Adult Naptime and Disposition

Coming to grips that I still need nap time as an adult is more difficult than I anticipated. Let me paint a picture, and then I'll tie it all together like I usually do. Several weeks ago, I was enjoying the weekend with my wife. I was off from work, and things were good. Suddenly, my mood became dark and I was extremely irritable. I became depressed, angry, and stoic. We were out and about in town, so all I wanted to do was go home and hide.

When we finally got home, I decided that I was fed up with feeling this way, and I didn't want my wife to deal with my stupidity either. Seeing no other options at the time, I went into my bedroom and tried to go to sleep. It was then I realized I was exhausted. I could barely keep my eyes open.

Once awakening FOUR hours later, I felt completely changed, and ready to face the world again. I fight fatigue all week long, and it's not because my job is boring. It's something we all have to face and fight. But, when I start fighting fatigue during periods of time when I can rest, I start to have problems. And I'm not the only one. Check out this blogger. He says the same thing I do, and I'm sure I'll not be hard pressed to find more like him and I.

And then there's the concept of a siesta. Italy has one (source): "A siesta can be taken anytime during the day but typically it is when the sun is at it's hottest so anytime between 12 and 2pm and often after lunch." There's even an entire Wikipedia article based on it and the importance of naps! Artists have created paintings of them too:

 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Die_H%C3%A4ngematte.jpg

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_migdiada.jpg

So, what happened? Other countries have siestas. Not all (which includes us) but some. There is no denying that sleep is important. So why do we ignore dream time? In fact, we even chastise those who are using their time for sleep, even a short ten minute break from consciousness. This woman describes a story about how her husband does not approve of her napping habits. She, at one time, even tried to stop her "habit" of napping, but wound up having to do it in secret. In her own home!

The working world is a world obsessed with time and productivity, even if such "values" diminish our ability to effectively deal and utilize both metaphorical resources. Would it be a crime to allow a twenty minute, non-paid optional nap break? Also, would it be wrong if workers chose to use lunchtime, or time before and after shifts to sleep?

As far as the working world is concerned, yes. Not only is it wrong, it's a heinous crime. Why? In all honesty, the world is simply going to get faster and more complex. People will have to do twice as much with the twenty four hours we are allotted each day, and eventually we will all wear ourselves out.

What do you think? Do you think I'm right, or I'm just cranky and need a nap?

Work-Related Stress and Substances

Is it possible to function in the adult world without the aid of a legal/illegal substance?

I say no, it's not. And I'm not just talking about alcohol, pot, coke, etc. I'm talking about any substance that enters the human body and has an effect on it and is a drug. Let's take an easy one first. Alcohol. Prolific, used and abused by millions. Many consume alcohol to lower stress levels. Work, in case you didn't know, is typically a massive source of chronic stress, which helps develop bad habits. I didn't just pull that out m'butt.

Look at this excerpt from an article I found:  "Research and population surveys have shown that persons under stress , particularly chronic stress, tend to exhibit more unhealthy behaviors than less-stressed persons. Stressed people drink more alcohol, smoke more, and eat less nutritious foods than non-stressed individuals." (Source) 

And here's another one focusing on addiction and stress: "Stress has long been known to increase vulnerability to addiction. The last decade has led to a dramatic increase in understanding the underlying mechanisms for this association."  (Source)

That's a pretty easy correlation. But, not everyone drinks! I know this, you know this. What about other recreational drugs? I have found after doing some research that a substance can be addictive, true, but it is the introduction of chronic stress that wears down our willpower, making people more vulnerable to self-medication and addiction. Taken from this peer-reviewed journal, the facts don't lie: "High emotional stress is associated with loss of control over impulses and an inability to inhibit inappropriate behaviors and to delay gratification."

Drugs, alcohol. Smoking, too. Many believe that smoking cigarettes, pipes, cigars, etc. has a relaxing effect, and can help calm nerves when under a lot of stress. Although, it is unclear why people only think they relax when they smoke. I found, thanks to this article, that the feeling of relaxation is only perceived. Cigarettes actually have the opposite effect: "Studies have found, however, that in reality, lighting up has the opposite effect, causing long-term stress levels to rise, not fall. For those dependent on smoking, the only stress it relieves is the withdrawal between cigarettes."

Prescription drugs, too. Let's say you're a straight shooter. You don't smoke, you don't drink. No drugs, except for what your doctor prescribes you. But I bet stress has worn you down. In fact, in the United States, there has been a significant jump in the number of people who have been taking cholesterol controlling drugs: "From 1988 to 1994, 3.4% of adults took a statin (drug that helps control cholesterol). This percentage jumped to 15.5% in 2007-2010." (Source) Why focus on cholestrol and stress? High stress levels, especially when chronic, builds up cortisol in your system, a hormone released when the body is stressed. A constant flow of cortisol in your body makes your body produce more cholesterol, same with adrenaline, which also is released during stress events, and also stimulates the production of cholesterol.

