Current Biological Issue - SLEEP the Silent Killer

Something that has been plaguing me a lot in the recent months, and especially in the last week is insomnia. I have tried many different means for over-coming it, but the only methods that tend to work for me are either going until the point of exhaustion, or medications. I had my wisdom teeth out last week, and I was given medication that has caused me to sleep a great deal, and in the moments where I am awake it has made me very groggy. Though this is a method for getting sleep, it is not ideal. This experience drew me to the National Geographic article entitled "The Secrets of SLEEP", I'm sure you can understand why I was drawn in by the title given my current experiences in life.


The article first attempts to create an understanding why just why we need sleep to begin with, I rather enjoyed a particular quote:

"If sleep doesn't serve an absolutely vital function," the renowned sleep researcher Allan Rechtschaffen once said, "it is the greatest mistake evolution ever made." Max, D. (2010). The Secrets of SLEEP. National Geographic, 217(5), 74-93. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

 In an attempt to explain the reason we need sleep, the article examined various studies, including one where lab rats were kept awake for two weeks straight, and at the end of the two weeks all the rats had passed away. The necropsies found nothing wrong with the animals, no organ damage or anything of the sort, the only conclusion that the scientists could come up with was that the animals died from lack of sleep. How many nights have you woken up, having not been able to get an adequate amount or quality of sleep only to find you simply have a very hard time being able to function at all during the day. When we are in pain, such as a headache often you will hear people advise you to "sleep it off". 


The article then begins to examine insomnia itself, and treatments that are in use currently. It mentions patients using sleeping pills often complain that their sleep is not restful, or that they wake feeling groggy. I personally can attest to this. In the past week I have spent roughly 4 hours a day awake, and even as I write this I am nodding off, because I just don't feel like I have actually rested. My body, and brain are not getting the sleep they need. 

Perhaps we simply have forgotten how to sleep, is another issue raised by the article.  This makes a lot of sense to me personally, I remember my great-grandmother talking about how she went to bed when the sun went to bed, and she woke up when the sun woke up. She had a farm she needed to help with, and animals seem to follow this trend as well. We, as humans, in our distinctly social culture tend not to follow this trend as much as we may have in decades past. We live in cities, where electric lights make way for a fake sun that can shine at any given moment, provided we have the means to pay for light bulbs and electricity. We live in a global world now, I have friends in England who live in a time zone that operates seven hours ahead of my own, I have friends in Australia who operate fourteen hours ahead of my own time zone. In order to communicate with those friends, I have to be awake during the night, or very early morning. Now, just to make this clear, I ended up maintaining these friendships on the basis that I could not sleep in the first place, so I don't know that I consider this my own problem. 

We insist on starting classes at 8am, instead of when the natural chemical rhythms of youth bodies dictate waking up in the middle of the day. I know I remember in high school that I was never really awake until around ten to eleven in the morning. Before that, I just pushed through the motions.I cannot tell you what classes I had that early in the morning, because I have virtually no memory of them, because my mind was not awake. It was for this reason, I chose to schedule my classes starting no earlier than 10am here while attending university. I also schedule myself to work until 10pm at night, because this is my "awake and functioning time". It's when I'm most coherent, and most productive.


I propose that in order to solve this issue, which effects productivity and overall general health, which would in turn save money on health insurance which is a very big deal if you're paying attention to the news lately, we have the ability to set out when we are available for work, whether it be school or earning income. I believe it would be beneficial to employers and employees to enable sleep to become considered as vital to life as food, water, shelter are considered. Sleep is so often considered expendable, yet we have seen in various studies that lack of sleep causes lack of productivity and when driving is comparable to driving drunk.* People are always wanting to save money, I would like to see some kind of benefit on all forms of insurance, and driving license fees, or even school fees, for those who at least try to get the amount of sleep needed to interact in a safe manner daily. I think this would encourage more people to be aware of their sleep patterns, and the risk that it has on their health, their economic situation, the economy as a whole, and so many other aspects of life. I think it would also help with communication, we tend to be nicer when we've had sleep, more patient, more Christ-like.
 
