Hello Brains! I've been encouraging you guys to leave topic ideas in the comments below
and you have and I really appreciate it. Matthew says, "Great videos. Could you make one tackling
the issue of ADHD and sleep?" Of course I can, Matthew. Of course I can. In five more minutes.
[music intro]
Brain, you're not alone. About half of kids with ADHD have trouble falling asleep, staying
asleep, or waking up in the morning. And in adults that number jumps to 70 to 80 percent.
If that number surprises you, trust me, it surprised me too. I didn't know my sleep problems were
because of my ADHD. I just thought I was a borderline narcoleptic night owl with
restless leg syndrome who'd grind her teeth at night, fall asleep every time I
sat down to relax, not go to bed so much as pass out from exhaustion and sleep
through every alarm short of an ice bucket challenge. I'm awake! I'm awake.
(sighs)
So if this is so common how come nobody told us about this? Turns out problems with
sleep actually used to be a diagnostic criteria for ADHD back in the 1980s, but was dropped
because they couldn't figure out exactly why or what to do about it.
Only recently have studies begun to reveal what's going on and how to fix it.
There are more sleep issues that those of us with ADHD face than I can put into an ADHD
friendly video. But, the most common one is that we have trouble getting to sleep when
we should and so we wake up late or, maybe we don't have that luxury, tired. In fact,
over half of ADHD adults report going to bed late and either waking up late or having trouble
waking up in the morning. Also known as, "Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome." Over half! That means
you might actually sleep just fine. Your body just wants to go to sleep between 2 and 4 a.m.
And wake up between 10 a.m. and noon. There are lots of reasons for this but one of the most
interesting and recently researched reasons is this: those of us with ADHD often have trouble
with our circadian rhythm, or internal clock. Our internal clock is what produces melatonin
which is the chemical that makes us feel sleepy. If our internal clocks are off they still produce
melatonin just not when they probably should. This may be because our circadian rhythms
are off naturally or because our behavior creates or reinforces this rhythm. Either way there are
two ways of tackling the problem: 1) reset your internal clock; and 2) practice good sleep
hygiene to enforce the rhythm you'd like to have. Psychiatrist Myron Brenner MD, who
performed one study on Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, believes that the sensors in those
of us with ADHD are weak. They don't totally pick up on the gradual rising and setting of the
sun. I know I don't until it's shining in my face. So for us to reset our internal clocks we might
need a little extra help. Some people use melatonin to help reset their clock but you should talk to
a doctor before you do it because if you do it too long or at the wrong time of day it can
actually contribute to depression. There have been some limited but promising studies done
that show that the best solution is controlling your light exposure. Think of it like winding a
clock to the correct time. If a clock's wrong the only way to fix it is tell it what time it is.
What tells us what time it is is the sun. That means going out of our way to be exposed
to bright light in the morning and avoiding it at night. One way to do this is to sleep on your roof
and let the sun do all of the work. If that doesn't sound good to you, option 2: Fake it.
There are alarm clocks you can buy with special sun rise simulating lights to help you wake up
when you need to. This is a fairly new technology and more research needs to be done so -
I'm performing my own. It's a very small study.
2) Practice good sleep hygiene. Decide on a bed time and stick to it. there's an app called "To Bed"
that makes this fun. Have a bedtime routine and a morning routine to help your body know
when it's time to wind down and when it's time to wake up. If your racing thoughts are keeping
you awake try doing a brain dump right before bed. If you take stimulant medication try taking
it half an hour before you have to get up so it has a chance to kick in. Pretty sure this is the
only way I made it through high school. Leave electronics out of your bedroom and use your
bed only for sleep.
And other stuff.
Try not to use electronics at all 2 to 3 hours before bedtime because they emit a blue light
that makes your brain think that it's day time. If you have to get a blue light filter.
This might feel like a lot of work just to get to sleep on time, but if you do it you should also
have an easier time falling asleep, waking up and, as a bonus, may even have a better sense of
time and time management once your internal clock is properly set.
That's it for this week. I posted a ton of links in the description below that should help.
Let me know how goes. Hit me up on Facebook and Twitter and Matthew I hope I answered
your question. Oh and the brain says that you'll sleep easier if you also subscribe to my channel.
I can't vouch for that but it's worth a click.
Shhh. The brain is sleeping.
Bye Brains.
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