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== Criticism ==
== Criticism ==


Critics have expressed concern that the ways in which polyphasic sleep limits actual sleep time, restricts time spent in peripheral stages of the sleep cycle, and disrupts the [[circadian rhythm]] of the body will eventually cause subjects to suffer the same negative effects as with most forms of [[sleep deprivation]], such as decreased mental and physical ability, increased stress and anxiety, and weakened immune system. There is a lack of controlled study documenting the negative side effects, but critics point to journals kept by subjects who have difficulty waking at specific intervals without oversleeping as anecdotal evidence that the pattern is unsustainable.
=== Health risk ===


Advocates of polyphasic sleep often claim that the procedure boosts their alertness, but skeptics question whether this alertness is related to the sleep pattern or whether increased [[adrenaline]] and [[cortisol]] is gained from eagerness to succeed in their polyphasic experiment and their other productive pursuits. A study published in the [[Journal of Sleep Research]] in September of 2002 concerning the effects of napping on productivity found that 10-minute naps tended to improve productivity more than longer naps, which may suggest that the onset of sleep is not the cause of the increased alertness.
Critics believe polyphasic sleep quarrels with the natural sleep cycle and cannot be feasible in the long run. It is well known that [[sleep deprivation]] has detrimental effects on memory, problem solving, decision making, stress and anxiety levels, muscular strength and endurance. Lack of sufficient sleep also weakens the immune system, decreases the amount of growth hormone produced, and decreases the ability of the body to metabolize sugar. Critics have expressed concern about possible long-term effects of suppressing the other sleep stages, although such effects are as yet undocumented. In addition to sleep deprivation, sleeping against one's [[circadian]] phase (as is the case with shift-workers) has well documented detrimental health effects (e.g. dramatic increase in cardiovascular disease).


Polyphasic sleep is also thought to increase REM sleep, but it may also be likely to upregulate [[slow-wave sleep]] sleep, causing a polyphasic sleeper to gain less REM sleep in a given period of time than with standard sleep patterns. Different sleep patterns may also give varied results (polyphasic sleeper Steve Pavlina reported dissatisfaction with the 6-hour interval, 30-minute nap variation [http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/02/polyphasic-sleep-20/]).
=== Alertness ===


Most polyphasic sleepers tend to claim that the most difficult aspect of the sleep pattern to overcome is the social aspect, as the work hours of modern careers generally do not allow for the required nap periods at regular intervals. Personal accounts indicate that missing even one nap can cause heavy drowsiness, and thus even successful polyphasic sleepers often revert to monophasic sleep to accommodate their schedules.
Advocates of polyphasic sleep often claim they still feel alert. Skeptics believe this alertness relates to increased [[adrenaline]] and [[cortisol]] due to eagerness to succeed in their polyphasic experiment and/or eagerness to engage and complete their productive pursuits. Many successful contemporary polyphasic users return to monophasic sleep, though they claim that their return is due to the difficulty of scheduling 20 minute naps every 4 hours.

=== REM sleep claims ===

Sleep deprivation is likely to upregulate [[slow-wave sleep]] sleep (against what is often claimed about polyphasic sleep). This means a polyphasic sleeper may be getting less REM sleep than a normal monophasic sleeper would accumulate in a 24-hour period.

=== Social effects ===

Numerous blogs of polyphasic sleep adepts (linked at the bottom of this article) indicate that an average "survival" on the "[[Uberman]] schedule" is 1–5 weeks. Social and employment needs pose a significant problem for many who try it, since society is generally unaccomodating to people with non-traditional sleep schedules. Personal accounts indicate that missed naps can easily disrupt the polyphasic sleep pattern.

=== Productivity ===

In a great many studies, total and partial sleep deprivation for extended periods of time have shown to degrade productivity and performance. A current fashion in sleep deprivation analysis is to liken performance characteristics length-of-deprivation to various heightened [[blood alcohol content]].

However, the [[Journal of Sleep Research]] from September 2002 published a related study investigating performance following brief naps. All subjects were limited to 5 hours of sleep overnight, and some were directed to take a 10 minute, 30 minute, 90 minute nap or none. Tietzel and Lack reported that "the 10-min nap resulted in significantly improved alertness and cognitive performance relative to a no-nap control. There were no measurable improvements for the 30- and 90-s nap conditions relative to no nap, which suggests that the mechanism underlying the benefits of brief naps does not appear to be the onset of stage 1 sleep." Note that this was a single nap following a restricted sleep episode, '''not''' polyphasic sleep as described above.

Steve Pavlina reported [http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/02/polyphasic-mutants/] that three months after adaption, he would wake naturally after 15-18 minutes. Later he experimented [http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/02/polyphasic-sleep-20/] with 30-minute naps, with poorer results.


