For anyone that doesn't know, it's a sleep schedule where instead of sleeping for 6-8 hours at once, you sleep at certain intervals during the day for half an hour each. I hear it works really well but I don't want to fuck my sleep schedule up if it won't work well. So has anyone tried it and can confirm that it works?
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep]Wikipedia article link[/url]
Sounds pretty horrible, plus if you do it you'd be up all night bored
Isn't this that thing there was a cracked article featuring, it said that you basically train your mind to go into REM sooner, wake up feeling better.
[QUOTE=Bletotum;25502195]Isn't this that thing there was a cracked article featuring, it said that you basically train your mind to go into REM sooner, wake up feeling better.[/QUOTE]
It tricks your brain into thinking you had approx. 8 hours of REM sleep instead of the regular 2 hours
Which obviously makes you feel more better when you wake up
or something
REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement
I've heard of it. I've been wanting to try it but I can't due to school and work.
[QUOTE=Kalibos;25502217]REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement[/QUOTE]
REM sleep refers to the cycle in which you are dreaming, resulting in rapid eye movement.
Found a guide to it on WikiHow. It says you need 7-10 days to adjust to the schedule and that you feel similar to feeling hung over all 7-10 days before your body adjusts. I might try it.
The problem with this is, if you skip a cycle, your body basically gets hit with a gigantic wave of exhaustion. You need to stay consistent with your sleep cycles and timings.
There seems to not even be a single proper study done of this that I can find in the literature. (Granted, I only took a cursory look). So I honestly am not sure what to think about it. It's most likely better than getting small amounts of sleep, but I'd imagine that even for similar amounts of time spent trying to sleep, monophasic sleep would be superior.
One of my main reasons for trying it is that I already only get about 3 hours of sleep a night as it is, by my own choice and I have no problems with fatigue in the day. So the change might not hit me as hard and when I finally get adjusted I won't even have to take the normal number of naps.
[QUOTE=trent_roolz;25502312]One of my main reasons for trying it is that I already only get about 3 hours of sleep a night as it is, by my own choice and I have no problems with fatigue in the day. So the change might not hit me as hard and when I finally get adjusted I won't even have to take the normal number of naps.[/QUOTE]
If you have insomnia (you do) you should go to a sleep clinic, instead trying a crazy idea you got from the internet,
Someone should try this out....FOR SCIENCE :eng101:
This sounds like something that soldiers would find useful.
[QUOTE=Mbbird;25502367]Someone should try this out....FOR SCIENCE :eng101:[/QUOTE]
It wouldn't be for science because an uncontrolled, unsupervised attempt at behavior modification is in no way science, or even vaguely scientific.
This is otherwise known as the Über-man Sleep Cycle. Case no one knew the cooler name for it.
[QUOTE=Psychokitten;25502382]This sounds like something that soldiers would find useful.[/QUOTE]
In the Wikipedia article it mentions use of it in NASA, the US military, the Italian Air Force, and Canadian marine pilots.
[QUOTE=Kagrenak;25502342]If you have insomnia (you do) you should go to a sleep clinic, instead trying a crazy idea you got from the internet,[/QUOTE]
I want to try it more out of curiosity than anything else. I like trying new things. And I thought insomnia was a lack of sleep altogether? Please elaborate.
[QUOTE=Kagrenak;25502384]It wouldn't be for science because an uncontrolled, unsupervised attempt at behavior modification is in no way science, or even vaguely scientific.[/QUOTE]
Facepunch science :colbert:
[QUOTE=trent_roolz;25502442]In the Wikipedia article it mentions use of it in NASA, the US military, the Italian Air Force, and Canadian marine pilots.
I want to try it more out of curiosity than anything else. I like trying new things. And I thought insomnia was a lack of sleep altogether? Please elaborate.[/QUOTE]
Canada hell yeah
[QUOTE=trent_roolz;25502442]In the Wikipedia article it mentions use of it in NASA, the US military, the Italian Air Force, and Canadian marine pilots.
