How did you sleep last night? Did you toss and turn? Did you get up several times? How many conversations did you have with yourself?
If you are like most of us, you will nod your head in agreement to the above questions. I don’t remember the last time I slept through the night. I seem to get more exercise tossing and turning at night than during the day!
Recently I attended a workshop sponsored by the Saskatoon Council on Aging (SCOA), featuring Dr. Vicki Holmes as a presenter. She talked about the stages of sleep and how these stages change as we age.
In case you’ve forgotten, there are four stages in the sleep cycle. One is Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and three are non-REM (NREM). The three NREM have three stages. We go through this cycle several times during sleep and spend different amounts of time in each stage. The first three stages are NREM and lead to REM, or deep sleep. Let’s start at the beginning. NREM1 is when we first fall asleep. This stage is very short, and although body and brain activities begin to slow, the body is not fully relaxed. During the next stage, N2, our body enters a more subdued state. Temperature may drop, muscles relax, breathing, heart rate, and brain activity slow. Once we enter N3, our body relaxes even further and it is harder to wake up. Experts think this stage is important for restorative sleep, strengthening the immune system and other major bodily processes. It is crucial for body recovery and development. And finally, we enter REM sleep. During this phase, brain activity actually increases. The body experiences a temporary paralysis of the muscles, except those that control breathing and the eyes. That is why the eyes can be seen moving even behind closed lids. REM sleep is important to cognitive functions like memory and is known for the most vivid dreams. And repeat.
Do we really need this information anymore? Well, yes, we should at least be aware of the stages of sleep. This awareness can help us adjust our sleep habits if necessary. By doing so, we can optimize our nocturnal Z’s. Sleep stages are important because they allow the brain and body to recuperate and develop. We all know how groggy we feel if we don’t get a good night’s sleep, right? A night of good sleep is more elusive when we age because our bodies and our circadian rhythms are changing. We can attribute those changes to various things. We probably spend more time in the lighter NREM stages of sleep. This happens because we wake up more often. Since we make those little bathroom trips, we don’t always reach REM. Changes to our sleep routine make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep. Staying up later than usual can cause this. We might visit a friend, attend a concert, or even read a good book. And of course, there is the infamous daytime nap. If I nap after 2 pm, I have trouble falling asleep. And there are even some medications that mess with sleep patterns.
We can come up with many reasons why our sleep patterns change as we age. But what happens to our dreams?
I used to be a vivid dreamer. I also walked and talked in my sleep until I was about 30 years old. Fortunately, it stopped for no apparent reason. Or maybe it was because I started having kids and haven’t slept well since!
Dreams are fun, not including nightmares, of course. They open our eyes to new perceptions. They make us think of connections we didn’t make while in awake mode. They also make great conversations. I’m sure many of you have owned a dream encyclopedia, dictionary, or whatever at some point. I’ve had a few. But they aren’t really accurate. Indeed, many of us experience stress dreams where walls seem to close in. Sometimes, we dream of driving a car from the back seat. Other times, we find ourselves soaring through the air and need to find a way to land safely. (Is that too much information?) Dreams mean different things to different people. Dreams reflect your life and your life’s experiences, so of course they will have different meanings for everyone. It is up to us to decipher a dream and try to understand the message they bring to us.
It seems that older adults have fewer physical or aggressive dreams than children and adolescents. Adults dream more about other people, usually familiar people, and there is more interaction and dialogue between the characters. Men often dream about hostile interactions with other men. Women, on the other hand, dream about harmonious relationships with both men and women. As we age, dreams become more reflective and may include more interactions with loved ones who have passed. It has been discovered that dreaming occurs near the end of life. Some of those dreams involve travel as if the dream world is preparing the soul for its next journey.
There has been little research done on dreaming and older adults, compared to younger adults and children. I’m not sure why, but it could be that there are fewer resources. The older you get, the harder it is to recall dreams. Of course, as mentioned earlier, the older you get, your sleep patterns become disrupted. The dream stage is not as intense. Looking forward, there has been talk about the connection between dreaming and dementia. Hopefully, more scholars will get involved in this exciting area. They could give us some answers.
Until they do that, we can be proactive. We should try our best to get a good night’s sleep. Maybe we can have a few dreams while we’re at it.
Do you have a sleep routine? Hopefully, you go to bed at the same time every night. Try to avoid screens, including eReaders, for a couple of hours before turning out the light. And hopefully, you have a pleasantly cool, dark room to lay your head. Do you have a favourite sleep app? A sleep story? Do you take melatonin? Magnesium? Whiskey?
Whatever you do, I hope it works for you tonight. Sweet dreams. . .
Interesting Reads & Things
Aging and Sleep: How Does Growing Old Affect Sleep? | Sleep Foundation
How Dreams Change From Infancy to Old Age | Psychology Today
4 Ways to Keep Dreaming Into Old Age | Psychology Today
15 Common Stress Dreams (What They Mean & How to Deal With Them)
Getting Older and Good Sleep: Do They Go Hand in Hand? – Research on Aging – YouTube
Wanderings Art 