Do You Really Need 8 Hours of Sleep Every Night? | Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter | TED

Sleep is so important.

譯者: Yi-Ping Cho (Marssi) 審譯者: Adrienne Lin

睡眠很重要，

We need it to live.

要活就要睡。

And when we can't sleep, we're desperate for help.

要是睡不好，我們就極需幫助。

[Body Stuff with Dr. Jen Gunter]

〔關於人體〕 〔珍‧甘特博士主持〕

But lately, our fascination with sleep feels as if it's taken on an urgency.

但最近我們對睡眠重視的程度， 讓人感覺好像事態很嚴重。

Do a quick internet search for sleep and you'll find a slew of articles

上網查一下「 睡眠」， 就會找到一大堆文章，

about how to make your sleep perfect.

告訴你怎麼做可以睡得完美：

New gadgets, fancy alarm clocks,

運用新裝置、花哨的鬧鐘；

stay away from blue light.

遠離藍光。

There are lots of services, products and advice columns

市面上有很多服務、產品、專欄建議

that tell us we're sleeping wrong.

都說我們睡得不對。

Not enough,

睡眠時間不夠、

not quality sleep, wrong position.

品質不好、睡覺的姿勢不對。

Even worse, you might find scary messaging

更慘的是，你還會看到驚悚的訊息，

claiming that if you're not sleeping right

宣稱如果你睡得不對，

your life is going to be shorter,

就會短命，

you're going to get all kinds of diseases.

就會生一堆有的沒有的病。

One of the biggest worries we have about our sleep

對於睡眠，我們最擔心的有

is that we're not getting enough

睡不夠，

and that anything less than seven hours a night

而且要是每晚睡不到七小時，

means that we’re doomed to bad health,

就註定會變不健康，

everything from high blood pressure to Alzheimer’s disease.

像是會有高血壓， 甚至導致阿茲海默症等等。

But there are two flaws with this kind of messaging.

這類訊息有兩大瑕疵。

The first flaw is that it's not completely accurate.

第一個瑕疵是 這類論點不全然正確。

Seven to eight hours of sleep,

建議成人睡七到八小時──

while recommended for adults, is just an average.

這只是一個平均數字。

And while messages have to be simplified for health communication to the public,

為了讓大眾便於討論 健康議題而簡化的資訊，

sometimes important nuances get lost.

有時候反而會忽略重要的細微差別。

So yes, it's true that not getting enough sleep in the long term

是沒錯，「長期」睡不夠真的會讓人生病，

is associated with health problems like cardiovascular disease,

像是心血管疾病、

diabetes and depression.

糖尿病和憂鬱症。

But fixating solely on seven to eight hours

但是執著於一定要睡七到八小時，

ignores the fact that there's a range of sleep that people need.

卻忽略了一個事實： 人需要的睡眠類型有很多樣。

The duration of a good night's sleep can be different for different people.

睡多久才能稱做一夜好眠 對每個人來說都不一樣。

Some adults need eight, but some are just fine on six.

有些成人需要睡八小時， 有些睡六小時就夠了。

The second flaw with this kind of doomsday messaging

這種末日論點的第二個瑕疵

is that it can be counterproductive,

在於可能造成反效果，

especially for people who do have trouble sleeping.

特別是對那些 真的有睡眠困擾的人來說。

For instance, in 2019,

比如說，在 2019 年 ，

it was estimated that 21 percent of adults in the US

估計美國有 21% 的成年人

were wearing sleep tracking devices.

攜帶睡眠追蹤裝置。

And that number is probably growing.

這個數字大概在持續增加。

And I get it.

我了解為什麼會這樣。

It's fascinating to see how much sleep you've gotten each night

因為可以看到自己每晚睡多少、

and to know what part of your night was spent in deep sleep or dreaming.

哪個階段是深層睡眠或作夢期， 感覺非常有意思。

But having all of that sleep data

但是這類睡眠資訊

is causing some people to become obsessed with it,

讓某些人變得很著迷於數據，

so much so that it’s leading to a condition some call orthosomnia:

以致於到一種所謂 「完美睡眠主義症」的程度：

a preoccupation with the constant need to achieve perfect sleep.

一心只想著要達到完美睡眠。

And this condition, ironically, is causing more sleep problems.

很諷刺地，這種情況 只會造成更多睡眠問題。

Now orthosomnia might be an extreme example,

完美睡眠主義症 也許是一種極端的例子，

but the anxiety of not getting enough sleep

但焦慮於睡不夠

is keeping some of us up at night.

反而讓有些人晚上睡不著。

So here's what some experts are saying.

讓我們來聽聽專家怎麼說。

Stop fixating on the number

不要再執著於數字，

because that can lead to unrealistic expectations of sleep.

因為數字會讓你 對睡眠有不實際的期待。

According to Dr. Colleen Carney,

心理學家柯琳‧卡尼博士，

a psychologist and the head of the Ryerson University Sleep Lab,

同時也是萊爾森大學 睡眠研究室的主持人說，

the basic questions you should ask yourself are:

你應該問問自己幾個基本問題：

Do I feel reasonably well-rested during the day?

我覺得白天的精神還算不錯嗎？

Do I generally sleep through the night without disturbances?

晚上通常能夠一夜好眠嗎？

Or, if I wake, do I fall back asleep easily?

或是說如果醒了， 能不能很快再度入睡？

Can I stay awake through the day without involuntarily falling asleep?

我白天能不能保持清醒， 不會不小心睡著？

If your answers are yes to all three,

如果你的答案都是肯定的，

you probably don't need to worry about your sleep.

大概就不太需要擔心自己的睡眠。

And if you're struggling with your sleep,

如果你睡得不太好，

instead of buying expensive blue light filters

與其花大錢買抗藍光濾鏡，

or fancy sleep trackers,

或是花哨的睡眠追蹤裝置，

try talking with your doctor to make sure there aren't any medical conditions

不如試著跟你的醫生討論，

先確保沒有需要檢查的病症。

that need to be explored first.

Then try evidence-based recommendations

然後嘗試由美國睡眠醫學會

laid out by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

所詳列有實證的建議。

What's really cool is that there's a highly effective therapy

超讚的是，裡面一種很有效的療法

called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBT-I,

叫做睡眠認知行為治療，或稱 CTB-I，

It doesn’t have any medications involved.

這種方法不必用藥，

And it has a really low failure rate.

而且失敗率很低。