How a lack of sleep is not only damaging our political leaders, but the country as well
IT’S up there as being one of the biggest challenges of being a politician — the 24/7 roster. And while it comes with the job, being at the top takes a serious toll.
IT’S up there as being one of the biggest challenges of being a politician.
Barack Obama looks to have just won the battle — although his greying hair would say otherwise.
Kevin Rudd famously survived on very little, and the Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher got away with just half of what is recommended.
There is nothing more likely to make you old before your time than to be in charge of a major country for a number of years.
Australia has been left feeling pretty tired after wading through its longest ever election campaign, and we still have a way to go until we have a result.
For the past eight weeks, Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten have jumped from electorate to electorate, hotel to plane and back again — while fronting up to the waiting media and convincing voters why they’re fit for the top job.
It’s a well-trodden trail, and the lack of sleep that politicians around the world receive is well documented. Often opting to burn the midnight oil and fire off e-mails at midnight instead of waiting for the morning, the age of working around the clock obviously takes its toll.
“As much as busy politicians think they can get buy on no sleep, they can’t,” president of the Australasian Sleep Association, Dr Maree Barnes told news.com.au.
“Most of us think we need less sleep than we actually do.
“The last eight weeks of the campaign would’ve paid a terrible toll on them. It’s a shame they don’t realise that more sleep is not only good for them, but good for the country as well because they will only make better decisions when they have more rest.”
In an interview with the Huffington Post, former Foreign Minister Bob Carr admitted that the lack of sleep that comes with the campaigning process is a “chief challenge”.
Spending more than a decade as NSW Premier, Mr Carr admitted that a campaigning politician often clocks off at 11pm, and will rise with the sun the next morning.
Mr Carr said he would often find himself awake and alert at all hours of the night, and if it was mid morning when he woke up — it would often be easier to just stay awake; even if it was only 4am.
“On one or two occasions it showed. On other occasions, I took a sleeping tablet when I snapped awake at midnight or 2am and ran the risk of being groggy or ill-tempered the next day,” Carr said.
“The worst insomnia is when you know there’s going to be something in the paper the next day. Something you feel defensive about, and you know you’ll have to respond to.
“Instead of sleeping all you can do is run through your head what you’ll say.”
Sleep is one of the binding factors humans share, but is also the most prevalent health concerns in the industrialised world today.
According to sleep and dream specialist Rubin Naiman of the Arizona Centre for Integrative Medicine, we are becoming more and more restless ... because we choose to rest less.
“We live in a world that views waking consciousness as the quintessential human experience,” Naiman told The Financial Review.
“Yet excessive wakefulness, also known as hyperarousal, results from a body and mind in chronic overdrive — the psychophysiological equivalent of habitually exceeding the speed limit.”
Having a profound influence on cognitive functionality, a lack of rest has a bigger impact than your health than you may think.
Just days out from the election, Mr Turnbull showed clear signs of strain, with increasingly tired and blotchy skin and deep bags under his eyes. Admitting to having flu-like symptoms, the Prime Minister sought medical advice for his symptoms.
“There’s serious medical consequences for not having good sleep,” Dr Barnes said.
“Sleep deprivation can lead to infections and even diabetes, and we believe that if people have more sleep they would function better.”
We know that a lack of shut-eye can lead to weight gain and play havoc with our mood, but according to a study out of Sweden — it can also play havoc on your facial features.
The study says the faces of sleep-deprived individuals were perceived as having more hanging eyelids, redder and more swollen eyes, darker circles, paler skin, more wrinkles and droopy corners of the mouth.
While still looking fit for a man in his fifties, who has had one of the toughest gigs in the world, there’s no denying President Barack Obama’s youth has taken a beating.
During his first address to congress in 2009, a then 47-year-old president dazzled with jet-black hair, smooth skin and just a few smile lines framing his eyes.
Fast forward to today and it’s a pretty different picture.
Obama, who will end his presidency in November, is known as a ‘night owl’ when it comes to his work/sleep habits. Often reading and writing late into the night while the rest of us are tucked away in bed, the President’s evening often involves conference calls with staff members at midnight.
“Have dinner with the family, hang out with the kids, and put them to bed about 8:30pm. And then I’ll probably read briefing papers or do paperwork or write stuff until about 11:30pm, and then I usually have about a half-hour to read before I go to bed … about midnight, 12:30am — sometimes a little later.”
Former British PM Tony Blair knows all too well what a power position can do to the body. In 1997, when he scored the top job at the age of 43, he famously entered the role with brunette locks and few furrows. But after a decade in the seat as the British PM — a distinct grey tinge and crows feet were well established.
Kevin Rudd famously admitted to running on just four hours of sleep each night. While the former prime minister didn’t take the ageing hit as badly as those in a similar position — Dr Barnes thinks that the lack of sleep may have taken a toll on his cognitive functionality.
“For many people, we become busier and busier and take on more and more, we forget how much sleep we need,” she said.
“If Kevin had more sleep than what he said, he might’ve been easier to work with and maybe even retain the prime ministership.
“There are a lot of consequences for not having good quality sleep. It takes weeks to catch up, and it would be interesting to know how Rudd changed when he stopped being prime minister, and if he allowed himself more sleep.”
Sleep Awareness Week 2016 is from Monday, 4 July 2016 until Sunday, 10 July 2016. The Sleep Health Foundation uses the time to raise awareness of the common sleep disorder, obstructive sleep apnoea or OSA and the benefits of treatment.