第1512期:Bad sleep

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.

你需要多少睡眠？你是否发现如果你没有得到足够的睡眠并且醒来时感到昏昏欲睡，你会在剩下的时间里心情不好？我当然需要每晚八小时，根据研究，这很重要，因为糟糕的睡眠对我们的健康不利。

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.

我们都需要好好休息来给自己充电，但根据英国睡眠委员会的数据，英国人平均每晚睡六个半小时，这对大多数人来说是不够的。减少我们的睡眠是很诱人的，毕竟还有很多其他更有趣或更有用的事情要做。有时，工作压力或长途通勤意味着我们的头撞到枕头的时间要晚得多。但大量研究表明，有意或无意地减少睡眠会对我们的身体产生严重影响。

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 BBC 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".

研究证明，睡眠不足对我们的身体有负面影响，但也会影响我们的心理健康。一个名为“相信我，我是一名医生”的 BBC 节目与牛津大学进行了一项实验，并惊讶地发现当他们的睡眠时间被限制在每晚 4 小时，连续三个晚上时，他们的情绪变化得如此之快.进行该实验的博士生莎拉·里夫说：“焦虑、抑郁和压力增加了，偏执狂和对他人的不信任感也增加了”。

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".

这项和其他对学生心理健康的研究发现，睡眠不足会增加我们的负面情绪。我知道当我睡眠不足时，很难对事情感到积极，甚至更难思考！牛津大学临床心理学教授丹尼尔弗里曼同意失眠对我们的大脑有害。他说：“当我们被剥夺睡眠并陷入其中时，我们会有更多的消极想法”。

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?

睡眠不好并不一定意味着你会出现心理健康问题，但其他研究表明，连续几个晚上剥夺人们足够的睡眠足以让健康的成年人进入糖尿病前期。因此，有了所有这些证据，也许我们应该专注于睡个好觉。这意味着在合理的时间上床睡觉，并在卧室创造合适的环境来放松和入睡。现代人在睡前使用智能手机和平板电脑也会分散注意力，诱使我们保持清醒。电子设备发出的蓝光使我们不那么困倦。当我们的大脑应该放松时，使用它们会刺激我们的大脑。什么可以帮助你睡个好觉？

词汇表

shut-eye 闭眼，睡眠
wake up 醒来
dopey 嗜睡的，迷迷糊糊的
recharge our batteries 恢复我们的体力
head hits the pillow 头挨枕头，睡觉
cut back 减少
sleep deprivation 睡眠不足
mental health 心理健康
anxiety 焦虑（症）
paranoia 多疑，妄想症
lack of sleep 缺觉
negative emotions 负面情绪
think straight 清楚地思考，思路清晰
insomnia 失眠（症）
pre-diabetic state 糖尿病前期状态
sleepy 困的，瞌睡的
stimulate 刺激
wind down 平静下来，放松