== Attributed polyphasic sleepers ==
== Attributed polyphasic sleepers ==

Revision as of 19:24, 24 March 2006

Template:Long NPOV

Polyphasic sleep is a sleep pattern specification intended to reduce sleep time to 2–5 hours daily. This is achieved by spreading out sleep into short naps of around 20–45 minutes throughout the day. This is supposed to allow for more waking hours with relatively high alertness.

The method uses natural human sleep mechanisms to maximize alertness when sleep time needs to be minimized. However, it requires a rigid schedule which makes it unfeasible for most people. It can work well for those engaged in activities which do not permit lengthy periods of sleep.

Theory

Ordinary "monophasic" sleep consists of several stages, some of which may not be necessary in the amounts or proportions that naturally occur. It is believed by advocates of polyphasic sleep that after undergoing controlled sleep deprivation during an initial adjustment period, the brain will start to enter the essential sleep stages much more quickly, as a survival strategy. Once this adaptation is learned, the theory goes, a comfortable and sustainable equilibrium of sleeping in only naps can be established.

Boat racers have used this technique to avoid dangers of sleeping for extended periods alone at sea. Astronauts have also used this technique during extended crises, and military personnel, especially Marines, have used this technique in training.

Practice

Self-testers often "crash" several times while testing and accidentally sleep through for several hours longer than intended. Current polyphasic users and scientific evidence (Stampi's) both suggest that problems relating to tiredness dissipate around 10 days into the schedule, and disappear completely around 14 days into the schedule, but many self-testers do not effectively plan their two week transition period. Therefore, they remain tired long after the target 14-day end date and eventually terminate the experiment.

Mechanism

According to Claudio Stampi's book ("Why We Nap, Evolution, Chronobiology, and Functions of Polyphasic and Ultrashort Sleep"), in sleep deprived condition, measurements of a polyphasic sleeper's memory retention and analytical ability show increases as compared with monophasic and biphasic sleep (but still a decrease of 12% as compared with entrained free running sleep). According to Stampi, the improvement is due to an extraordinary evolutionary predisposition to adopt such a sleep schedule; he hypothesizes this is possibly because polyphasic sleep was the preferred schedule of ancestors of the human race for thousands of years prior to the adoption of the monophasic schedule.

There are at least two schools of thought as to how polyphasic adaptation affects sleep patterns. One school claims that REM sleep is the most necessary stage, and that the body needs multiple hours of this stage each day, so therefore every nap taken by a polyphasic sleeper consists entirely of REM sleep. Another school acknowledges research done on users of this schedule (Scientific American Frontiers 1991), which suggests that the body will enter different stages of sleep during the different naps—REM during some, deeper sleep during others—in order to get some of each essential stage.

The idea that polyphasic sleepers experience only REM sleep is relatively popular among advocates, perhaps because some theories of sleep suggest that REM is largely responsible for the mental rejuvenation effects of sleep. However, the role of REM sleep has been disputed in recent years. It has been documented that depriving rats of REM sleep in particular leads to death in 3 to 8 weeks, but the notion that REM sleep is the most important phase of sleep, or even necessary for good health, is dubious: depressed people are known to have excessive REM sleep [1]; and monoamine oxidase inhibitors nearly completely abolish REM sleep, yet patients who take MAOIs do not exhibit any obvious cognitive deficits (Siegel 2001).

Types

The term "polyphasic sleep" itself means only the practice of sleeping multiple times in a 24-hour period (usually, more than two, in contrast to "biphasic sleep") and does not suggest any particular schedule.

"Uberman" is likely to be the most widely known type of polyphasic sleep, and also the most strict. It consists of six naps of 20–25 minutes each, occurring four hours apart throughout the day. This is also the closest schedule to the type that has been studied by Claudio Stampi in connection with long-distance solo boat races.

"Core sleep" is a variant of Uberman that adds a block of sleep, usually several hours, to the Uberman schedule, replacing one or two naps. (This term is also sometimes heard to describe a short accidental oversleep by someone following Uberman.)

Buckminster Fuller advocated "Dymaxion Sleep," a regimen consisting of 30 minute naps every six hours. A short article was published about this schedule in Time Magazine's Oct. 11, 1943 issue (Time 1943). According to this article, Bucky followed this schedule for two years, but after that had to quit because "his schedule conflicted with that of his business associates, who insisted on sleeping like other men."

Criticism

Critics have expressed concern that the ways in which polyphasic sleep limits actual sleep time, restricts time spent in peripheral stages of the sleep cycle, and disrupts the circadian rhythm of the body will eventually cause subjects to suffer the same negative effects as with most forms of sleep deprivation, such as decreased mental and physical ability, increased stress and anxiety, and weakened immune system. There is a lack of controlled study documenting the negative side effects, but critics point to journals kept by subjects who have difficulty waking at specific intervals without oversleeping as anecdotal evidence that the pattern is unsustainable.

