Plugged In

 

There is a point when you consult your internet browsing history and are frankly horrified at how plugged in one has become.  More and more of one's day has been wasted on an exhausting examination of breaking news, movies, and that latest third series of episodes of drama you have become strangely addicted to, interspersed with podcasts, social media posting, and viewing endless youtube videos on increasingly obscure topics.  

That this addiction is toxic is apparent from the rabbit holes one goes down. Overall, it is a little depressing that 86% of adults spend an average of 3 hours and 37 mins online each day (Ofcom figures).  But this level of addiction is to be expected as youtube's sophisticated technology recommends videos based on your viewing history to entice you to keep watching.  Internet browsing has definitely had a negative impact on my sleep.  

I actually never thought about sleep at all until I passed sixty.  Then, instead of blissful sleep, there came various stages of sleeplessness.  The first was not being able to get to sleep and endless hours tossing and turning to try and find the mystical perfect position that might bring oblivion.  The second was not only difficulty in getting to sleep but also waking up in the early hours of the morning and having a full breakfast at 3 or 4 am.  Usually, after toast and a full pot of tea, I would be able to fall back into bed and sleep.  Then, a different stage was reached where I did not sleep the whole night!  The day after this sleepless night I dragged myself around as if I had a mortal wound allowing my lifeblood to gradually drain away. The next night in recovery mode I would sleep the sleep of the just, deep, long, and life-affirming.  I foolishly thought this sleeplessness business had reached its worse stage however a new terrifying stage awaited me.  

Not only did I not sleep the entire night but even the following night.  After two sleepless nights in a row, a strange change in my mental state occurred.  I began to fear twilight, that signal of the coming night.  Now sleeplessness was not just a torment during the night but the tail end of the day was filled with dread at the forthcoming night!  The horrid thing about sleeplessness is the places one's mind goes to when you are sleep deprived.  Simply everything takes on a dark hue like the night.  The thoughts become darker, the future more dire and the very worst of memories resurrect themselves repeatedly. As William Shakespeare so eloquently put it,

"Care keeps his watch in every old man’s eye,

And where care lodges, sleep will never lie.”

So, why is this piece labeled unplugged?  I made a great discovery just when all seemed to have reached a crescendo.  I left my laptop outside the bedroom and sleep like a child once more.  I thought it was a fluke but have so far found myself returning to pre-sixty levels of blissful sleep.  It may not last and I hesitate to pronounce victory so soon.  After all, sleep is not just one battle it is more like a war!  But,  in case you too, like me are addicted to 'input' of all sorts and find yourself sleep-deprived I share my tip.  Do yourself a favour and check your browsing history and ask yourself honestly how much of it is adding to the quality of your life.  If you have tips of your own to share with me on these topics please do share.  I am anxious to learn a better path forward.  May I end by wishing you the very best of night's sleep!

 

Abnormal repetitive behaviour - what's yours

Today we had an invited speaker to the college who spoke about abnormal behaviour in animals.  Videos were shown of small dogs chasing their tail until they became a flying circle of black and white.  A mouse did repeat back summersaults again and again like an acrobat stuck in a loop.  A huge elephant, chained at the leg, swung from side to side continuously.  All of them drew laughter from the audience of young students.  Until the speaker pointed out that all of these behaviours denoted stress in the animals.  These repetitive movements were symptoms of an animal trying to cope with situations far from their normal environment.  Perhaps you have seen it in the zoo where the lion paces up and down the cage wall putting his feet in the exact paw prints that he has been making for months, sometimes years.  It is distressing to watch because once you know what to look for, you can see it is not normal.  The tragic thing is that after a period of around twelve weeks of such activity the animal’s brain becomes hard wired and it is impossible to change the endless routine.  The comfort such activities bring are an end in themselves and no matter how exciting the environment or stimulating only a slight reduction in activity levels in the repetitive activity can be ever achieved.  Abnormal repetitive behaviour is usual exhibited by normal animals in un-natural situations.  If you want to see distressing examples of this behaviour have a look at this link. 

http://www.aps.uoguelph.ca/~gmason/StereotypicAnimalBehaviour/library.shtml

It struck me that we too carry out abnormal repetitive behaviour when stressed and I began looking for signs of it in myself and others.  Overeating, endless shopping, routines at work, gossiping, mobile phones, games, gambling, drinking, smoking, cleaning, reading rubbish and watching rubbish on TV.  Could these be the equivalent of rocking to and fro getting nowhere but longing for actual life to begin?  What a depressing turn of thought.  Mind you I was happy to see how much the students loved the talk and the speaker and how they were all triggered to find ways of making life more enjoyable for the animals in their care.  It reminded me what a lovely bunch of students they are and what an odd creature I am!