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Tag: sleep deprivation

  • Popular Songs The CIA Used To Torture Detainees

    One of the most potent ways of torture is without touch: first, confine the detainee in a windowless 6 x 9 ft. solitary cell, shackle them to the wall, leave a bucket for defecating and urination, and blast the Sesame Street theme song on repeat for a full 24 hours.

    The Senate Intelligence Committee’s CIA torture report  revealed the agencies’ assortment of “enhanced interrogation techniques” used in detention facilities on detainees after the Sept. 11, 2011 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

    In 2008, Mother Jones reported a “torture playlist”, based on a leaked interrogation log, chosen by guards and interrogators at Guantanamo Bay.

    The songs include:

    • Christina Aguilera: “Dirrty”
    • Drowning Pool: “Bodies”
    • Janeane Garofalo/Ben Stiller: chapter from the Feel This Audiobook
    • Matchbox Twenty: “Cold”
    • Rage Against the Machine: unspecified songs

    According to the CIA torture report, song repetition was an effective touch-less torture technique used to disorient detainees, induce sleep deprivation, signal the start of interrogations, create a “sense of hopelessness”, and drown out screams. White noise was also administered to manifest sensory deprivation and hallucinations.

    Although the recent CIA torture report itself never mentions specific songs, Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, details some of the most popular songs used against detainees. “Hit Me Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears was one of them.

    “You lose the plot and it’s very scary to think that you might go crazy because of all the music, because of the loud noise, and because after a while you don’t hear the lyrics at all, all you hear is heavy banging,” Ruhal Ahmed, a released Guantanamo prisoner, explained to Worthington.

    Songs by Metallica, Eminem’s “Slim Shady” album, Nine Inch Nails, and Queen’s “We Will Rock You” were also mentioned in Worthington’s book.

    Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails wrote in a blog post condemning the use of his songs as a form of torture:

    “It’s difficult for me to imagine anything more profoundly insulting, demeaning and enraging than discovering music you’ve put your heart and soul into creating has been used for purposes of torture.”

    For more information on torture techniques, check out this ABC style comic featured on VICE, with text by Oscar Rickett, and illustrations by Krent Able.

  • Sleep Deprivation Could Be Destroying Your Health

    Not surprisingly, sleep deprivation can be life threatening in more ways than one. We’ve all had sleepless nights at one time or another and for most, the next day was dreadful.

    “Sleep deprivation is the single most dangerous aspect of any sleep disorder, because you have no idea that you are compromised cognitively, physically and emotionally,” says sleep expert Michael Breus.

    One of the most severe reasons lack of sleep can be deadly, is in reaction times during driving, operating heavy equipment, or any other operation where dulled senses can cause slower reaction times, and lead to accidents. Recent research has found drowsy driving to be just as risky as drunk driving.

    Sleep deprived people can experience memory retention problems and processing information lacking, as well as trouble with important decision making tasks. “It’s easy to miss a fine detail when sleep-deprived,” explains Breus. “We often don’t put information together correctly.”

    And critical thinking and reaction time are not all that are affected by those lost hours of sleep. Emotions, good or bad, are also heightened by lack of quality sleep, says Breus. So when fighting with a child or spouse, anger and sadness to frustration can become much more intensified, carrying conflicts much further than necessary, and making an otherwise sensible and peaceful existence full of drama.

    When it comes to health, recent data suggest that people who sleep less than four hours are 73 percent more likely to be obese. Yes, those sleep-deprived people tend to eat more to find an alternative to comforting sleep. Science though, has shown that insufficient sleep is associated with decreased hormone levels of leptin and ghrelin. These hormones are responsible for telling our brain that it has enough food.

    And worse, sleep deprivation has been known to have an effect on the body’s sensitivity to insulin. A study from the University of Chicago revealed that with less than optimal sleep, the body needed more insulin to dispose of the glucose; the insulin secretion did not increase. This action is what increases the risk for Type 2 diabetes.

    According to data from Harvard University’s Nurse Health Study, participants who slept for five to six hours were at a greater risk for cardiac disease. Lack of sleep is linked to an increase in cortisol – the stress hormone. When this hormone rises, it can cause an increase in blood pressure after a short sleep period, and is also attributed to sudden cardiac events, such as a heart attack.

    And that isn’t the worst of it – lack of sleep also raises your chances of getting certain types of cancer. During sleep your body produces melatonin, a hormone that is important in cleaning up free radicals in the body, so it is safe to say that the decrease in melatonin could decrease the body’s ability to fight cancer.

