sleep

The demand for sleep

• sleep as a psychological construct that is broadly categorised as a naturally occurring altered state of consciousness and is further categorised into REM and NREM sleep, and the measurement of physiological responses associated with sleep, through electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), electro-oculography (EOG), sleep diaries and video monitoring 

• regulation of sleep-wake patterns by internal biological mechanisms, with reference to circadian rhythm, ultradian rhythms of REM and NREM Stages 1–3, the suprachiasmatic nucleus and melatonin 

• differences in, and explanations for, the demands for sleep across the life span, with reference to total amount of sleep and changes in a typical pattern of sleep (proportion of REM and NREM) 

Importance of sleep to mental welbeing

• the effects of partial sleep deprivation (inadequate sleep either in quantity or quality) on a person’s affective, behavioural and cognitive functioning, and the affective and cognitive effects of one night of full sleep deprivation as a comparison to blood alcohol concentration readings of 0.05 and 0.10 

• changes to a person’s sleep-wake cycle that cause circadian rhythm sleep disorders (Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome [DSPS], Advanced Sleep Phase Disorder [ASPD] and shift work) and the treatments of circadian rhythm sleep disorders through bright light therapy 

• improving sleep hygiene and adaptation to zeitgebers to improve sleep-wake patterns and mental wellbeing, with reference to daylight and blue light, temperature, and eating and drinking patterns