References
*Pizza F; Contardi S; Baldi Antognini A; Zagoraiou M; Borrotti M; Mostacci B; Mondini S; Cirignotta F. Sleep quality and motor vehicle crashes in adolescents. J Clin Sleep Med 2010; 6(1):41-45


(2009). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an educational intervention for practice teams to deliver problem focused therapy for insomnia: rationale and design of a pilot cluster randomised trial. BMC Family Practice, 109-18. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database

Wiggs L, Stores G (1999) Behavioural treatment for sleep problems in children with severe learning
disabilities and challenging daytime behaviour: effect on daytime behaviour. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 40, 4, 627-635.

.::.Healthcare.::.

I really don't actually get the Healthcare reform bill but its HUGE in the media right now.

If what everyone is telling me is correct I support it. I live in an area that hates it. However, from what I'm seeing it means if I have insurance (which I will be required to have) I can't have that ended by the company if I get really sick. I can stay on my dad's insurance until I'm 26 (or 27 I've seen both) as long as I'm not married. Being on my father's insurance is really nice for me, it's way cheaper for me than going through my own job. I save $600 a year on insurance by paying my father to stay on his as opposed to getting my own, oh and because he works for the government it's way better insurance than I'd get through my bookstore company.

It looks like what my university already does on requiring insurance. If you don't have private insurance here at BYU you are automatically enrolled in the University's insurance program and billed for it in your tuition. You don't get your grades, and you get fees if you don't pay it.

I love the fact that co-pays are being eliminated. As a student, living financially independent that $25-$30 copay is gas in my car to get to work or food for a few days. It makes a huge difference. I'm super excited about that! I don't have to budget for that anymore, s'really nice.

That's really all I know about the bill, oh and that it's supposed to save a lot of money, though I'm not sure how?

Also, I think it's fracking hilarious that people who are against it are calling it Obamacare. Why? Because sure it's a great way to defame him if it -doesn't- work...however if it works he's going to go down in history Lincoln style and everyone will know his name even long after he's out of the presidency. This amuses me.

.::. Media in Class .::.

Is it wrong of me that I found myself feeling 100% justified in texting in class last week when we were watching the BYU Game? I found myself repulsed by the fact that students found it appropriate to interrupt the lecture to "make an announcement" about the BYU game score. I was bothered by the fact that we actually stopped class on more than one occasion to watch part of the game. How is it appropriate to do that when it's not appropriate to browse facebook or any other sites during class? I just don't understand the logic here.

.::. Violent Video Games .::.

I'm all for spoofs and whatnot...however I'm really thinking that this is going a bit far. Though it did remind me of class.



Hot New Video Game Consists Solely Of Shooting People Point-Blank In The Face

.::. One Week .::.

Yeah, it's been a full week now and it's still gone, I'm sitting here in the HBLL dungeons using a computer and finding myself bored to tears enough I'm messing with CS3...though I think I did end up making something quite pretty actually. However, finding out I've got a paper due today was not the best way to start out my morning. I was able to re-write it...however it really sucked having to redo the work I've done once already, when I thought I was planning ahead and all that good stuff. At least it was only a 2-3 page paper instead of the 10 page paper that's due next week. Supposedly they've shipped my laptop back to me yesterday...so I should get it back today or tomorrow. I'm really really hoping for today, mostly because I'm pretty sure I've got another paper due tomorrow and I've not heard back from the TA to get another copy of the syllabus that wasn't posted on blackboard. It's just this sinking feeling really that's telling me that another paper is due and it's going to require extensive reading on PsychInfo or blackboard.

As for media, I had a blast doing the mock trial. We won! However, it really has made me think about whether or not the media should be held responsible fully for what they create. Can you blame a movie for a murder spree as was the case with Sarah Edmunson in the mock trial? I'm fairly sure that the actual case ended up losing, but I think there is a level of responsibility.

.::. Addiction .::.

I've found it near impossible to function without my laptop. It's been off to be repaired since Wednesday...my notes...my research...my amusement...my music...my schedule...everything is on that thing. And, I'm finding it rather hard not to have instant access to everything. I don't keep paper copies of things...so my syllabi are all locked up, save for blackboard. Let alone I can only access my writing resources when I have time to be at campus. I think I've got a bit of a dependency.

