Here’s the bare minimum amount of sleep you need before a big exam.

By Nick Keppler, Sep 17 2018

You had a whole week to prepare for your Comparative Lit exam—but then, well, Assassin’s Creed happened. (Lots of Assassin’s Creed.) Now your only hope is the fallback option that college students have relied upon since the days of affordable tuition: the all-nighter. You go to the common room with two Red Bulls, a bag of books weighing as much as a car tire, and a laptop. You will mentally chain yourself to a desk and finish everything you’ve put off until the sun rises. But then you remember from Psychology 101 that sleep is, like, important. Aren’t you destroying the cognitive capacity you need to get through this year with at least a 2.6 by depriving yourself of it?

Click HERE for the full article on VICE.

By CARINA WOLFF, 9/12/18

When it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, you might be focusing more on your bedroom atmosphere or avoiding caffeine too late in the day. However, you also might want to start paying attention to your bathing habits, as there are a number of shower tips that can help you if you have trouble sleeping. Since showers can change our body temperature, and temperature plays a role in our body’s natural circadian rhythm, you can change up your shower habits to help encourage better sleep at night and wakefulness in the morning.

“Any drop in body temperature can often help with deepening our sleep through the night,” psychiatrist and sleep medicine specialist Dr. Alex Dimitriu tells Bustle. “There is a substantial body of research that shows if you warm up, and then cool down through the night, sleep gets deeper. Meaning, we spend more time in deep sleep rather than light sleep when we cool down. Half of this involves warming up, and a hot shower or bath before bed can accentuate this drop in temperature.”

Click HERE for the full article on Bustle.

September 2018

As important to your health as good nutrition and regular exercise, the consequences of missing sleep begin with diminished daytime function: mood, energy, concentration and reaction time. But, sleepless nights have implications well beyond making you sleepy the next day. Over the long term, it contributes to obesity and the risk of serious illness. Beyond its interplay with brain health issues such as dementia and Alzheimer’s, sleep in healthy, young people also plays a key role in memory formation and consolidation. Many younger patients with insomnia, or insufficient time sleeping, report significant short-term memory problems.

Click HERE for the full article on Alternative Medicine Magazine.

By Carina Wolff, 8/29/18

Some people live for their daily naps. After all, they can be rejuvenating and the perfect break during an exhausting day. But if you’re just plopping on the couch and sleeping until you see fit, you may not be doing it right. There are a number of mistakes you can make when napping, and although they might seem harmless, they can leave you feeling groggy and low-energy and even affect your sleep schedule later on. Naps can be a healthy part of your day, but it’s important you follow a few simple rules.

Sleep depends on quality just as much as quantity, and it’s important to be aware of the different phases of sleep as well. “There is deep sleep and light sleep, and our bodies go through cycles of this every night — about every 90 minutes,” psychiatrist and sleep medicine specialist Dr. Alex Dimitriu tells Bustle. “Not all naps are equal, because depending on the timing of the nap, we may have more light sleep or deep sleep. Longer naps tend to bring us into deeper sleep, from which it can be harder to wake up.”

Click HERE for the full article on Bustle.

August 2018

Click HERE for the full article on A List Nation Magazine.

Agitated depression—or “melancholia agitate”—has been described as a mixed state in which some symptoms of depression exist with those of other psychiatric ailments.

By Nick Keppler, Aug 15 2018, 12:29pm

For Steven, a “bender” began with a scenario like this: He would be watching a movie at his girlfriend’s apartment. Then the thought hit him: He had done something wrong at his job—or just something inadequate. Steven works in finance, in security and regulation compliance; there are always things he could have given more scrutiny.

“My girlfriend would be talking, but I wouldn’t hear what she was saying,” says Steven (who requested that his last name and location be withheld because he feared possible termination from his job). “I would just be thinking, ‘You are lazy. You are stupid. You can’t pretend anymore. You are a piece of shit and you don’t have a plan.’”

Click HERE for the full article on VICE.