December 2012 Newsletter

Happy Holidays!  Things are going well here at the clinic.  Lester Menke and Tammy Ricke are both seeing clients exclusively at our Cedarburg office now.  If you would like an appointment with one of them, you can call the main clinic phone at 262.334.4340.  In this newsletter Jennifer Skinner has written about sleep habits and getting good sleep- an important topic with the hectic holidays!  Jennifer is seeing clients at the West Bend office and the Cedarburg office.  A lot of people have been feeling under the weather lately; it's a good time to make sure you are taking care of yourself with sleep, diet and exercise.  I know I feel so much better when I exercise and have good sleep.  I am currently fighting a cold and if I had taken better care of myself by honoring my sleep schedule, I would probably have been able to fight it off .   Til next time, keep hand sanitizer near by ; )

Devona Marshall  Clinic Director



Sleep                  By Jennifer Skinner

As we soon roll into a new year, here is a new year’s resolution for you – getting enough sleep. The importance of sleep is well documented: sufficient sleep equals better relationships, better mental and physical health, better grades, and better-behaved kids. I can personally confirm this to be true. During the past week, due to my kids’ homework demands, my work demand, and other household tasks, I have gotten little sleep and have noticed that I am functioning poorly. My symptoms look like ADHD: trouble starting tasks, trouble staying focused, forgetting things (got to the store and forgot my wallet), and feeling irritable. This is after only 4 nights of poor sleep; can you imagine the impairment if it's routine?

1) Learning is consolidated and enhanced during sleep. Kids with more sleep have higher grades, and higher IQs. Even 15 minutes more sleep makes a difference.

2) Lack of sleep may cause depression. Think about how you feel after having poor sleep. If you are like me, you are more likely to be short-tempered and irritable. One reason for this is that emotional memories are stored when we sleep. Positive memories are processed in the brain in the hippocampus and negative ones in the amygdala. Lack of sleep causes the hippocampus not to function well. As a result, it is easier to store the bad memories instead of the good ones when we are sleep deprived.

3) Lack of sleep causes symptoms similar to that of ADHD. Studies show that sleep loss debilitates the body's ability to extract glucose from the bloodstream. Without this stream of basic energy, the prefrontal cortex (the part that helps with planning, organizing, paying attention, and sustaining effort), suffers dramatically.

4) Sleep loss causes weight gain. Obesity increases 80% for each hour of lost sleep because sleep loss triggers hunger and stress hormones. In fact, studies show kids with less than 8 hours sleep have a 300% higher rate of obesity than those who get 10!

Research shows that, in general, kids get about one hour less of sleep than they did 40 years ago. 90% of parents think their kids are getting enough sleep and they are not. Additionally, 60% of adults report having sleep problems. Here's the recommended amount for preschool children through adults, per the National Sleep Foundation:

Toddlers (age 1-3): 12-14 hours in a 24 hour period (naps count)
Preschoolers (ages 3-5): 11-13 hours
School Aged Children (ages 5-12): 10-11 hours
Teenagers (13-18): 9-10 hours

Adults (18+): 7-9 hours.

For adults, stress is the main reason cited for trouble sleeping, although other factors, such as irregular work shifts, alcohol, and travel also make getting enough sleep difficult. For children and teens, homework or inconsistent schedules make sleep difficult. Additionally, during the teen years, a persons’ natural body rhythms shift so that teens become tired later in the evening and wake later, making early start times difficult. In addition to developing consistent bedtime routines for you and your family, if sleep continues to be a problem for you due to stress or anxiety, talk to your therapist; cognitive behavioral therapy has been found to be very effective in improving sleep patterns.


Research Update:


The Benefits of Gratitude
November 17, 2012, Chicago Tribune
Research shows people are happier and suffer less depression and stress when they are consciously grateful on a regular basis, year round.


Dancing May lift Teens Mental Health
November 13, 2012, Fox News
Getting out on the dance floor and busting some moves could give a lift to the health of teen girls with mild mental health problems.