.::. Alice in Wonderland .::.

Definitely a kids movie...sadly. You'd think with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp it would pretty much be a given that it would be dark, instead it was pretty much a kids Disney movie, with a really annoying blonde for a lead. Some stories, should not be mixed Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass should not be meshed together. It was soo not worth staying up till 3am for.

.::. Perceptions and Surrogates.::.

I'm finding myself consuming less and less media now, I don't know if this is a good thing or not. I suppose I still listen to the music I have for ages, and I still watch the movies I already own, but I'm finding myself to be more selective. I did however watch a newer movie recently: Surrogates.

I really enjoyed it actually, there wasn't much at all that might be considered objectable in anyway. I think the message is actually really in tune with what we've been discussing in class concerning the internet, along with my research. People are becoming too dependent on the internet for socialization. They are letting it take the place of face-to-face interaction, which is worrying. People are starting to get worse at reading non-verbal cues and communication. They aren't getting practice in during the formative years, instead they are spending time online hiding behind a computer screen pretending to be whoever they want to be.

.::. Writing .::.

So, I write casually...very casually and some of you have seen my other blog where this actually comes into play a bit. However, I was reading a blog of a friend, Ellen, and she made some interesting points that made me think about myself as a writer. The media I take in, influences what and how I write. If I'm listening to a piece of music that is particularly moving for me at that time, I'll end up writing in that tone and often with those same emotions. Or, I'll find music with those emotions prevalent in order to write them clearer. We were talking maybe a couple weeks ago? I'm not sure when anymore, and she asked me about my writing:

Ellen: whaddabout you, doin any writing outside of RBC lately? <.< ashley: Just Abyss I'm not a -real- writer. I just write what comes to mind when it does. Ellen: pfft, and "real" writers dont? >.>

She had a very valid point. Maybe I do need to work on cleaning up my writing and actually making something of it. I've worked in bookstores for seven years now, I know the market, but is it worth it?

.::. Socialization: The Dark Embrace .::.

The Dark Embrace: A Study in Virtual Socialization
Ashley Literski Fall 2009

Internet gaming has become a multi-billion dollar industry. The game World of Warcraft boasts over 10 million players worldwide (Blizzard, 2008). According to the literature on internet addictions, particularly those that are based upon MMORPG or MMOG(Massive Multi-player Online Game) communities, these sites tend to attract adolescents who are more inclined towards deviant and socially unacceptable behaviors (Choi & Kim, 2004). It makes sense that adolescents who do not feel they belong in the social circles available to them in their local communities would seek out peer attachments through other means.

Feelings of social acceptance and belonging to a group are vital to the self-esteem and identity formation of adolescents. (Coyne, 2009) We see this evident nationally as well as on a local level. Adolescents form peer groups of cliques and crowds in order to fulfill this need for personal affirmation and acceptance. Cliques are characterized by small groups of between 2-12 people. Crowds are characterized by large, loosely organized groups composed of several cliques (Coyne, 2009). In a time of their lives that is so devoted to developing a personal identity, peer groups become priceless to adolescents. There are many sources for forming these cliques or crowds such as school teams, clubs, organizations, religious affiliations, and personal interests that are held in common with one another.
Sociability was defined by Georg Simmel (1949) as “… the sheer pleasure of the company of others.”
In an effort to expand upon Simmel’s work regarding sociability, Ray Oldenburg(1989) analyzed the places where sociable interactions tend to take place. These places are referred to as “third places” by Oldenburg. “A third place is a mixer.’’ (Oldenburg, 1989, p. xvii).
Using these definitions for the terms one can see how MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Role Playing Game) communities can be considered the catalyst acting as a mixer for social interactions. MMORPGs create an anonymous third place that is designed for social interactions. Many virtual communities are based around those of common interest, such as “Anime’s” and “the Jocks” in schools, allowing for group identity formation within the online community context. The anonymity allows one to act however and be whoever they wish to be. This detached environment seems to be ideal for those who are seeking social acceptance and not receiving that sense of belonging from their peer groups within school environments or communities. This is particularly true of adolescents who are going through a time of major transition and identity formation, as this form of online interaction lends itself to a feeling of anonymity.

