Bad sleep 糟糕的睡眠會影響你的心理健康

我們每個人每天都需要足夠的睡眠來保持和恢復體力。睡眠不足所帶來的負面影響有哪些？一項研究發現缺覺不僅會影響我們的身體健康而且還會給我們的心理健康造成危害。本集《隨身英語》討論不良睡眠對人的影響。

課文內容

Vocabulary: sleep 詞匯: 睡眠

How much sleep do you need? Do you find that if you don’t get enough shut-eye and wake up feeling dopey, you spend the rest of the day in a bad mood? I certainly need my eight hours a night and that’s important according to research, because bad sleep isn’t good for our health.

We all need a good night’s rest to recharge our batteries, but according to the Sleep Council in the UK, the average Briton gets six-and-a-half hours sleep a night, which for most people is not enough. It’s tempting to cut back on the sleep we get, after all there are plenty of other more fun or useful things to be doing. Sometimes the pressure of work or a long commute means that our head hits the pillow much later than it should. But lots of studies have shown that cutting back on sleep, deliberately or otherwise, can have a serious impact on our bodies.

Studies have proved that sleep deprivation has a negative effect on our bodies but it can also have an effect on our mental health. A AYYBLOG programme called Trust Me, I’m a Doctor ran an experiment with the University of Oxford and was surprised to discover how quickly the mood of the people they were testing changed when their sleep was restricted to four hours a night for just three nights. Doctoral student, Sarah Reeve, who ran the experiment, said: “There were increases in anxiety, depression and stress, also increases in paranoia and feelings of mistrust about other people”.

This and other research into the mental health of students, has found that the lack of sleep increases our negative emotions. I know that when I’m sleep deprived, it is harder to feel positive about things or even think straight! Daniel Freeman, professor of clinical psychology at Oxford University, agrees that insomnia is bad for our brain. He says: “We have more negative thoughts when we’re sleep-deprived and we get stuck in them”.

Bad sleep doesn’t automatically mean you’ll get mental health issues but other studies have shown that depriving people of enough sleep for only a few nights in a row can be enough to put healthy adults into a pre-diabetic state. So with all this evidence maybe we should concentrate on sleeping well. This means going to bed at a sensible time and creating the right environment in the bedroom to relax and sleep in. There’s also the modern distraction of using smartphones and tablets at bedtime, tempting us to stay awake. The blue light emitted by electronic devices makes us feel less sleepy. And using them stimulates our brain when it should be winding down. What helps you get a good night’s sleep?

詞匯表

shut-eye 閉眼，睡眠
wake up 醒來
dopey 嗜睡的，迷迷糊糊的
recharge our batteries 恢復我們的體力
head hits the pillow 頭挨枕頭，睡覺
cut back 減少
sleep deprivation 睡眠不足
mental health 心理健康
anxiety 焦慮（癥）
paranoia 多疑，妄想癥
lack of sleep 缺覺
negative emotions 負面情緒
think straight 清楚地思考，思路清晰
insomnia 失眠（癥）
pre-diabetic state 糖尿病前期狀態
sleepy 困的，瞌睡的
stimulate 刺激
wind down 平靜下來，放松

測驗與練習

1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。

1. True or false? Six and a half hours is not enough sleep for most people in the UK.

2. How many hours’ sleep did students have in the experiment carried out by the University of Oxford?

3. According to research, what happens to our mood when we have less sleep?

4. Which word used in the article means ‘an effect or an influence’?

5. What is it about using smartphones and tablets at bedtime that stops us getting to sleep?

2. 請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. She started feeling ______ and was convinced her boss was going to fire her.

dopey paranoid insomnia stimulating

2. He suffers from depression, but he can’t discuss his ______ with his employer.

mentally health mentality mental health shut-eye

3. After working all night, I was unable to ______ at the meeting the next morning.

cut back stimulate think straight recharge my batteries

4. Sean suffers from ______ because he drinks too much coffee before bedtime.

insomnia a cold shut-eye dopey

5. A glass of wine really helps me ______ after a busy day at work.

wind up winding stimulate wind down

答案

1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。

1. True or false? Six and a half hours is not enough sleep for most people in the UK.
True. According to the UK’s Sleep Council, the average Briton gets six-and-a-half hour’s sleep a night, which for most people is not enough.

2. How many hours’ sleep did students have in the experiment carried out by the University of Oxford?
Their sleep was restricted to four hours a night for just three nights.

3. According to research, what happens to our mood when we have less sleep?
Lack of sleep increases our negative emotions and we have more negative thoughts.

4. Which word used in the article means ‘an effect or an influence’?
Impact.

5. What is it about using smartphones and tablets at bedtime that stops us getting to sleep?
They emit blue light and using them stimulates our brain.

2. 請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. She started feeling paranoid and was convinced her boss was going to fire her.

2. He suffers from depression, but he can’t discuss his mental health with his employer.

3. After working all night, I was unable to think straight at the meeting the next morning.

4. Sean suffers from insomnia because he drinks too much coffee before bedtime.

5. A glass of wine really helps me wind down after a busy day at work.