Would you just go to sleep!

The house is quiet, the lights are off and you are in bed. You lie, looking at the ceiling and listening to the noises outside. You know that tomorrow you’ve got to be up early and get to school and yet – you just can’t sleep! Your head hit the pillow an hour ago, everyone else is out and yet – you really aren’t tired. You decide to listen to music and surf the web – a parent walks by the door, switches off the lights and says ‘Would you just go to sleep’.

Adolescent sleep is a strange thing. The desire to sleep may not affect older adolescents until much later in the night. Unlike adults, adolescents may actually feel more awake as the day goes on instead of getting increasingly tired. (This strange phenomenon is known as phase delay or phase shift). Yet, the amount of sleep needed by adolescents is greater than just a few years earlier in childhood or a few years later in adulthood. Adolescents need around 9 hours a night. Far from being an act of rebellion, staying up late and sleeping in is part of the biology of adolescents.

Sleep deprivation has been shown to be prevalent in today’s society, particularly among adolescents, and it can have serious affects. It can increase anxiety, decrease performance and negatively affect mood. The dangers of sleep deprivation for adolescents behind the wheel are very real, as this quote from Dr Karl shows.

“On one hand, about 20% of all road deaths are caused by microsleeps, in turn caused by tiredness - but about half of all such fatigue-related road deaths happen to those aged 16-25”
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2007/05/03/1913123.htm

So how can adolescents best manage their sleep? Simple steps can lead to sleep changes.

• Avoid caffeinated beverages – guarana shots are not your friend if trying to sleep


• Get some exposure to daylight in the morning – preferably without sunglasses


• Get some physical activity every day


• Have a routine bedtime – 10pm is a good compromise


• Turn off technology – iPods, iPads, iPhones, Internet and iTelevison – at least 1 hour before bedtime. iOut of the bedroom is even better


• Fresh air and a cool environment


• Only sleep an extra hour or two of sleep than normal if sleeping in, or you may confuse your body


• Have a dream journal by the bed. If you want to remember something from a dream, write it down and then go back to sleep – it’ll all be there in the morning


• Do not drive when you know you’re tired
  
  The best thing about these tips is that everyone in the family would benefit from the same rules. Bedtime may need to be adjusted as age appropriate, but every tip here can help every member of the family. After all, no one wants a cranky 2 year old behind the wheel of a car, do they?
  

Juliet - When you gonna realise, it was just that your brain was young?

"Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight!/ For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night." - William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1.5

Romeo and Juliet - the classic tale of star-crossed lovers who, attempting to escape their feuding families and live in love forever, tragically kill themselves, uniting those left behind. Either that, or a tale of a teenage boy and a 13 year old girl who over the course of 5 days (in Shakespeare's telling) becoming so enamoured of each other they lose the ability to think rationally, make less than effective (also known as poor) decisions and pay the ultimate price. Were Dire Straits wrong? Was it less about timing and more about emotions? Modern research tends to suggest a mix of both.

Adolescence begins with the hormonal surge of puberty (or gonadarche) and related changes in stress hormones (adrenarche). It is these changes that most people attribute the emotional turmoil of adolescents to. "Teenagers are ruled by their hormones". There are also changes in the brain structure and brain chemistry. Serotonin, a brain chemical (neurotransmitter) generally associated with happiness, decreases in certain areas of the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter related to attention, learning and reward. Systems related to dopamine (dopaminergic systems) increase their activity. This can cause differing effects on mood. For example, the combination of reduced serotonin and increased dopamine can mean that some adolescents receive a greatly reduced sense of satisfaction from those things that once made them happy. Other neurotransmitters, such as GABA, glutamate and endogenous cannabinoids also experience changes.

That's not all that happens. The brain continues making changes, growing new connections, decreasing unused circuits and adding myelin to the neurons (a type of insulation that improves the communication of neurons. During this process, there is a period in which the balance between the prefrontal cortex and limbic system favours the latter. The prefrontal cortex is involved in impulse control, rationale decision making and emotional regulation. The limbic system is involved in emotion and reward based behaviour. What that means is that in the face of strong emotions, the smartest and brightest adolescent may well find themselves following their heart instead of their head.

So how does this apply to our star crossed lovers? Firstly, intensity of emotional feeling is common for adolescents. These strong emotions are easy to see in Shakespeare's beautiful telling of this story. Secondly, the ability to make rational decisions, particularly in the heat of strong emotions, is reduced. So the romantic in me likes to phrase it this way - they really did feel so strongly for each other that they had to be together, they just couldn't think of a safe way to do it when faced with the challenge of feuding families.

The story of Romeo and Juliet has been around now for centuries in one form or another, and is the perfect example of how adolescents differ from adults and children. It is also one of the few forms in which adults can connect with this intensity of feeling. So how do we manage this emotional change? Nutrition plays a very important role in brain development. As hard as it can be to get teens to eat effectively, it is vital that the growing brain gets all the nutrients to build itself effectively.

At the end of the day, every adolescent needs patience and love. Oh, and the whole family could do with some great tunes.

Dire Straits (and VERY 80's video) for mum and dad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxfjSnMN88U

or a 2007 remake by The Killers for the teens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87cLyBR1JTo&feature=related

"For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 5.3

Health Challenge at 12 O'Clock - What do I do now?

There is a wonderful Irish proverb that says "May you live a long life full of gladness and health". This sums up what most of us really want for our lives (with possibly a side helping of wealth). Yet in the modern world we are given so much rubbish disguised as "health information", its impossible to sort out what's marketing and what's fact. Then, when people are faced with a health challenge, they end up drowning in a sea of facts and figures and are no longer sure of how to start.

The very first thing to do is to remember that we are all unique. Scientists even use jargon - "biochemical individuality" - to remind themselves of that one simple fact. What that means is that there is no one right answer for every single person. This might sound like a scary proposition, but when you are faced with illness or injury and you are trying to decide what to do, the answer becomes keep looking until you find what works for you. It also means that if people won't listen when you tell them somethings wrong, just say "Next please", because there is an answer out there for you.

This puts you in the drivers seat. Want to add some nutritional advice to that doctor's script, why not? If you want to try acupuncture or homeopathy, go right ahead. Massage and herbs? Give it a whirl. Coaching and counselling? Give it a try. Commit 100% to trying the therapy for a reasonable period of time with a qualified practitioner (not your best friend and a magazine) and see what works for you.

Now it may sound like bad business practice to suggest to my clients to try and find what works for them. However, I have an ace up my sleeve. The ace is that no matter what health challenge you're faced with, good nutrition is vital to healing. AND no matter what therapy you're undergoing, nutritional support helps it to work better.

At the end of the day, my dream is of a world in which everyone is so healthy I no longer have a job! If everyone finds what works for them, then we can sit around happily and ponder another Irish proverb "Never bolt the door with a boiled carrot." Hey, they aren't all winners!