a light - meaning I go

to sleep very quickly. Well, Neil, you might not survive

in South Korea then. Apparently,

it's one of the most stressed and

tired nations on earth - a place

where people work and study longer

hours and get less sleep than

anywhere else. We'll find out

more later and teach some

sleep-related vocabulary. But before we do, you need to

give me a question to keep me

awake and alert! Of course I do, and here it is.

In the 1960s, American man,

Randy Gardner, set the world

record for staying awake for

the longest period. Do you know

what that time was? Was it: a) 64 hours, b) 164 hours,

or c) 264 hours? All sound impossible but I'll guess

a) 64 hours - that's nearly 3 days! Oh, well. I'll give you the answer

later in the programme - assuming

you don't doze off! But let's talk

more about sleep now. As I

mentioned, we all need it to

help our mind and body rest

and relax. And going without

sleep - or sleeplessness - is

bad for our health. Many things can stop us sleeping

and some of them are pressure,

anxiety and stress caused by

your job. And in South Korea

research has shown it's become

increasingly difficult to

switch off - stop thinking about

work and relax. South Koreans

sleep fewer hours and have

higher rates of depression

and suicide than

almost anywhere else. Se-Woong Koo has been reporting

on this for the BBC World Service

Documentary podcast. He met one

worker who explained why she

never got time to relax. Separating work and rest time

has been a recurring issue

for Ji-an - in her last job

her office hours were long.

Like most Korean firms, her

employer didn't think about

any boundaries. They encroached

on almost all her time. They told me 'you need to be

contactable 24/7' - there will

always be someone from work

reaching out to me, like

needing to get something

done right now. Even just

thinking about it,

I get really agitated. So, that stressed out worker

got agitated just thinking

about the situation - she

got worried or upset. That's

because office hours in South Korea

are long and some employers

expect their workers to be

contactable all the time. Yes, there are no boundaries - so

no limits or rules about when

employers can contact their

employees. Therefore, as this

employee said, work

encroached - it gradually took

over - her leisure time. Stress

like this can lead to

insomnia - a condition where

you are unable to sleep. The BBC Discovery podcast goes on

to explain that offering a cure

for this sleeplessness has become

big business. There are sleep

clinics where doctors assess

people overnight, and sleep

cafes that offer places to nap

in the middle of the working day. One other issue in South Korea that's

affecting sleep is the 'bali bali'

culture, meaning 'quickly, quickly'

or 'hurry, hurry'. People are

constantly in a rush. Doctor Lee spoke to the

World Service's Discovery podcast

about the effects of this and

how even trying to take

medication to help sleep,

has its problems. People take like, ten or twenty

pills per one night, and

because they cannot fall

asleep even with the medication,

they drink alcohol on top of

that, and they experience

side-effects of the medication.

People can sleepwalk, and go

to the refrigerator, eat a

lot of things

unconsciously - uncooked food,

and they don't remember next day.

There were cases of car accidents

in the centre of Seoul which

has been sleepwalking patients. So, some people are taking lots

of pills to help them sleep but

they're not working so they're

drinking alcohol as well.

This leads to

side-effects - unpleasant and

unexpected results from

the medication. It seems, one of these

side-effects is

sleepwalking - moving around

and doing things while still asleep. Well, if sleeping pills aren't working,

there's always meditation - or working less. At least South Koreans are getting

some sleep, unlike Randy Gardner who

I asked you about earlier. Yes, he holds the record for

staying awake the longest.

And I thought he stayed awake

for 64 hours. Was I right? No, Neil. Not long enough.

Randy Gardner stayed awake for

an incredible 264.4 hours - that's

11 days and 25 minutes - in

January 1964. That's one record I really

don't want to beat. Well, before you nod off Neil,

let's recap some of the vocabulary

we've been discussing, including

go out like a light, which means

you go to sleep very quickly. When you switch off you stop

concentrating on one thing and

start thinking about something else. A lack of sleep or rest can make

you agitated - you get

worried or upset. Encroach means gradually take over.  

When you take medication and it

gives you an unpleasant and

unexpected result, we call

these side-effects. And sleepwalking describes

moving around and doing things

while still asleep. That's our six minutes up.

Goodbye and sweet dreams! Goodbye!