sleep - is it over rated?

for the past 2 months i have been having considerable problems getting my quota of 7-8 hours of sleep. most nights end in frustration and i will crawl out of my thoroughly tossed bed and sit in front of the pc randomly surfing websites that i barely read due to the effects of sleep deprivation. rarely i resort to taking allergy pills which carry a mild sedative effect and lately i have been downing a can of beer before going to bed. i can fall asleep alright after these measures but will wake up after 5 hours without fail.

going to work after a restless night is no picnic in the park. not that work is but you do not need to add another dimension of torture to the whole endeavour. the whole day i would be walking around with my own personal rain cloud hovering above my head and woe to the one who rubs me the wrong way on that day. a dull throbbing starts from the center of my forehead and radiates outwards until my whole head seems to be encased in cement. it is not exactly pain but a dull discomfort that stays with you througout the day.

the real reason behind this is beyond me. i have blamed work-related stress, coffee, interpersonal strive between workmates. those are the easy targets. in fact recently i heard in a podcast that we as a society are sleeping less due to the astronomical rise in popularity in coffee drinking. we are over-caffeienated. i imagine the cavemen would have slept for half a day everyday during his lifetime and looked what happened to them; chased by blood thirsty reptiles and all the rigors of pre-historic life. coming back to my point; i have cut down on the cups of coffee that i consume a day down to the one in the morning. still not doing it for me.

i have tried to cut down on conflict at work but there is really no arguing with the sleep-induced bitch of a headache that has taken roots inside your skull. every situation no matter how mundane becomes a thorn in my side. a wound that has to picked at until it is all inflammed and oozing pus. i rip multiple new ones in my work acquitances and they in kind reciprocate. walking home with a tattered, bruised and tired ego has becomed the order of the day.

which way do i go now? how to capture that elusive concept of deep sleep? you tell me. as for now my best hope is for that miserable 5 hours where i can forget my self and slip into the great beyond. rock-a-bye baby indeed.

ps - this i got from wikipedia 'Total sleep deprivation in rats leads to death in around 28 days'. thought you might want to know.