I’m a list-maker and as I’m writing this, I face my usual, crammed-full, ever-lengthening holiday do-list, which I suspect that most people could consider laughably simple compared to their own. Even so, it seems like a lot to me, and even an overwhelming “a lot” some days. That list got me thinking about its fulfillment as it relates to the pets with troubling results because I realized that in some ways the list is all about me. Nor do I think I’m alone in this. Although most pet-owners certainly don’t plan it that way any more than I do, the truth is that getting everything done that needs to be done during the holiday season is based on the assumption that the pets will allow us to do this. And that includes getting or making gifts for them, or doing special things with them.
Among the unspoken holiday rules for pets is one that says they will not pick up on our frustration when we realize that our carefully planned gift-wrapping session will be delayed because we forgot to buy ribbon and must now fight holiday traffic and crowds to get some. Nor should it disturb them when we get up earlier or stay up later to get things done. And surely they will understand that both the UPS guy and the letter carrier don’t have time to greet them as usual, and that all those alien, but enticing aromas should not cause them to gravitate to the kitchen and get underfoot. Similarly, they should know enough to stay away from all those boxes of decorations that haven’t been around since last year, and not even think about touching any decorations once they’re in place, to say nothing of any food. Ditto for all those gifts. And needless to say, prompt elimination is expected when we take them out as well as acceptance that play sessions might be abbreviated, at best, until we have more time. Oh, and perfect behavior is expected when invited or unexpected guests arrive, too.
All of which would make a wonderful recipe for pet-related guilt, but who needs that during the holiday season? If nothing else, there’s no time for it.
But, not to worry. There’s a solution for this that could turn out to be the best gift you ever gave your pet and yourself.
It’s called sleep.
I can hear you muttering already: “Yeah, sure. Does that moron think I want to be subsisting on 5 hours of sleep a night?”
I’m sure you don’t, any more than our pets want their sleep disrupted by all our banging around and holiday-related stress. However, some research done by University of California at Berkeley neuroscientist Matthew Walker and others might cause you to consider just how much that lack of sleep is costing you. And, although the research was done on those ubiquitous college students, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if our pets experience some of the same negative effects of sleep-deprivation as humans.
What struck me about the study is that we’re not talking about a long-period of sleep deprivation a la those morally iffy interrogation techniques some use on real or imaginary terrorists. The test group of healthy young people was only deprived of sleep for one night. The next day, both they and a group of comparable young people who had slept the night before were hooked up to brain scans and shown pictures ranging from the most unthreatening to those that were highly disturbing. (The latter category included pictures of a tarantula on someone’s shoulder, an attacking shark, and disfigured burn victims.) The brains of the people who had slept perceived the pictures and their responses to them in context. However, the brains of those in the sleep-deprive group sent panicky signals to the parts associated with primitive fight-or-flight responses. Those people also exhibited the extreme mood swings common to those with mental illness, laughing wildly one minute and crying hysterically the next.
The dramatic effects associated with such a short period of sleep-deprivation becomes even more intriguing when coupled with other studies indicating that those with depression and other mental illness are often chronically sleep-deprived. Now some scientists are wondering if they might have gotten it backwards: Perhaps sleep-deprivation is the cause of the mental instability, not the effect.
After reading about those studies and then thinking about my do-list, it dawned on me that the best gift I could give my pets and myself this holiday season is to ensure a good night’s sleep for all of us every night. And that’s what I wish for you and yours. Take to heart all those holiday carols and stories that remind us that what makes this time of year special isn’t all the frantic running around and the constant doing. It’s those silent, calm nights, those long winter’s naps during which nary a mouse stirs, and peace for all humans and animals alike.
So what if these pictures make it clear that my floors could stand some refinishing and the couch a major cleaning this holiday season along with everything else.What better way for Frica, Whitman, BeeBee and Watson, and me to end one year and begin another than by being well-rested and filled with such peace?
So, from all of us to all of you,
HAPPY HOLIDAYSZZZZzz…
I’m a list-maker and as I’m writing this, I face my usual, crammed-full, ever-lengthening holiday do-list, which I suspect that most people could consider laughably simple compared to their own. Even so, it seems like a lot to me, and even an overwhelming “a lot” some days. That list got me thinking about its fulfillment as it relates to the pets with troubling results because I realized that in some ways the list is all about me. Nor do I think I’m alone in this. Although most pet-owners certainly don’t plan it that way any more than I do, the truth is that getting everything done that needs to be done during the holiday season is based on the assumption that the pets will allow us to do this. And that includes getting or making gifts for them, or doing special things with them.
All of which would make a wonderful recipe for pet-related guilt, but who needs that during the holiday season? If nothing else, there’s no time for it.
But, not to worry. There’s a solution for this that could turn out to be the best gift you ever gave your pet and yourself.
It’s called sleep.
I can hear you muttering already: “Yeah, sure. Does that moron think I want to be subsisting on 5 hours of sleep a night?”
What struck me about the study is that we’re not talking about a long-period of sleep deprivation a la those morally iffy interrogation techniques some use on real or imaginary terrorists. The test group of healthy young people was only deprived of sleep for one night. The next day, both they and a group of comparable young people who had slept the night before were hooked up to brain scans and shown pictures ranging from the most unthreatening to those that were highly disturbing. (The latter category included pictures of a tarantula on someone’s shoulder, an attacking shark, and disfigured burn victims.) The brains of the people who had slept perceived the pictures and their responses to them in context. However, the brains of those in the sleep-deprive group sent panicky signals to the parts associated with primitive fight-or-flight responses. Those people also exhibited the extreme mood swings common to those with mental illness, laughing wildly one minute and crying hysterically the next.
The dramatic effects associated with such a short period of sleep-deprivation becomes even more intriguing when coupled with other studies indicating that those with depression and other mental illness are often chronically sleep-deprived. Now some scientists are wondering if they might have gotten it backwards: Perhaps sleep-deprivation is the cause of the mental instability, not the effect.
So what if these pictures make it clear that my floors could stand some refinishing and the couch a major cleaning this holiday season along with everything else.What better way for Frica, Whitman, BeeBee and Watson, and me to end one year and begin another than by being well-rested and filled with such peace?
So, from all of us to all of you,
HAPPY HOLIDAYSZZZZzz…