No Rest for the Wicked Or the Virtuous. Presently no support group offers dietary or exercise help for sufferers of sleep phase disorders. 24/7 Society. This situation is most unfortunate. Today, we live in a 24/7 society. Sleep and wake phase (phasal) disorders affect millions of people at minimum. Those with Parkinson's Disease, narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, or other disorders aren't the only ones. Certainly jet lag is widespread among normal people. Patients in hospitals endure frequent interruptions that typically upset the body's circadian clock. Circadian upset is one reason why most hospital patients recover better at home. The prevalence of accidents and disease among shift workers is a well-known situation. This common disorder can lead to weight gain, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and more. These problems can be fatal. Community Impact. As you see, shift-work disorder is a serious and widespread disease. Yet it's only one of many phasal disorders. Every phasal disorder affects not just the sufferer, but also the family and community of the sufferer. For instance, sleep deprivation probably led to the Exxon Valdez, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl disasters.1

Outreach. For years, we've associated ourselves with various sleep disorder outreach groups. Some of these are national support groups and some are local, here in the Midwest. None of these groups offers non-pharmaceutical aid in reestablishing normal circadian rhythms. We'd be interested in joining or forming a group that promotes a proper diet, exercise and good sleep hygiene. Yet to date, the strongest voices in this field are those of the pharmaceutical companies and those that support them.

Let's Face the Facts: If you're a pharmaceutical company, you're selling a product. You have a vested interest. You don't want to let on that a holistic approach might work better, support general health, and cost less. And you certainly don't want to offer hope to the many that the drugs don't help. Meanwhile, even for those that the drugs help, the present sleep disorder medications are only palliative. Not only do drugs not cure the problem, but drugs usually have severe side effects. One of these side effects can be death. Further, labels for the most common narcolepsy medications state that nobody knows how these drugs work. In some cases, this is medication for its own sake. In others, it's medication that might help one to cope. But at a cost: The slow decline of body and mind. Conversely, a timed diet and exercise program would nuture the body and mind. Further, this program would also help the patient to cope.

Good Doctors care for and about their patients. We know many admirable doctors, and they certainly do both. Yet if these doctors have no training in properly timed diet and exercise, they can't help patients with these methods. Usually that leaves drugs and surgery. A very conscientious and informed physician might also recommend a specialist or therapy. Yet most doctors probably don't, and for most patients, holistic methods probably don't enter the picture. In fact, even holistic methods might not stress timed diet and exercise. The problem might be the flip side of our specialized medical system that has brought us so many advantages. Fact: Specialization has a drawback. Each specialist concentrates on one set of answers, ignoring the other answers. So the saying goes: “If you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” The one-size-fits-nobody pill remains the only orthodox treatment.

The Poor Patient either takes the pill or gives up. This is the attitude that we've heard time and again at narcolepsy support groups. Yes, patients have reason to trust their doctors. Still, patients must also exert some healthy skepticism. Ironically, the medication itself tends to strike down that skepticism. Not surprisingly, some of the sleep disorder stimulants promote conventional thinking. (That's why these are also ADHD drugs.2) Conventional Thinking. Once, our society revered unconventional thinkers such as Einstein, Edison and Abraham Lincoln. Today, prescriptions for psychoactive drugs would render them into Caspar Milquetoasts. Narcoleptics don't realize that the very medicines that “help them to concentrate and focus” also promote submissiveness and conformity.3 Conventional thinking from these drugs tends to reinforce the dogma: “Drugs are the only answer.” Wake Up! If you have narcolepsy, jet lag or some other phasal disorder, start thinking about the whole person. Don't just ask: How can you get to the next coffee break? But instead, ask: How can you be more effective? How can you be a better person? How can you achieve your lifetime goals? These questions reveal the big picture. To answer these questions, you must function consistently on a day-in and day-out basis. Consistent operation of your body and mind are only possible if you have healthy circadian rhythms. The Wakeup Diet™ is your only true option. By design, it encourages reliable circadian rhythms while building a stable, healthy body.

Narcolepsy Network on Diet & Exercise. Narcolepsy Network (NN) usually takes the orthodox approach to narcolepsy treatment. Yet NN also strongly supports diet and exercise such as in the Wakeup Diet™. In NN literature, the essential timing function isn't as developed as in the Wakeup Diet™. We also tend to disagree with the “many small meals” idea. Yet keeping the noon meal small is a splendid notion! You'll find many other suggestions that are consistent with our plan. Click... NN Diet & Exercise page.

Let's start a group!

Contact the Webmaster. Interested in forming a diet and exercise group for sleep and phasal disorders? Contact me!

Midwest Narcolepsy Support Group

Meeting Schedule. This page no longer hosts the schedule or minutes for the Midwest Narcolepsy Support Group (MNSG). MNSG maintains a Google group, but the online group seems to have become inactive. Group meetings tend to back only pharmaceutical treatments. For information on this and all U.S. support groups, click... Support Groups.

Sleepy Person Conference

The 2012 Sleepy Person Conference (SPC) offered a brief presentation on the Wakeup Diet. This presentation took place on July 21, at the end of the afternoon session.

You missed it? See the Narcolepsy Network article on the Wakeup Diet. This 2013 article covers the Wakeup Diet in more detail. The article is a brief summary that you can read in a few minutes.

Future SPC conferences. The University of Illinois' Center for Narcolepsy, Sleep and Health Research sponsors the SPC conference every few years. In 2012, the venue was the Chicago Marriott Hotel on Ashland, near Harrison (625 South Ashland Avenue). For more information on the next SPC, click the button below.

Footnotes

     ¹ Stanley Coren, Sleep Thieves. (New York: Free Press, 1996), 236-246. Also available in paperback and Kindle^® versions. (Click Sleep Thieves.)

2[From Helpguide.org:] "Stimulant medications may also cause personality changes. Some people become withdrawn, listless, rigid, or less spontaneous and talkative. Others develop obsessive-compulsive symptoms." (Click Stimulants & Submissiveness 1.) Source: Helpguide.org, "ADD/ADHD Medications," Rotary Club of Santa Monica, http://helpguide.org/mental/adhd_medications.htm (Access date: February 8, 2011).      3[From p. 87, Breggin:] "Overall, spontaneous and social behaviors, along with humor and play, were suppressed, while obsessive, perseverative behaviors were caused or increased." (Click Stimulants & Submissiveness 2.) Source: Peter Roger Breggin and Dick Scruggs, Talking Back to Ritalin: What Doctors Aren't Telling You About Stimulants. (New York: Da Capo Press, 2001).

Dr. Breggin

Contents

• No Rest for the Wicked

• 24/7 Society

• Community Impact

• Outreach

• Let's Face the Facts

• Good Doctors

• The Poor Patient

• Conventional Thinking

• Wake up!

• Narcolepsy Network on Diet & Exercise

• Start a group!

• Midwest Narcolepsy Support Group

• Click for next meeting time

• Sleepy Person Conference

Copyright © 2011 by the webmaster. All rights reserved. (Note: Photo of Dr. Breggin originally appeared in Brain Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry, p. ii. We've colorized the photo.)

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