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!