Month: August 2014

A new survey suggests that about 15% of Americans have what’s sometimes known as “sleep drunkenness.” Doctors call it confusional arousal. This means that you wake up feeling confused and not knowing where you are, perhaps for up to 10 minutes. The new study was based on interviews with more than 19,000 adults. They were asked about their sleep habits, mental health and medicines. About 15% said they had a confusional arousal incident in the last year. More than half of this group said they had the incidents more often — more than once a week. Most of those who had episodes of sleep drunkenness also had another sleep disorder, mental health disorder or both. Just over 70% had a sleep disorder. About 37% had a mental health disorder. More than 31% took medicines for a mental health issue, mostly antidepressants. The journal Neurology published the study.

Most high schools and middle schools should start classes later in the morning, a large group of children’s doctors says. The change would help teenagers get more sleep. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says the ideal time to start classes would be 8:30 a.m. or later. Only about 15% of U.S. high schools have that schedule now. At the earliest, classes should not start before 8 a.m., the AAP says. The main reason is biology. As children, teenagers still need 8½ to 9½ hours of sleep daily. But it’s hard for them to fall asleep before 11 p.m. People start to feel sleepy when the brain releases melatonin. But that happens later for teens than for adults, an expert told HealthDay News. About 43% of U.S. public high schools start classes earlier than 8 a.m. Obstacles to change include the effects on bus schedules for all grades, student jobs, sports and other activities.