Advocates of polyphasic sleep often claim that the procedure boosts their alertness, but skeptics question whether this alertness is related to the sleep pattern or whether increased adrenaline and cortisol is gained from eagerness to succeed in their polyphasic experiment and their other productive pursuits. A study published in the Journal of Sleep Research in September of 2002 concerning the effects of napping on productivity found that 10-minute naps tended to improve productivity more than longer naps, which may suggest that the onset of sleep is not the cause of the increased alertness.

Polyphasic sleep is also thought to increase REM sleep, but it may also be likely to upregulate slow-wave sleep sleep, causing a polyphasic sleeper to gain less REM sleep in a given period of time than with standard sleep patterns. Different sleep patterns may also give varied results (polyphasic sleeper Steve Pavlina reported dissatisfaction with the 6-hour interval, 30-minute nap variation [2]).

Most polyphasic sleepers tend to claim that the most difficult aspect of the sleep pattern to overcome is the social aspect, as the work hours of modern careers generally do not allow for the required nap periods at regular intervals. Personal accounts indicate that missing even one nap can cause heavy drowsiness, and thus even successful polyphasic sleepers often revert to monophasic sleep to accommodate their schedules.

Attributed polyphasic sleepers

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Proponents claim that several famous people applied catnapping to a large extent. These include:

  • Leonardo da Vinci — unverified. It seems all we know about Leonardo's sleep was written after his death. Polyphasic sleep blogs claim he slept only 15 minutes at a time, every two hours.
  • Thomas Edison — false. He is known to have held sleep in contempt. He also practiced catnapping. Yet his naps, often on the floor, could take several hours. He had a napping cot in his office. Most importantly, however, he would take a normal 4-5 hours sleep in the night. Due to his contempt for sleep, he would often claim to sleep less than it was actually observed by his co-workers. He often worked throughout the night. However, he would usually sleep through the most of the next day. During a short period of life, Edison kept a diary whose scanned versions are available on-line. The diary shows that he would often wake up at 5-6 am and linger in bed till 8-9 am repeatedly waking up and falling asleep again. He was definitely not a polyphasic sleeper despite a widely-spread urban myth
  • Buckminster Fuller — when travelling extensively, instead of submitting to a jet lag, he would enter what he called a "dog sleep", i.e. getting a 15 min. nap every 2 hours or so. It is not clear for how long he could sustain such schedules.
  • Nikola Tesla — unverified. Rather than being polyphasic, Tesla used to work excitedly for extended periods of time seemingly without fatigue (even above 70 hours). Yet he is also reported to sleep through the entire day
  • Napoleon — unverified
  • Benjamin Franklin — urban legend. It is Franklin who said "There will be sleeping enough in the grave" as well as "The sleeping fox catches no poultry". However, he is also attributed with "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise", which is a definite monophasic mantra.
  • Winston Churchill — urban legend. It is well documented that Churchill slept little in the night and worked till the very late hours. However, he regularly took an afternoon nap of 1-2 hours saying "this gets me two days in one". As such, Churchill was definitely biphasic
  • Bruce Lee used to nap on movie sets
  • Thomas Jefferson — this claim is likely to be an urban legend as Jefferson, in his own words, indicated that he slept irregularly in a single block of 5-8 hours in the night, always after 30-60 minutes of inspirational reading (Letters to Vine Utley, 1819)
  • United States presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, and Harry S. Truman are/were frequent nappers, yet they were not polyphasic
  • Steve Pavlina [3] has created an experiment wherein he has become a polyphasic sleeper. His experiment is continuing with no ill effects as of Feb 10, 2006 (around 100 days)
  • Steve Fossett, while flying non-stop around the world used 5 min. powernaps in regular intervals around the clock
  • Ellen McArthur, while sailing around the world used 3-10 min. catnaps frequently around the clock
  • Claudio Stampi advocates polyphasic sleep as a means of ensuring optimal performance in situations where extreme sleep deprivation is inevitable (e.g. to improve performance in solo sailboat racers), but Stampi does not advocate the polyphasic sleep as a lifestyle.

Polyphasic sleep in fiction

  • Polyphasic sleep was also popularized on Seinfeld, where the character Cosmo Kramer attempted to adapt to a polyphasic sleeping pattern in The Friar's Club episode.
  • Some writers have depicted Batman as sleeping only two hours every twenty four hours; the exact schedule has not been shown.
  • The character Shellman (Skalman) in Bamse is a polyphasic sleeper; using a special alarm clock as a reminder when to sleep and when to eat.
  • In Ursula K. Le Guin's story The Word for world is Forest is set on a planet where the monkey-like hominids that make up the native population practice polyphasic sleeping naturally, finding alternative methods of sleep strange. Later, one human character attempts, with some success, to imitate the native sleep patterns.

References

Criticism

Praise, Support, Advocates

Analysis

Other

Polyphasic Sleep Testers

Sorted by the starting date:

Success Stories

Struggling

Failures (failed, interrupted or inactive)

Mixed blogging (including other subjects besides Uberman)

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