Thursday, April 02, 2009

Napsomnia


If you have trouble sleeping, we have a word for it. But what if you have trouble falling asleep when you're trying to take a nap? Does that still count as insomnia? Naps are a luxury. So if you can't fall asleep when attempting one, it's as if you didn't deserve it in the first place.

I couldn't fall asleep a couple weeks ago when I was trying to take a nap. I chalked it up to bad luck, restlessness and general creeps. But was it insomnia? I suppose if you can't sleep at all and you go, say, four or five days without sleep (or without much, anyway) and you try to take a nap but fail, that could be considered insomnia. But I'm spoiled.

Evidently, as a society, we are severely underslept. Scientists blame continuous light, our work habits and the general 24 hour society we've become. Other scientists predict a stronger race of humans down the evolutionary line that will require far less sleep, if any at all. Possibly, but they'll miss out on all those delicious naps.

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