There's a direct link, look at the facts: "These two hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) produced by the hypothalamus also trigger the production of cholesterol. Cortisol produces more sugar in order to provide the body with instant energy to tackle the stressful situation. The high sugar levels, however, often are not used up by the body and eventually are converted to fatty acids and cholesterol. Stress also can push people toward unhealthy eating habits and lifestyles: smoking, drinking and eating a diet that contributes to high cholesterol." (Source)

Stress requires us to medicate ourselves to stay well (cholsterol medications, high blood pressure medications, tranquilizers, etc) or to relieve, or more accurately, forget stress (recreational drugs and alcohol). But in reality, we are only making the problem worse. We work too much. Once again, we work. TOO. MUCH. All over the damn globe, and especially America, we are working ourselves to death. We've even developed methods to further that end to deal with the side-effects of working too hard! See the madness?

Enough talk. It is impossible to exist in the adult, working world without the sustained usage of prescription, or recreational drugs, including alcohol. That is my stand. What's yours?

Stress and Working Yourself to Death

We all must work. Whether it is an honest job or not, we all work somehow. Many of us, however, work ourselves to the point where we can no longer work. Doesn't have to be physical. Some of the hardest workers I know barely lift anything over 5 pounds in their work day. But this is the point of this whole damn entry- most of us, and I mean as a nation (U.S.A.), work way too long, and way too hard.

Where does it end? With debt, cost of living, unexpected expenses, most people have to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet. Many other countries that we share the planet with set a maximum hour limit to a work week. America does not. We also among the countries that have the most of our men and women working over 40 hours a week.

There are no laws regulating paid sick days (a company does not have to offer them) and employers expect more and more and more from us on average as money and resources get tighter. The article listed in this paragraph begun to suggest that this type of cycle is more insidious than circumstantial: and that's not just me whining- there is only so much a human being can do in a day before work suffers. Before life suffers.

Here's a look at offered vacation days around the world that'll make you sad:

Source: http://20somethingfinance.com/american-hours-worked-productivity-vacation/

Don't understand the graph? Me either. So, I found this webpage that details it all. And I quote:

"This report reviewed international vacation and holiday laws and found that the United States is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee its workers any paid vacation or holiday."

Now of course this doesn't mean that NO-ONE takes vacation days, but what I found interesting is that Americans actually wind up giving back vacation days, i.e. not using them. In this article, it is stated that, "In 2009, harrumphs Expedia, Americans 'gave back' a total of 436m vacation days." That number has probably increased since then. If we do get offered vacation days, sometimes we don't take them to try and do more at work to get ahead. When we do take them, we typically don't use all of them, and sometimes? We can't use all our vacation days if they're not paid. We can't afford to miss work!

What have we become? Forget America for a second. What has a human being become? We just...work until death? Is that what we are? A tireless, bio-machine that simply goes to work, keeps working, and then expires without retirement benefits. People. We're not meant to live our lives this way.

Easier said than done of course. But. Yes, there's always but. But. I wanted to see what working does to your body. According to this website, "the latest findings discovered by scientists at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health support results from a 2011 British survey that revealed that doing more than 11 hours of work a day raised heart disease risks by 67 percent." The article then suggested that poor diet, lack of exercise (these two most commonly associated with office jobs in my opinion AND from personal experience) creates a well? In a word? Fatal combination.

Then, being under the constant stress of working all the time, your body produces cortisol, which is good in short amounts, but when your bloodstream is flooded with the stuff 24/7, you can see all sorts of dangerous side effects, like increased blood pressure, and a compromised immune response. And then, you can enjoy a nice heart attack for all you hard work and dedication.

Source: http://www.umm.edu/patiented/articles/coronary_artery_blockage_000441.htm

But as Americans, we work more than most other 1st world countries. Which is startling. Aren't we always told that Americans have zero work ethic? Have no spine for true, hard work? Not all of us. Some? Sure. But not all of us. Not me. Probably not you, either. Here's what I found (quote taken from here):

"The UN International Labour Organisation said the average Australian, Canadian and Japanese worker worked about 100 hours, or 2.5 weeks less than the average American per year. Brazilians and British workers worked 250 hours, or more than five weeks less, while Germans worked roughly 500 hours, or 12.5 weeks less."

We all work hard. But it seems that America is working the "hardest". And this is not a completely good thing. Americans, whether they were born and raised here, or immigrated from a different land, work way too much. Race doesn't play into it. Location does. Why America? Why do we demand so much for so little? Why are we not the only ones thinking this way? I have no idea. One could speculate, of course. Economy, ethics, greed, this list could go on and on. But the fact of the matter is we, humans, all work too hard. Life winds up becoming weekend to weekend, and if you work on the weekend, you may have no rest at all!

So what are we to do? I don't know.

Do you?