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We're onto you, sneaky nappers.
We nap in restaurants, at the movies, in doctors’ offices and even in church. David Wayne, a 50-year-old telecommunications manager from Seattle, says he’s even seen a coworker nod off in the middle of a customer call.
“We had a recognition program which included a ‘Way to go!’ note that you could fill out and give someone for going above and beyond,” he says. “I gave him one that said, ‘Way to go … to sleep.’”
But Wayne’s log-sawing coworker is hardly the first person to nap in an inappropriate place. According to a recent (if somewhat silly) survey by Tempur-Pedic, more than half of the 1,000 people surveyed admitted they’d accidentally fallen asleep in some strange spot, including 12 percent who ponied up to sleeping at their desk or computer at work and 11 percent who confessed they’d dozed off in church.
More disturbing, of course, were the 22 percent who admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel of their car -- sometimes while driving. Equally odd were the folks who admitted to catching a few Zzz's while on the bus (4 percent), in the bathroom (3 percent), during meetings (2 percent), at the kitchen table (2 percent) and the 12 percent of drowsy sorts who said they’d accidentally nodded off in “other” places, such as in the midst of military combat, in elevators, in court, and even in a graveyard.
Really, it's no wonder we collapse with exhaustion in such strange places. More than a third of American adults sleep fewer than seven hours each night, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So we cope with sleepiness by drinking caffeine and taking regular naps, says a National Sleep Foundation study.
But Dr. Joe Ojile, founder of the Clayton Sleep Institute in St. Louis (and representative of the National Sleep Foundation), says there’s a big difference between a planned nap and inadvertently falling asleep while sitting on the toilet.
“When someone is doing something active and they fall sleep, that suggests there’s a problem,” he says. “Whether it’s flat-out sleep deprivation or circadian rhythm misalignment – jet leg, for instance.”
Unplanned naps can also be brought on by certain types of therapy, such as chemotherapy, he says. Or they could be the result of certain medication (think pain meds or blood pressure medication). Someone who nods off in meetings, airports, movie theatres and while visiting friends might also want to be evaluated for an illness, like narcolepsy, he says; insomnia, however, is probably not behind any of these nutty napping spots.
“Insomniacs usually feel exhausted and fatigued but for whatever reason, they don’t tend to fall asleep in inappropriate places,” he says. “Their brain tends to be more aroused than other peoples’ brains.”
Ojile has a word of advice for you inappropriate nappers out there. “If you’re falling asleep at a concert or an elevator or while you’re driving or during sex, those are attention-getters for a doctor,” he says. “Those are issues that without question should be discussed with your physician. In the first place, it’s a health risk and danger for the person having the symptoms. But it’s also a public health risk for others if you’re operating a motor vehicle or a crane or bulldozer or something.”
We swear no (unplanned) napping occurred during the writing and editing of this piece. But what about you -- have you accidentally nodded off in a strange place lately?
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I fell asleep sitting up in a plastic chair outside of Yad Vashem in Israel while sitting under a tree in 102 degree weather. Jet-lag and bronchitis.
The weirdest, I fell asleep standing in front of a classroom of 50 students while teaching. The scariest, I fell asleep driving on the highway. I woke up just in time to miss the concrete divider.
the article a few days ago about this pathetic subject stated SEVEN hours was it. now its back to EIGHT. 4-5 hours of sleep is enough unless your fat and lazy + HIGH. that mary jane never hurt nobody....
welcome to the new American workforce, fat lazy high.... China has no chance to compete with that.
bspurlock the amount of sleep each person needs kindof depends on the person. There is no set amount that covers everyone. Some can sleep for 1-2 hours a night and some who need a full 8 hours to be able to function. You can't assume its just b/c they are fat/lazy some just naturally need 8 hours and some medically need 8 hours.
Very true - too, the side effects of not getting enough sleep are not only immediately felt, but also show themselves "down the road". As an insomniac that averages about 3 hours a night, I can perform my daily tasks without too much difficulty, and occasionally, my body will let me know "enough's enough" and I'll crash hard for 8+ hours. However, loss of steady-state sleep does things like mess with the way your brain works with respect to storing and categorizing of information received, screws with your natural digestive process, can mess with your emotional state as results have shown increased anger, irritability, and depression (to the point of suicide) of those that are sleep deprived), and can be hazardous to the way that fat and muscle are handled in the body (as shortened sleep time is associated with decreases in leptin and elevations in ghrelin).
The most interesting thing I've found is that sleep-deprived people seem to be especially prone to poor judgment when it comes to assessing what lack of sleep is doing to them. We wear the "I sleep little" like a badge of honor these days, and those that would (God forbid) get a night's rest must be the non-important.