.::. Books .::.

So...since I forgot to post this last week...

My favorite book as a child is a bit of a hard question for me to answer. I tended to have obsessions over certain books for certain periods of time. I was quite fond of The Chamber by John Grisham, and the BFG by Roald Dahl, as well as anything by Edgar Allan Poe or H.P. Lovecraft. I think for the longest duration my favorite book was my collected works of Edgar Allan Poe, so I will describe this one. Edgar Allan Poe was considered the father of the American gothic genre. He, along with H.P. Lovecraft, who was considered to be another founding father of the American horror or gothic genre of writing, opened up a new world or psychological awareness. Through reading his work one began to think differently. You could not know what was lurking beneath the floor boards. You did not know whether the sound of the Tell Tale Heart was in your mind, originating from guilt, or if it truly did beat by the force of some otherworldly power.
My favorite book now, is not much different to be honest. I cannot say that I regularly reread books once I have read them. Unfortunately, with working in a bookstore I don’t have the time to reread old favorites as we are always getting in new books that need to be read and familiarized. However, the book that I will bring down to read when I am in need of enlightenment or to just feel good is still my Collected works of Edgar Allan Poe. There is just something about it that lifts my spirits. It makes me laugh, smile, and think. I love being able to analyze the personalities, how they tick, and why they work mentally. I think now it has become a passion for me because it is largely interactive even though the books, poems, letters and tales contained within were written far before my time.
For me this book is breath of fresh air when I am choking in the noxious fumes of reality. When worries or cares weigh too heavily upon me I can pull it down from the shelf and read a little bit that allows me to think about another way of living. It helps me escape from the present cares and even helps me to think of them in a different light. I have written many a paper with H.P Lovecraft or Edgar Allan Poe at my side, allowing me to better analyze whatever research I am working on or concepts I am trying to understand at any given time.
I remember reading these books as I went through hard times in my life, and the writings encouraging me to work through my own emotions through writing poetry. I wanted to write poems like Edgar Allan Poe. I wanted people to see many different meanings in my writing. It’s what drew me to writing lyrics for music, and to me becoming published with a few of my poems. These books gave me something to strive for, and felt like I got a look into the mind of a dear friend who would not disappear on me one day. I knew the books would always be there, and the emotions within would be there to console my own inner storms.

.::. Beautiful Thieves & Real Beauty .::.

Ok, I know this may seem monotonous, but this happens to be the media I am consuming at the present, most likely because it happens to be very poignant for me as a person right now. The majority of my friends drink, smoke, and do a vast variety of other things that aren't in conjunction with the standards I live and have given my word to obey via the Honor Code as a BYU student. However, I do have a group of friends who consider themselves to be Straight Edge. This is a pretty accurate description according to them on wiki, so I'm linking to it. A discussion on the new AFI music video brought this up. I really would show this video at like a Standards Night for YW. It's absolutely beautiful to me. I think it's a really good example and it speaks really strongly to me about keeping your standards and what you believe in. I think this is largely applicable to the media we consume. If you watch the band isn't partying, sexing it up, drinking, ect like the other people are. Each of the band members are taunted by something that is against their standards and they deny it choosing not to poison themselves with these things. And Davey (the lead singer) actually poisons the wine. To me, it's saying that though we are told

"My dear there is no danger" These things will poison our lives.

And as I heard people talking about it in class, that blogs were boring without pictures or videos, I'm including the video here for you to see yourself.

AFI - New Music - More Music Videos

Lyrics:
My dear there is no danger
Can't you see they turn blind eyes
To we swift and spot lit strangers?
Oh before the rush is over
We will be revered again
While the victims still recover

Oh!
If we run this light
Take a little life
No one will care at all
Oh!
We can burn it and leave
For we are the beautiful thieves
No one suspects at all
No one suspects

Ah

Oh,
Are we running towards death?
I have met him times before
He adores us like the rest
Oh even if we're discovered
Just be sure to wear your best
We will surely make the covers

Oh!
If we run this light
Take a little life
No one will care at all
Oh!
We can burn it and leave
For we are the beautiful thieves
No one suspects at all
No one suspects

Who would run for cover?
Who would run from us?
Who would run for cover?
Who would run from us?

