Sleep and Wellbeing: Why it Matters

Training optimally yields best outcomes

Recommended sleep duration: 8 – 10h, at the very least 7h.

1. Adolescent sleep in East Asia

East Asians sleep less
Those who sleep less have higher chances of feeling worthless, having
thoughts of self-harm and developing anxiety

2. Cognitive Effects
Test done on a group of 15 – 18 year olds
Sustained attention checked via a Psychomotor vigilance task
o Would have more lapses as the days go on (during the test)
Performance gets more severe without realizing it
Speed of processing
o Improves for those with 9h of sleep
o Rate of improvement is significantly slower in those with 5h of sleep
Mood
o REM Sleep may strip off emotions from a memory
Re-exposure to sleep restriction compounded performance degradation
6.5h of nocturnal sleep isn’t enough for optimal vigilance performance
o often assumed that it is better than 5h
Economic impact of insufficient sleep
o increased mortality
o increased morbidity
§ diabetes
§ cardiovascular disease
§ mental illness
o dementia
o absenteeism
o presentism
Afternoon naps can make a huge difference to vigilance
o daily afternoon naps do not compromise nocturnal sleep if it restricted
to 5h
§ take a nap if you’re sleepy in the afternoon!
3. Memory
Memory consolidation and evolution with sleep
o Sleep also plays an important role in enhancing learning and
strengthening memory
o Consolidation protects memories from getting forgotten
(Test was done) Group which took a nap during a break in the middle of
learning performed better for a test done at the end of the course
Sleep provides a nightly ‘detox’ for the brain

4. Practical Tips for Improving Sleep

Improving Sleep
o Prioritize waking activities
o Give time to wind down
o Keep a relatively regular sleep wake cycle
o Turn of e-devices at bedtime
 o Lights off
o Avoid coffee, tea, cola drinks
o Sleep earlier (if sleeping past 11pm-midnight)
o Allow for afternoon naps
Going to bed earlier is associated with better grades
Fragmented sleep (i.e. 3h at night and 20 minutes every hour) might work
cognitively, but is metabolically BAD
Optimal nap duration
o 60 to 90 minutes (1 sleep cycle)
o Power naps benefit alertness, but the affect is also relatively shorter

Brave Girl Not Eating

Wanted to keep it a secret due to the stigma around such disorders in

Singapore
How do I be a good friend?
o Pay attention to behavioural changes
o Be an active listener
§ Tune in to the conversation
§ Empathise
§ Learn how to ask good questions
Advice as a family member
o Avoids excessively comparing siblings to others
§ Focus on comparing them to what they were like / did in their
past
o Avoid punishing / rewarding children with food
o Be conscious of our own behaviours around food
§ Practice good eating habits and display healthy relationships
with food

Lecture: When the Going Gets Tough

Stress can be a good thing

o Helps us grow stronger (builds resilience)
o Helps us be more prepared for the future
“When the going gets tough, look up and look ahead”
It’s not about what you can’t do, it’s about what you can do
o (Story about Jason) he’s a tennis Paralympian now! (also he doesn’t
have an eye, two legs, an arm and a finger)
o despite difficult and challenging times, Jason emerged as an
overcomer
“When the going gets tough, look up and look around.”
“When the going gets tough, look up and look back.”

Put Down Your Phone: The Effects of “Phubbing” and How We Should Respond

What is phubbing?
o Phone + Snubbing
 o The practice of ignoring one’s companion or companions to … (lol just
google it)
Why does it happen?
o The root cause is smartphone addiction
o 1. Internet Addiction
o 2. Fear of Missing Out
§ social media FOMO leads to smartphone addiction
o 3. Social reciprocity
§ Being phubbed / phubbing people causes people to view
phubbing as a normative behavior
o 4. Convenient retreat
§ phubbing is a way to escape lulls in conversation that is “easy”,
“convenient
Key Findings
o Feelings of exclusion
o Decreased sense of belonging
o Feelings of sadness
o Threatened psychological needs
o PHUBBING = OSTRACISM (had very similar effects)
Implications
o Strained relationships
o Bad impressions
o High levels of distress
o Possible physical / psychological illness
What can we do about it?
o Phone stacking teehee
o No phone hour!
o The habit loop, trigger action patterns
§ Clear trigger
§ Effortless routine
§ Memorable reward
Put Down Your Phone!

3 Practices that Helped Me Overcome Depression

(How his depression came about, and how he overcame it)

Would very frequently experience a drop in his mood, but did not really think
anything of it at first
It started affecting his relationships (both, professional and personal)
People did not understand why he was isolating himself from others, and his
friends thought he did not want to spend time with them anymore
Depressive states took a toll on his ability to do communicate with people
When he broke up with his girlfriend, she told him to go see a doctor, as he
seemed like he had depression
o Having a name to what you might be going through can be quite
helpful, especially as it would be a lot easier to find help
Depressive states would get increasingly longer, which pushed him to go see
a doctor
o He felt that even the medical professional and friends could not help
him with how he was feeling
 Depression is feeling nothing, rather than feeling sad, or unhappy
o Tried to take his life on a day he was celebrating his close friend’s
birthday
o Received an email which offered an alternative to his depression
Started seeing a psychiatrist after his university counsellor advised him to

1. Control Your Timeline

“It’s been ___ months, I shouldn’t have to still be dealing with your
depression.”
o Don’t base your recovery on the schedule / timeline of others, as
everyone takes a different amount of time to recover
o Focus more on the outcome rather than the deadline
“You cannot heal in the same environment that made you sick.”
o Eliminate distractions, get away from the environment which may be
(worsening) your depressive, state
o Find an environment that eliminates unnecessary distractions
It’s okay to start from zero…again.
o While it might seem like you’re not recovering, it’s important to give it
time and start over if you need it
o Focus on the positive, rather than the negative parts
o Don’t deal in absolutes, celebrate the small victories, and remove all
guilt during the setbacks
How do you know you’re getting better?
o Not necessarily tangible, often time the intangibles
§ Ability to form / mend relationships (with a lot more ease)
§ Able to recognize that whenever he goes into a low mood, he’ll
be able to come back up quickly