If you're not giving the cells adequate time to recoup from their daily job, and not giving the brain enough time to do a full "reboot" (what can I say, I'm a computer person), the effects you feel may not just be "sleepy", "bags under the eyes", and "slower to respond" issues...the longer term effects could be that which takes you out...or quite literally lay you out flat.
Whether one chooses to admit it or not, sleep is very important...I just wish I could get enough...lol.
Technically, you need enough to fit in 4 REM cycles to get the full benefit of sleep. REM cycles last (roughly) 20 minutes, with a significant gap between each cycle. The normal amount of time to get through all 4 is 7-9 hours, although 6 is not unheard of.
There is a distinct difference between being able to "cope" with a very small amount of sleep and actually getting a healthy amount. Memories and immune system function are set during your REM cycles... especially the first and the last one. People who short themselves are most certainly not operating at their full potential.
Needing more sleep has nothing to do with laziness. There are plenty of active/fit people who will sleep 12 hours a day and plenty of lazy/unfit people who get 4 or 5, and a TYPICAL person needs abot 8 hours for the brain and body chemistry to properly balance. It's a chemistry thing, and everyone's different.
Beating the laziness strawman is disingenuous at best, offensive at worst.
Are you in the medical profession, bs? What qualifies you to categorically state that 4-5 hours of sleep is sufficient, unless you're fat, lazy or high? You sound way too judgemental to actually know what you're talking about.
Again, bspurloc, you're assuming that your opinion on the american public is the right one.
My sleep varies from no sleep to as much as 12 hours a day. It all depends on how my body is doing, but my average is somewhere between 6 and 8 hours. Even with that, I tend to fall asleep behind the wheel after work. 12 hour shifts have been shown to cuase more accidents as people fall asleep after work. I have to keep something in the car to snack on plus a drink just to stay awake, and even then that doesn't work sometimes.
My father actually fell asleep standing up, watching a parade at Disney World.
I had once fallen asleep on a big yellow school bus with my eyes open on my way home from school. It was no more than a 15 minute trip. I must have fallen asleep as soon as I sat down because my friends thought I was holding an imprompto staring contest. They said I didn't even blink until I was a block from my stop. At which point, I woke up thinking everything was normal, got up and walked home. The next day, my friends told me all about it.
More recently, I had to pull and all-nighter for my college finals. Then celebrated with an all-nighter. After which point, my sister asked me to help her pack so she could make an early morning flight to California (moving with her new husband who was in the Navy). I had been up for just over 75 hours straight when I fell asleep in the car on my way home. Don't worry, my father was driving.
The odd thing is, these were the only times I had ever been able to fall asleep in a moving vehicle. Well, aside from that one time over summer with my girlfriend...
It is a proven fact people with small brains only need 4-5 hours of sleep. The larger the brain the more sleep needed. Einstein averaged over 10 hours a night. I guess you must have a small brain?
I doubt it considering I have always had a borderline genius IQ, scored 1400 on my SAT's (when the max score was 1600) and a perfect math score on my GRE (*Cheesy grin* They sent me a certificate and everything!).
Sometimes I fall asleep while typingggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
Veritas - who are you trying to get a rise out of w/ that ridiculous, unfounded comment.
And, actually, Einstein was a polyphasic sleeper (series of naps) so that he could be awake more hours....
i sleep roughly 10-15 hours on weekends and im an athlete every day, its a personal thing for how much sleep a person "needs" to function normally. some days ive gotten 3 hours then ran a mile and half for fitness, then others ive slept 17 hours and worked normally, point being, its a personal thing
I fell asleep on the doctor's examining table while waiting to get my yearly female exam. (Not usually a comfort-zone kinda place!) I was aware of being cold from wearing that horrible paper frock and from lying on that cold vinyl but was out like a light anyway. When the doctor came in, she woke me up and started asking if I fell asleep easily, anywhere. I told her yes, so she checked my iron levels and found I had become very anemic. She got me on iron and fixed me up. I can still fall asleep in lots of places friends and family can't (I once fell asleep in the middle field during a Nascar race), but it's not because of anemia anymore.
Sounds like you may suffer from Sleep Apnea.
Pimpin
From Wiki: Sleep apnea (or sleep apnoea in British English; /æpˈniːə/) is a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing, during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from a few seconds to minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour.[1] Similarly, each abnormally low breathing event is called a hypopnea. Sleep apnea is diagnosed with an overnight sleep test called a polysomnogram, or "sleep study".
