無論是科學的，歷史的證據持續冒出來，告訴我們，大多數人睡覺的方式，可能並不好。

2001年歷史學家羅傑發表一份報告，是橫貫15年的研究。壓倒性的歷史證據顯示人們，事實上，曾經是分兩段睡覺。

2005年他發表一本書，書名是『一日之終: 過去的夜』，含概超過五百個睡覺模式，有日記、醫藥手冊、文學，還有更多從不同來源的參考資料，包括荷馬奧迪賽，一路到奈幾內亞的現代部落等等。

這不只是幾個參考，他們引述得好像那是基本常識。

羅傑的研究發現，我們曾經不是一個晚上一次睡滿八小時。而是，夜裏分兩段睡，所有的睡眠在十二個小時內完成；先睡三、四個小時，醒來做一些事三、四個小時，再去睡三、四個小時，直到天亮。.

1990 年有心理學家湯瑪士也做個研究。他做了個實驗，參加者14位，被放到一天14個小時完全黑暗的房間，連續一整個月。到第四個禮拜，參加者慢慢適應一種完全不同的睡眠模式，跟羅傑的研究發現不謀而合，也就是睡三、四個小時，醒來東摸摸西摸摸三、四個小時，再去睡三, 四個小時，直到天亮。.

羅傑發現這種分兩段睡的睡法，到17世紀末逐漸消失，開始於北歐都會的上流社會，之後的兩百年逐漸普及到西方其它地區。到1920年，這種兩段睡法完全消失在我們的社會意識....

為何會分兩段睡？可能的原因是它符合人體自然的狀態，至少後來心理學家湯瑪士的實驗是這樣呼應的；但也有其它的想法.

歷史學家克來格說:

17世紀以前人們對於夜晚的聯想並不好.，夜晚都是些囂小、罪犯、妓女、酒醉者出沒的時刻。即使是有錢人，他們負擔得起蠟燭，有更好的娛樂讓他們把錢花在上面，熬夜晚睡並沒有太高的社會價值。

不過，到了1667年，巴黎成了舉世第一個在夜間有照明的城市後。情況變了，最終影響整個歐洲開始會有晚睡，而成為社會普遍的模式。之後，工業革命又興起。

人們開始有了時間意識,，在乎效率。19世紀之後的工業革命，更大幅度強化這種態度。

最終，我們來到一個點，父母會在晚上催促孩子在某個時間睡覺，而且一覺到底，成了普遍性的睡法。

很多睡眠障礙，可能歸因於人體自然的傾向，這傾向是分段睡。

羅傑相信，很多現代睡眠障礙導因於人體自然的偏好，偏好分段睡。他相信前人源遠流長的睡眠習慣是主因，致使很多人會有『很難維持一覺到底的失眠感』。這類問題最初出現在19世紀末， 幾乎是兩段式睡眠快要消失匿跡之時。

為了某些進化的原因，我們以某種方式睡覺。半夜醒來是正常的人體反應。我們應該一覺到天明的想法，可能是破壞性的想法。如果因而導致半夜醒來的人有焦慮感，這個焦慮本身就會阻礙睡眠，也會影響醒著的時間。引用自心理學家葛雷賈伯斯

根據牛津大學生理時鐘神經科學教授，羅素·福斯特（Russell Foster）說：「很多人半夜醒來會恐慌。我告訴他們，他們正經歷前人睡眠模式被破壞的後作力。前人分兩段睡，後人改成一覺到底。不過，這樣的說法並不為大多數的醫生所接受。醫生面臨的醫學問題有超過三成，直接或間接與睡眠有關。但睡眠這個題目在醫學訓練上又被忽視，研究睡眠的醫學中心也少之又少。」

至於以前的人分兩段睡, 中間起來做什麼? 根據羅傑的研究顯示，他們利用這段時間冥想他們的夢、閱讀、祈禱，或執行一些宗教儀式。

Your Ancestors Didn’t Sleep Like You – Are We Doing It Wrong?

Evidence continues to emerge, both scientific and historical, suggesting that the way in which the majority of us currently sleep may not actually be good for us.