Oh!
If we run this light
Take a little life
No one will care at all
Oh!
We can burn it and leave
For we are the beautiful thieves
No one suspects at all
No one suspects at all
If we run this light
Take a little life
No one will care at all
Oh!
We can burn it and leave
For we are the beautiful thieves
No one suspects at all
No one suspects

.::. Music .::.

So after class, I've been thinking about how much I use music media in my life. I listen to music at work the whole time I am at work, though it's always LDS artists who we are featuring at the time. I listen to music on the way to and from work, and to and from class usually non-LDS artists though they do occasionally come up on my shuffle. I direct the ward choir, and sing in other choirs. Music is part of my life nearly every moment. Only when I'm in class am I not listening to music. Even while I sleep I often have music going to drown out the other noises that creep me out at night. I'm beginning to think I'm addicted to music.

.::.Crash Love.::..

A bit of a continuance from what I was talking about before...I just came across this interview with the band AFI, who yes I do readily buy into their advertising and whatnot. Without a doubt, however with good reason.

http://totalassault.com/assets/?team_id=393

AFI
CRASH LOVE

Davey Havok - Vocals
Jade Puget - Guitar
Hunter Burgan - Bass
Adam Carson - Drums

"Crash Love is certainly not a concept album or rock opera by any stretch, but the songs are generally connected by a greater theme... The album title itself can be construed as a command, as a destructive kind of love, or as a desire for a relationship that's heading inevitably toward disaster or flameout. The lyrics of some songs trace an arc from adoration to the desire to tear down the object of affection. These songs are written from perspectives both sympathetic and critical, as well from both the inside the relationship and outside."--Davey Havok

Crash Love, AFI's eighth full length studio album, due out September 29 on DGC/Interscope, is indeed informed not only by the ever-evolving chemistry between the musicians in the band but also by the members' personal lives and perhaps most of all by the always intense relationship between AFI and its fans. The latter has intensified considerably over the most recent of AFI's 18 years as a band, with 2006's decemberunderground entering the chart at #1 with first week sales of nearly 200,000 and subsequent sold out shows at the Long Beach Arena and Bill Graham Civic as well as appearances on Saturday Night Live and at Live Earth--not to mention 2003's Sing The Sorrow going platinum. These experiences were bound to have an impact on four kids from Ukiah, California who formed a rudimentary punk band in 1991 with aspirations of playing in the SF Bay Area and possibly releasing a few singles and an LP or two.

"The record is really more about how the great attraction to inappropriately shared intimacies, carefully constructed personas, and the loss of a sense of self can affect an entire world," Havok explains. "As well as how this loss of self is sought after rather than resisted... With today's media, we have such quick and pervasive access to the trivia of anyone's lives. Everything is intensified and indulged, this desire and ability to know everything you possibly can about anyone, from what thread-count bedsheets they sleep in to whether or not they believe in ghosts."

While Crash Love is the first AFI record to feature such prevalent sociopolitical and observational perspectives, the darkly personal AFI lyrical strain is distinctly present on standout tracks like "Medicate" and its stark portrait of a user/enabler relationship, as well as throughout the ill fated death ride scenario of "End Transmission." Elsewhere, the newer approach shines on the self-explanatory "Darling I Want To Destroy You," "Veronica Sawyer Smokes" with couples Jade Puget's Smiths-esque guitar signatures with a tale of heartbreak brought on by disappointment with a teen idol, "Beautiful Thieves" with its privileged characters whose actions carry no consequences, and "Too Shy To Scream" which sets yearning, distanced adorations against the backdrop of a drumline-inspired shuffle propelled by Hunter Burgan's bass and Adam Carson's drumming.

.::.Music.::.

