Sleep Log

An excess of sleep or lack of it can affect your body and mind. Scientists are digging deep into our sleep patterns and offering insights on how to sleep better and tackle its many disorders

- Mini P. Thomas

As a teenager, Reshma Valliappan would graze her imaginary flock of sheep in a field of green grass before going to bed.

“They say counting sheep, jumping over a fence, helps you drift off to sleep. But it never really worked for me,” says the 38-year-old from Pune who had severe insomnia. So, she turned to books, from bedtime stories to history books and boring magazines. But that only left her annoyed and awake. As sleep became elusive, Valliappan started figuring out ways to while away the hours—she would talk to fictitious friends or call up a radio station and chat with random people.

“Despite being a hyperactive kid, I had trouble falling asleep,” recalls Valliappan, who spent her childhood in Malaysia. “Unlike most kids, I would work out at least six hours a day. I would have basketball and band practice, Taekwondo and would be running around in school on my lunch break. Yet, I couldn't sleep at night.” Her teachers would turn a blind eye to her sleeping in class. Once a week, she would sleep for six or seven hours. This was her sleep pattern for several years.

Valliappan then started self-medicating. “I would smoke weed and drink a bunch of other things, which would tire me out and I would crash out.” She eventually outgrew that phase as she became aware of their adverse effects.

Insomnia can be a trigger for several psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. Valliappan was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 22, and her sleep problems still persist. “Sometimes I dream with my eyes open. People normally dream when they are in a subconscious state, whereas I deal with dreams in a conscious state. It feels like going mad,” she says.