Red Flags: Amateur Psych

A handful of behavioral cues can flag you before you go overboard.

Rattled and Halt

Stress happens. When you get cranky, nervous, or tense or start yelling without much cause, stop. Maybe snatch a wink.

To preserve your mind, be ready to stop in an instant. That means resigning the project (health reasons are good) or restructuring your obligations to be more normal.

Forgot Already?

You might forget exactly what was discussed, and that could be dangerous. Write things down right then, or right afterwards, even if that’s not your custom. Better yet, snatch a nap before discussing things and, after you wake up, do something before the big talk, so you’ll be sharp.

We all forget something sometime. The brain is less than three pounds of nerves. Forgetting frees space. But if you’re forgetting more than your usual, maybe your brain got fried and is demanding serious snooze. Go crash for the night.

Not Just Focus

Don’t focus as a substitute for sleep. Sure, you’ll focus. And you’ll react. But when your judgment goes bad you may very well overreact or react too slowly or in the wrong direction. You may cause major harm. You may be totally unable to fix it.

If you told yourself to focus five times in five minutes, you’re losing it. Get zzz while you’re ahead.

Websites of Interest

These websites have some interesting content, although I disagree with some of it:

Health advice from reliable sources favoring normal sleep:

What Are Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency?, from National Institutes of Health

Sleep Tips: 7 Steps to Better Sleep, from the Mayo Clinic

Consequences of Insufficient Sleep, from Harvard Medical School

“Eat, Sleep and Move” Campaign Success Includes Fun with Family and Friends, from the United States Army

Other reliable sources:

How to Fake a Good Night’s Sleep, from Health.com and CNN, a journalistic broadcaster; the story has tips on making do with less sleep

25 Random Facts about Sleep, from National Sleep Foundation, an organization with several physicians on its Board of Directors

The Factor Of Sleep In Training., from a bodybuilding business, with some of its information coming from a physician

15 Things You Should Know About Sleep, from a journalism source citing medical and other sources

Poor Sleep Has Social Causes and Consequences, by a sociology professor

9 Fun Facts About Sleep, from Encyclopaedia Britannica

Opinions, probably from laity:

Relax! You’ll Be More Productive, an opinion piece partly on naps and rest

40 Amazing Facts About Sleep: 40 Facts About Sleep You Probably Didn’t Know... (Or Were Too Tired To Think About), from the National Sleep Research Project, hosted by Australian Broadcasting Corp., a journalism source

Wellness Center Relaxation and Sleep Information, from Midwestern State University

How Much Sleep Does a Person Need?, from Tuck, saying that people tend to claim getting more sleep than they actually get and that only a little over two thirds of Americans get enough sleep

Other information:

Research on Sleep and REM, by an undergraduate student

The Guide to Sleeping in Airports

(Sources: All except one of the links to these websites of interest were as accessed April 3, 2016, the exception being the link to Tuck, which was accessed February 25 or 26, 2017.)