[/QUOTE]
None of them really support polyphasic sleep if you actually read them properly instead of it over skimming over. Saying to yourself all along "wow, all these groups support it, it must be right".
For example, the Canadian military one:
[quote=Wiki; On Aviators]However, researchers caution that levels of performance achieved using ultrashort sleep (short naps) to temporarily replace normal sleep are always well below that achieved when fully rested.[/quote]
The one from NASA is no better for supporting this, it is just saying how they nap instead of sleep in long blocks because it's difficult to do that in space, as well as the fact that longer naps are better.
Also the US military:
[quote=Wiki, on the USAF]
Each individual nap should be long enough to provide at least 45 continuous minutes of sleep, although longer naps (2 hours) are better. In general, the shorter each individual nap is, the more frequent the naps should be (the objective remains to acquire a daily total of 8 hours of sleep)[/quote]
Long naps are better, and eight hours is still the goal. Polyphasic sleep as advocated on the internet is not what this is talking about.
I've heard some horror stories about people that try it, and I guess you need to make sure to never miss a nap, or you're going to feel like shit for hours. You also have less energy in general.
Polyphasic sleep is REALLY bad for someone who hasn't finished growing, and in the long-run, it can do a [I]lot[/I] more damage then good.
Sleep is when your body's cells repair, important hormones are released, the brain sorts shit out, etc.
Polyphasic sleep doesn't allow your body to do this long or well enough.
You also will have SUBSTANTIALLY less energy for physical activities, and stressful acute mental activities.
tl;dr
[B]Don't do it, it's stupid, in the long run you'll fuck yourself up.[/B]
[QUOTE=trent_roolz;25502312]One of my main reasons for trying it is that I already only get about 3 hours of sleep a night as it is, by my own choice and I have no problems with fatigue in the day. So the change might not hit me as hard and when I finally get adjusted I won't even have to take the normal number of naps.[/QUOTE]
If you're already having trouble sleeping as is, you should stay away from polyphasic sleep. You have to basically sleep on demand.
Someone tried this out on the Cracked article (I read every single comment), it didn't work.
[QUOTE=Kagrenak;25502525]None of them really support polyphasic sleep if you actually read them properly instead of it over skimming over. Saying to yourself all along "wow, all these groups support it, it must be right".
For example, the Canadian military one:
The one from NASA is no better for supporting this, it is just saying how they nap instead of sleep in long blocks because it's difficult to do that in space, as well as the fact that longer naps are better.
Also the US military:
Long naps are better, and eight hours is still the goal. Polyphasic sleep as advocated on the internet is not what this is talking about.[/QUOTE]
I wasn't trying to justify it but I did feel it was worth mentioning based on what he posted. And can you please elaborate on the insomnia thing? I'm still not sure where the claim I had insomnia came from, I thought insomnia was a total lack of sleep.
And based on what everyone has said, I decided I'm not going to do it, at least until I have a better opportunity (break, vacation, etc). But please explain insomnia.
Insomnia comes in varying degrees.
Intermittent sleepless nights
Constant restless sleep
It really has many different shapes, it's usually that the cause is far more interesting than the sleepless result.
It can be brought on from stress to illness, to bad diet; etc...
That's so weird, I feel fine. I don't have any problems staying awake and I feel pretty healthy, rarely get sick, etc. And I'm hardly ever under any stress at all. I eat pretty well, not the best but definitely not the worst. I'm interested now, I wanna know what's causing this.
I'd talk to your doctor about it, it's not something that's really easily diagnosed over the webs if you get my notion.
I'd go to a sleep center or something.
I'll do that. Sorry to keep derailing the (extremely short but existant) thread but what are the risks of insomnia? Last question about it, I swear.
Your body heals in it's sleep, you would kind of lose that time of healing and recovery.
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