Page 56 - Advanced Biblical Counseling Student Textbook

True False 7. I often fall asleep watching TV, listening to music or talking.
True False 8. I often fall alseep studying or listening to teachers.
True False 9. I often fall alseep after eating lunch or dinner.
True False 10. I often fall asleep while relaxing in the evening.
True False 11. I often fall asleep within five minutes of getting into bed.
True False 12. I often sleep extra hours on the weekends.
True False 13. I often need to take a nap to get through the day.
True False 14. Friends often tell me that I look tired.

If you answered “true” to three or more questions, you probably are not getting enough sleep. To
determine your sleep needs, James Mass recommends that you “go to bed 15 minutes earlier than usual
every night for the next week – and continue this practice by adding 15 more minutes each week – until
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you wake without an alarm clock and feel alert all day.”

Sleep deprivation can make us more vulnerable to being overweight and can suppress immune cells that
fight off viral infections and cancer. This may explain why people who sleep 7 to 8 hours a night tend to
outlive those who are often sleep deprived, and why older adults who have no difficulty falling or
staying asleep tend to live longer than their sleep-deprived agemates. When infections do set in, we
typically sleep more, boosting our immune cells.
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What is sleep’s function?
1. Sleep protects. Species sleep patterns fit needs. For example, large animals like elephants sleep only
3-4 hours. Gorillas sleep around 12 while bats sleep for 20 hours! Why? In class we would discuss that
larger animals need to be awake to watch for predators while smaller animals can hide to sleep.

2. Sleep helps us recuperate, restore and repair brain tissue.

3. Sleep is for making memories. While we are asleep we restore and rebuild our memories of the day.

4. Sleep feeds creative thinking. We learn more when we are rested. Sleep increases our thinking and
learning. Good sleep is imporant!

5. Sleep may play a role in the growth process. Our pituitary gland releases growth hormones. As we
age, it releases less hormones which leads to needing less sleep.

Suggestions for Better Sleep
In class we talk about ways to sleep better. This list usually includes not looking at screens at night
(phones!), relaxing before bed by reading or talking, exercise in the afternoon, and avoid caffeine in the
afternoon. Can you think of other suggestions for better sleep?

Why We Dream
Psychologists speculate that we dream for four different reasons. Do you believe these are true?

Wish-fullfillment: When we dream we express unrealistic feelings or actions.

89 Ibid.
90 Ibid.

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