There are three forms of sleep apnea: central (CSA), obstructive (OSA), and complex or mixed sleep apnea (i.e., a combination of central and obstructive) constituting 0.4%, 84% and 15% of cases respectively.[2] In CSA, breathing is interrupted by a lack of respiratory effort; in OSA, breathing is interrupted by a physical block to airflow despite respiratory effort, and snoring is common.
Regardless of type, an individual with sleep apnea is rarely aware of having difficulty breathing, even upon awakening.[3] Sleep apnea is recognized as a problem by others witnessing the individual during episodes or is suspected because of its effects on the body (sequelae). Symptoms may be present for years (or even decades) without identification, during which time the sufferer may become conditioned to the daytime sleepiness and fatigue associated with significant levels of sleep disturbance.
Now, from the information she gave, it doesn't really sound like sleep apnea, does it?
"an individual with sleep apnea is rarely aware of having difficulty breathing....Symptoms may be present for years (or even decades) without identification, during which time the sufferer may become conditioned to the daytime sleepiness and fatigue associated with significant levels of sleep disturbance."
Yeah, actually it does sound like she has sleep apnea according to your definition.
JM, Can I Dod Your Next Exam?
I fell asleep on a boat with 150 grade school kids (I was a chaperone). Even better, I was sitting on the floor! Fell asleep in the dentists chair. Fell asleep, yes, on the examining table waiting for the doctor. I am perfectly healthy (doctor ran all kinds of tests after that), but sleep deprived. I know it too.
I used to work night shift & the drive home would really be a struggle. I never actually fell asleep, but the mind plays tricks on you and I would catch myself thinking it would be ok to just close my eyes for a few minutes - that scared me. Movies Theaters -great place to catch a nap during all those commercials and previews. The doctor's office - between the waiting room and the exam room, you could probably catch an hour. Anyplace where you have to sit w/ nothing specific to do for more than a few minutes.
i started to see things too while driving at 1 am, it was a moose with a hat crossing the road, so i swerved to avoid the mirage. its was pretty funny afterwards
Hey bspurlock, your ignorance is only outdone by your grammar! Sure, there are some fat and lazy people but, that is something that is easily corrected. However, ignorance is a much more difficult nut to crack and you have that tenfold!!
I fell asleep in a tattoo shop, in the middle of the two hour tattoo session. That was before I knew I was diabetic.
I've done that too!! I was having some work done on my back and I completely CRASHED OUT!
Next thing I knew my tattoo artist was shaking me and telling me I could go home! (I was exhausted that day......)
Another time I was sitting on the tailgate of my truck, watching the kids play in the snow (it was about 20 degrees outside), and I dozed off just sitting there. My kids (13 and 10) thought it was pretty funny. :)
Fell asleep on a toilet and couldn't remember when I woke up if I had finished everything or not so I grabbed more toilet paper and did it again. There was no one in the bathroom with me and I was still embarrassed. I no longer use bathrooms anymore. Now I just go and do it on the Bosses desk.
Ken, what you gonna say when you fall asleep pooping on the bosses desk?
I was on a bus from Disneyworld this year. It was very (and illegally) full with everyone standing in the aisle like a Japanese subway. In front of me was a little girl (4) who was holding onto a pole with both hands. The odd thing was she was completely asleep (standing up). Her parents were next to her but everyone was amazed that she could stay asleep with the bus jostling around on the road. Reminds me of animals that can sleep holding onto their parents fur.
i used to fall asleep in the shower before school. didn't want to get out of bed because i was so tired. i'd wake up to my mom knocking and the shower freezing cold cause i'd used all the hot water. also fell asleep while driving once. i worked 40 hours straight. dreamt i was getting into bed and told myself i was forgetting to do something. get home first was what i was forgetting.
Ken, how disgusting. A filter for your sense of humor would be good.
I got quite a chuckle out of Ken's comment.
I agree with Just my opinion -- totally icky. EEEW!
i love taking a dook on my boss's desk. effing a-hole
I'm a driver for a paratransit service (appointment-based transit bus for the handicapped). I usually carry something like 10-16 passengers a day, and it's a rare day when at least one of them DOESN'T fall asleep.
I think anyone with small children has fallen asleep in a weird place occasionally. Being a fully time working mom is exhausting. I once went into a bathroom stall at work, laid my head on the cushy TP roll and napped for a few minutes. I've also fallen asleep in a moving elevator, just going from the 1st to 10th floor! Fell asleep in the hair stylist's chair several times, and once in the dentist's chair.
Now that my kids are grown, I've caught up on my sleep but I still nap on my hour-long bus ride.
