Port Elizabeth insomniacs have shared their bedroom stories of sleeping only two hours a night and the effect this has on their productivity and happiness.
This after the publication of a Stellenbosch study showing that sleep-deprived employees are at higher risk of life-threatening chronic illness and disability, more likely to cause workplace accidents, less productive and more absent.
“I am a walking zombie during the day. I have tried yoga and meditation but my mind won’t switch off,” says Makhanda actress Nobesuthu Rayi, 31. “Although sleeping tablets help, the side effects ‘hangover’ in the morning are unbearable, especially with over-the-counter meds.”
National Arts Festival associate producer Rayi’s sleeping disorder started after a car accident nine years ago.
“There was an old woman in my [hospital] ward who talked in her sleep and she would talk the whole night if not sedated, so that whole ordeal messed up my sleeping patterns and I have been struggling ever since.”
Rayi said her disorder resulted in weight-gain which she struggles with to this day.
Walmer Heights businesswoman Patricia Dollane Chambers, 50, has never been diagnosed as an insomniac but says she rarely sleeps “anything close to seven hours ... five is max”.
“I use exercise to induce physical exhaustion to sleep better. Whilst I work late five days a week, I do ensure that I sleep in when I can and be mindful about rest and relaxation on weekends.
“My mind is always in overdrive mode. I find myself being very creative late at night or in the early morning hours,” she said.
PE Mental Health social work services manager Merle Blunden, 48, says she can go for up to two weeks on only two hours of sleep per night, and this started after she received chemotherapy.
“For me it’s cyclical and although many people are able to identify what’s keeping them up it’s difficult for me to identify why I can’t sleep. Even if I take a very strong sleeping tablet, I don’t sleep I just lie on my bed the whole night with my eyes closed, just to rest my body.”
Blunden uses exercise, counting and reading to help her mind shut down but says lack of sleep does affect her productivity.
“You never catch up on that sleep. Even though you can function the next day, it’s debilitating and impacts your ability to perform optimally.
“I’ve [ineffectively]  tried conventional and alternative medication but now I’ve resorted to stress management techniques to help me,” she said.
Despatch insomniac Inge Human, 51, says her wakefulness usually starts at 2.30am “like clockwork”.
“I lie awake until my alarm goes off at 4.30am but I actually feel quite good in the morning as I am generally a morning person. Luckily we have good coffee at work that keeps me going throughout the day,” the Wings and Wishes manager says, although exhaustion catches up with her around 5pm.
“What makes it worse is that it is a busy time of the day for a working mom – preparing supper, seeing that homework is done, tidying the house.
“I have tried lots of things; cutting out coffee from 1pm, keeping all electronics out of the bedroom, putting lavender on my pillow but nothing seems to work. Someone recommended dagga oil - might be my next move.”
For Richmond Hill marketer Lynn Erasmus van Vuuren, 38, a typical night would involve going to sleep at midnight then waking at 1am, returning to sleep at 2, staying awake until 4am, sleeping in between until 5am and then falling asleep.
“And then it’s 6 o’clock and it’s time to get up.”
She says sleep deprivation affects her mood swings and “kind of sucks the joy out of you.”
“I’m a total grump when not sleeping and doctors don’t want to prescribe anything anymore so I am left to taking painkillers to help me sleep.”
Despite having given birth to her baby girl four years ago, Vuuren has not managed to shed off the baby weight.
“I exercise three days a week yet I haven’t lost weight and the only thing I can put it down to is the lack of sleep,” she says.
New Brighton language teacher and entrepreneur Joy Sibongile Mabengeza, 39, was one of few who does not see her insomnia as a curse but as an opportunity.
She finds a nightly dose of four to five hours sleep is plenty for her action-packed day and she surfs the net at night but cannot sleep even when there is no wifi.
“I’m looking for another job right now because I can do a lot of work a lot in the middle of the night. I’m wasting time, and what is the point of being up if I’m not being paid for it?” Mabengeza said.
It’s not as if the mother of two teenagers does not squeeze a lot into her working day as she is in her fourth year of social work studies and also organizes township tours.
“At one stage I had four jobs and I really don’t know when I will slow down. My friends say I have way too much energy but I just can’t sleep.”
She debunks the Stellenbosch findings – or perhaps is the exception which proves the rule – as she weighs a tidy 55kg for her 1.6m frame and is in peak health, having not seen a doctor since her son was born 15 years ago.
“My dad is 91 and my mum, 81, is still working so I think I must be one of the lucky ones.”