It is amazing what you can find in lyrics these days, I've found myself actually more drawn towards music that contains lyrics that I consider insightful or clever than I have music that "sounds cool." I think this is because I like to pick apart music by the different parts rather than listen to it as a whole. This is particularly evident in my favorite musicians and bands. Look at the amazing illustrations painted by the lyrics of Amy Lee in Imaginary, or Love Like Winter by AFI for examples.

.::. Lyrics .::.

Shadows are walking in
The darkness of a promised Heaven
Like spirits in a dark and Lonely castle,
They are dancing at a song Of a myriad of voices
With the stares lost in a Secret dimension.
Shadows are crying in the Immensity of a gloomy
Night, Holding in their own all
Their consuming sorrow 
They seem forgotten in the Heavenly garden,
Forsaken in the misery of a Place without time. 

"And shines the light of hope In their eyes no more and no
Emotion will pass through Their heart"
Shadows imprisoned Between dream and reality
In silently wait for a Solemn recall,
They look for consolation in The pale light of god,
In a kingdom in which all Is eternal.

Lyrics can make or break a song. Looking at these lyrics, one might expect a far different song than the one they belong to. This is something I really just love about music. You can do things with it that you never thought possible. I think that is why music is such a huge tool for both Heavenly Father an Lucifer.

.::.MMORPGs.::.

I play a few MMORPGs, Massive Multi-player Online Role-playing Games, I quite enjoy them though perhaps for reasons beyond what one might expect. Rather, I enjoy them in the greatest degree because I get to observe people interacting over a non-standard medium. It amazes me how people will act when hidden behind the assumed anonymity of a screen name. Most don't think about the fact that you use an email to sign up, and an email can often be identified with you and with your other accounts across the internet. Let alone most forums, which are used as a means or medium of communication in MMORPGs, track your IP address giving moderators and administrators access to the general vicinity of where you live. I know this, because I am an administrator and moderator of a few of these forums.

There are individuals that we have a watch on, who seem to bring rukkus to the community, who disrupt social activities and just generally cause problems. I dealt with one such person tonight, and asking why he posted what he did (it was a very vulgar explicit posting that I couldn't even finish reading) he simply said:

"Because you don't know who I am, and therefore cannot do anything to hurt me."

Something that really isn't true, in fact, his post broke certain standards which not only got him banned forever from the community, but we'll be reporting him to his local authorities because of the nature of his post. You are not anonymous online, the ways you use media are not hidden from the rest of the world. And there are consequences for your actions online.

.::.Avatar.::.

It's rare that I come across a film that I enjoy that I don't have to worry about suggesting to others because "there's this one spot..." that they may be offended by. I'm the first to admit I am very liberal with my media, I watch movies for many different reasons and I've never thought myself to have much of an effect from my media use in that regard. There's really nothing in the media that I have come across that can bother me nearly as much as what happens in "real life". People in general seem not to realize just how terrible they treat one another, I wish it weren't so but nothing really surprises me anymore in the form of human behavior.

However, all this aside, I really enjoyed Avatar. The storyline was not all that great, it's been done before in the form of Tarzan and many other films. Which by the way, makes me think of that song by Barenaked Ladies "It's All Been Done" which has a rather fun music video from the pet's perspective. There was really only one moment in the movie that I could fathom someone taking issue with, and it was the two aliens implied as mating for life. Though there really wasn't much shown. There was very little vulgar language used as well.

Crossfire

Working at Seagull book I have the opportunity to read most of the LDS fiction and non-fiction that comes out. Often that means forcing myself to push through novels that have the same plot with different names and places. Crossfire though was a nice new taste for me. It was not the same as the previous two in the series Freefall and Lockdown. And it really was not another Anita Stansfield who basically writes Harlequin novels for LDS readers.

28 Days

I love the way Sandra Bullock portrays a woman dealing with severe emotional problems and substance abuse. To me there were several quotes that stood out to me

"Don't be someone else's slogan because you are poetry." this is so true, and yet so many women in today's world do not understand this, they settle for something that is less than they deserve and they do not give themselves enough credit for the wonderful women they truly are.

"This isn't a way to live. This is a way to die." this to me is also true, living with substance dependency like that, and trying to live with those psychological issues that she did in the movie, I think that is a way to die not a way to live.