Haha, I've done that before! I was a brand new mom, completely sleep-deprived and when I went to work, I ended up taking a 45 minute nap in the bathroom with my head nestled against the toilet paper roll(totally by accident). When I came out, my co workers asked me if I had eaten something that didn't agree with me! :)
It's not always the amout of sleep you get but the quality of sleep you get. My husband goes to sleep as soon as his head hits the pillow while I can lay awake for up to an hour before I fall asleep. But if I wake up at all I don't get up whereas he usually gets up at least twice during the night. Then I get up almost an hour before him so I only 5-6 hours of sleep a night and I don't use caffeine at all and I don't fall asleep anymore anywhere. But since his sleep isn't quality sleep he falls asleep everytime he's in the car (whether he's driving or not) and he's always tired.
I used to fall asleep during rock concerts and movies all the time. Actually since I'm not using caffeine anymore I haven't done that.
Reducing caffeine intake by 99.9% made all the difference in eliminating spontaneous napping. Before that, I could/would nap at my desk at work, in boring movies, and other places that didn't offer some sort of mental stimulation.
Some of this is due to sleep aptnia and some of it is due to diabetes. Some of it has to do with peole just not getting enough sleep. We should have siesta time like some south americans do.
Inappropriate napping can also be a sign of Narcolepsy.
Inappropriate napping can also be a sign of Narcolepsy.
Repeating yourself is also a sign.
I fell asleep while sitting on the top of an 8ft stepladder before. I was helping my husband install sheetrock. I had to wait for him to cut a piece and fell sound asleep. Can you imagine! I was probably snoring too! I regularly fall asleep while waiting for the red light to change. I need a nap.
With work, family, grad school and the gym at night, I don't get much sleep. During my lunch break I have gotten in the habit of wolfing down my food and going to my car and taking a 35-45 min nap. It is the best part of my day.
Same here...Nothing like a short nap after lunch!
Whenever I try that, I always wind up oversleeping...to the tune of 2-3 hours or so, and in my particular line of work, that's not really a good idea.
Anyways, I decided to try a different mattress and see how that works.
I'm sleeping right now ... snooooooog.
I was waiting for one of those postings...lol.
Why are these places only "strange" if we happen to nap there? We're just animals folks.....ever see a lion napping in the African savannah? Is it weird for them to nap in their natural habitat? Is a cubicle a natural habitat for a human being? Or a car? Or a subway?
I would venture to say that the places people find themselves napping are strange period! We are merely animals, biological beings that require sleep...and heaven forbid even naps! Yet we live as corporatized profit generating "machines" that do all sorts strange things that animals should never do.
Which brings up this question......Why are natural biological processes (namely sleep and sex) frowned upon in this corporatized society? These two things are only supposed to happen behind closed doors in the privacy of our own homes. They are a natural part of life and it seems STRANGE to me that our human society does not embrace them, but instead embraces a corporate oligarchy, corrupt government, and wage slavery. No wonder we are sleep deprived and need a nap!
I remember, about 5-6 years ago, falling asleep in the middle of a conference room meeting with the board of directors at my job. I was working 2 jobs full time and attending university full time though, so I think they understood. Still, it was embarrassing, and I guess I was lucky that I did not lose my job over this incident.
You proved my point exactly! One comment up......the corporate oligarchy has little tolerance for our natural biological processes. Profit is the only thing that matters to them, and it's no wonder you'd work yourself silly to try and keep up!
I would say that napping in strange places is normal. It's a defence mechanism caused by anxiety or fear,such as doctor or dentist office or any duty you must do but would rather not do.
George Costanza napped under his desk. He had a carpenter fit the space out with an alarm clock and a cup holder. I liked George.
What's wrong with (or weird about) sleeping on a bus? In my mind, one of the greatest aspects of public transit is the ability to use the time productively instead of staring out a windshield at a sea of brake lights. On some mornings, my productive bus time involves working on my Android; on others, it involves catching a nap.
There are even apps that use GPS to alert you of your stop as you approach, so you don't miss it while dozing. Since that's the case, bus napping is clearly a pretty ordinary and entrenched activity. I'm guessing the author of this article has never ridden public transit.
Yeah, Joe, that was my reaction, why would sleeping on a bus be considered odd? Used to take the subway to work in NYC, slept most of the time both coming and going.
Maybe it is just more of msn's bad editing.....
I agree 100% - I love it that I can nap on the bus. I arrive at home refreshed and ready for the evening routine. Who wouldn't love a hour-long nap every afternoon instead of fighting the Atlanta traffic?
Depends on the location and probably which bus you take. In Boston, everyone is packed like sardines during rush hour and you would be lucky to get a seat...
I usually fall asleep on planes, even though theres no way to get really comfortable. The sound of the jets and the (usually) gentle motion just makes me nod off. I hate missing beverage service though!