In 2001, historian Roger Ekirch of Virginia Tech published a paper that included over 15 years of research. It revealed an overwhelming amount of historical evidence that humans used to in fact sleep in two different chunks. (1)

In 2005, he published a book titled “At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past,” that included more than 500 references to a disjointed sleeping pattern. It included diaries, medical books, literature and more taken from various sources which include Homer’s Odyssey all the way to modern tribes in Nigeria and more.

“It’s not just the number of references – it is the way they refer to it, as if it was common knowledge.” – Ekrich (source)

What Was Found In The Research

Ekirch’s research found that we didn’t always sleep for an average of 8 hours straight. Instead we would sleep in two shorter periods throughout the night. All sleep would occur within a 12 hour time frame that started with 3 or 4 hours of sleep, followed by being awake for 3 hours or so and than sleeping again until the morning.

There was also some research done in the early 1990′s by psychiatrist Thomas Wehr. He conducted an experiment where 14 people were put into complete darkness for 14 hours a day for an entire month. By the fourth week the participants were able to settle into a very distinct sleeping pattern. The pattern was the same as Ekirch suggested of how we were meant to sleep; the subjects slept for approximately 4 hours, woke for another few and then went back to sleep until morning. (2)

 “Ekirch found that references to the first and second sleep started to disappear during the late 17th Century. This started among the urban upper classes in northern Europe and over the course of the next 200 years filtered down to the rest of Western society. By the 1920′s the idea of a first and second sleep had receded entirely from our social consciousness.” (source)

Possible Reasons As To Why It Was Like This

One reason could be that this type of segmented sleep is what really comes natural to the human body, at least that’s what Wehr’s experiment suggests, but there are other theories.

Historian Craig Koslofsky suggests:

 “Associations with night before the 17th Century were not good.  The night was a place populated by people of disrepute – criminals, prostitutes and drunks. Even the wealthy, who could afford candlelight, had better things to spend their money on. There was no prestige or social value associated with staying up all night.” (source)

Things changed, however, in 1667 when Paris became the first city in the world to light its streets, and eventually throughout Europe staying up at night became the social norm, and then the industrial revolution happened:

  “People were becoming increasingly time-conscious and sensitive to efficiency, certainly before the 19th Century, but the industrial revolution intensified that attitude by leaps and bounds.” (source)

Eventually, we got to the point where parents were forcing their children to sleep at a certain time, and forced them out of the segmented sleeping pattern that was more dominant.

Many Sleeping Problems May Have Roots In The Human Body’s Natural Preference For Segmented Sleep

Ekirch believes that many modern day sleeping problems have roots in the human body’s natural preference for segmented sleep. He believes that our historical sleeping patterns could be the reason why many people suffer from a condition called “sleep maintenance insomnia,” where individuals wake in the middle of the night and have trouble getting back to sleep. This type of condition first appeared at the end of the 19th century, approximately the same time segmented sleep began to die off.

“For most of evolution we slept a certain way. Waking up during the night is part of normal human physiology.The idea that we must sleep in a consolidated block could be damaging, he says, if it makes people who wake up at night anxious, as this anxiety can itself prohibit sleep and is likely to seep into waking life too.”  - Psychologist Greg Jacobs (source)

According to Russell Foster, a professor of circadian [body clock] neuroscience at Oxford:

“Many people wake up at night and panic. I tell them that what they are experiencing is a throwback to the bi-modal sleep pattern. But the majority of doctors still fail to acknowledge that a consolidated eight-hour sleep may be unnatural. Over 30% of the medical problems that doctors are faced with stem directly or indirectly from sleep. But sleep has been ignored in medical training and there are very few centers where sleep is studied.” (source)

As far as what people did during this in between time of wakefulness, Ekirch’s research suggests that they primarily used the time to meditate on their dreams, read, pray or partake in spiritual practices.

Related CE Articles:

The Best and Worst Sleeping Positions and How They Affect Your Health

Alternative Sleep Cycles: 7 – 10 Hours Are Not Needed

How Cumulative Sleep Debt Is Impacting Your Brain Functioning and Alertness

Sources:

(1)http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16964783

(2)http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/14/science/modern-life-suppresses-an-ancient-body-rhythm.html?scp=6&sq=dr%20thomas%20wehr&st=cse&pagewanted=all

http://slumberwise.com/science/your-ancestors-didnt-sleep-like-you/