    Each body is different in its requirement for sleep, some people can function and feel great on six hours, and others need at least eight. Knowing where you are at your best is determined by how you feel when you wake. If you feel rested and ready to hit the shower, the gym or work, chances are you’ve had enough sleep for the night.

    Image via YouTube

  • Sleep Deprivation: Is It Causing You Harm?

    Sleep Deprivation: Is It Causing You Harm?

    Did you know that the average person will spend a third of his or her life asleep? Some estimate the number to add up to about 26 years!

    It may seem like a bummer given how much you’ll likely miss due to being unconscious. However, this sentiment will change if you allow yourself to appreciate the importance of getting a good night’s sleep.

    Regular sleep allows your body to recuperate from the stresses of the day and can play a major role in the healing of the body.

    Think of it as plugging your smartphone or laptop into a charger. You know what happens if you never charge your batteries, right? Well, it’s pretty much the same with our bodies.

    Missing sleep is about more than the all-nighter you pulled in college to get that essay done at the last minute or study for a really hard test. If it’s an ongoing condition, sleep deprivation can cause major problems in the body.

    For instance, persons who sleep less than six hours per night are at greater risk of heart disease. A lack of sleep has been scientifically linked to an increase in cortisol, also known as the “stress hormone”. The higher your cortisol levels rise over time, the greater the risk of having heart problems.

    Trying to lose weight? Get more sleep. The less you sleep, the more likely you are to be overweight and stay that way. Insufficient nightly rest is associated with an imbalance in leptin and ghrelin levels. These hormones are what tell your body that you’ve eaten enough. If you aren’t able to eat correctly due to these levels being off, it will very likely lead to overeating and subsequent weight gain.

    Lack of sleep is also blamed on increased risk of cancer and diabetes. So the solution becomes simple: Do what it takes to get your zzz’s each day.

    According to the Sleep Foundation, different age groups need differing levels of sleep. Adults should plan for seven to nine hours of rest each night.

    If you need help for getting to bed at a decent hour, here are some tips for getting a good night’s sleep. If these don’t work or you suspect something is medically wrong with you, it’s probably a good idea to get in touch with a doctor.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Less Sleep Leads to More Calories, Shows Study

    For people with more to do and ever less time to do it in, poor sleep habits and a bad diet are almost an inevitability. Now, a new study has shown that those poor sleep habits might actually be driving people to eat higher-calorie foods.

    The study, published in the journal Obesity, showed that people who missed one night of sleep bought more calories the following day than those who got a good night’s sleep. The Swedish researchers behind the study believe that the sleep deprivation could increase hunger while impairing the judgement skills needed to avoid poor food purchasing habits.

    “We hypothesized that sleep deprivation’s impact on hunger and decision making would make for the ‘perfect storm’ with regard to shopping and food purchasing – leaving individuals hungrier and less capable of employing self-control and higher-level decision-making processes to avoid making impulsive, calorie-driven purchases,” said Colin Chapman, lead author of the study.

    Chapman and his colleagues rounded up 14 “normal-weight” men and gave them a fixed budget with which to buy groceries in a mock grocery store. Half of the foods in the store were high-calorie foods, and the other half were low-calorie. When the men had gone an entire night without sleep, they bought 9% more calories than they did after getting a full night’s sleep.

    “Our finding provides a strong rationale for suggesting that patients with concerns regarding caloric intake and weight gain maintain a healthy, normal sleep schedule,” said Chapman.

  • Huffington Post Adding Third Napping Room

    Huffington Post Adding Third Napping Room

    How many times have you been at your desk and had the overwhelming urge to take a nap? What if all you had to do was book the “nap room?” Well that is exactly what life is like at the Huffington Post. Arriana Huffington has been warning of the dangers of sleep deprivation for years now. She had an episode where she fainted due to sleep deprivation, hit her head on her desk, broke her jaw, and received four stitches above her right eye.

    Her contention is that sleep is very important and that you need to make an appointment to sleep in the same way that you make an appointment to wake up. She also has a website about sleep deprivation that had 7.5 million hits last year. She warns that you should not charge your devices next to your bed because they can wake you up if you get a call or text. Here is a list of the recommended sleep times for infants, toddlers, children, and adults:

    Infants – 14-15
    Toddlers – 12-14
    School Age Children – 10-11
    Adults – 7-9

    To combat this problem in her own company Huffington has set up two nap rooms. She went on to say that when they were first opened a year and a half ago people were reluctant to use them because they felt like they would be judged for sleeping during the day. Now, she says, demand is so high that they actually need to open up a third one.