GREENSBORO, N.C. — I don't even have a tick-tock clock in my house, but I swear I hear the sound of a clock when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. I tell myself, I can survive with just a few hours. I'm sure you've done the same.
"So the myth of getting by on less sleep in any sort of long-term way is just that, it's a myth. We are biologically hardwired to crave sleep, and there are a number of reasons why sleep is so important for a healthy body and a calm mind," said Emerson Wickwire, Sleep Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine.
The time change is coming and that messes up a lot of people's sleep patterns, as does traveling to different time zones. The doctor says the answer is, sleep banking.
"And what this means is we want to oversleep as a preparatory or preventative mechanism. If you know that you're traveling abroad across multiple time zones, or if you know that you're gonna have a major project due next Monday and have a busy weekend. One of the strategies that we employ is sleep banking. Sleep is just like putting money in the bank," said Wickwire.
Avery common thing someone will say is, I'll have a glass of wine to relax and put me to sleep. This is partly true, it will help put you to sleep, but the doctor says, it won't keep you asleep.
"Alcohol changes the way our brain oscillates in and out of deeper and shallower stages of sleep. So I'm sorry to disappoint our audience, but when you enjoy, or if you choose to enjoy a glass of wine, make sure you give yourself a buffer zone and your sleep will thank you for it," said Wickwire.