Maybe we all need a nap

Despite known benefits, adults still resist snoozing

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. -- An afternoon snooze refreshes, revitalizes, recharges body and soul. Yet in our caffeine-buzzed society, naps are downright un-American.

Slamming Red Bull, hanging at Starbucks and draining quad-shots of espresso is a lot more socially acceptable as the "cure" for sleep debt. Besides, it's tough to nap with all that caffeine rocketing through the aorta.

And remember, if you snooze, you lose, right?

Not according to scientific research. The rejuvenating effects of naps has resurfaced in a new Stanford University School of Medicine study. Emergency room doctors and nurses who worked overnight shifts and were allowed 40-minute naps showed a boost in alertness and performance over those who worked straight through.

Which group of doctors would you prefer probing your abdomen for a .38-caliber slug?

"Napping is a very powerful, very inexpensive way of improving our work," says Dr. Steven Howard, one of the study's authors.

Research by Cornell University's James Maas, who is credited with coining the term "power nap," revealed that nearly four in 10 American workers admit napping on the job, snoozing in bathroom stalls, at their desks (under them, too) or in their cars in company parking lots.

Jack Dunlap of Gold River, Calif., became devoted to naps during his 25 years as a bailiff.

"I had an hour for lunch," he says. "One day I thought, 'I'll try it in the car and hope I wake up.' Only once did they have to come out and wake me up. I slept there in the parking lot for 20 years. I had energy when I woke up from those naps."

Convincing bosses that productivity improves with an afternoon nap hasn't met with overwhelming success. Despite being supported by medical studies that would fill the Louisiana Superdome, the benefit of naps has been ignored for the illusion of an indefatigable work force.

In the 1990s, the 20-minute power nap stirred corporate America, but it was a ripple, not a tsunami. Sleeping on the job with the boss' blessing remains a rare perk.

"Slackers or an old person," says lifelong napper Karen Calhoun, 39, of Elk Grove, Calif., offering her take on America's opinion of nappers. Grim, indeed.

Interestingly enough, the Starbucks phenomenon also began brewing during the 1990s when the Seattle-based company spread its coffee experience nationwide. Why take a nap when you can sip your way to consciousness?

It's only natural

"We drive ourselves too hard," says Jill Murphy Long, a dedicated napper and author of "Permission to Nap" (Sourcebooks Inc.). "How many people are on Prozac and Zoloft? There's a better way to go about it than taking chemicals."

Her better way to combat stress, anxiety and fatigue is a chin-dropping nap, as natural as a cotton ball. The human body yearns for afternoon slumber. Our so-called internal circadian biological clock sounds the alarm for the needed Zs.

"There's always a dip in the level of alertness in the afternoon," says Dr. Lydia Wytrzes (pronounced WHY-tress), director of Sutter Sleep Center in Sacramento.

Late evening and afternoon are the two daily periods when our species tends to get sleepy-eyed. Our natural circadian rhythms kick in, begging for nap time. Trouble is, there's plenty to get in the way of a good nap -- guilt, kids, jobs, commute time, appointments. America is not the Land of Nod.

Kids take naps, often when coerced. Sleep-deprived teens crash just about anywhere because they're nocturnal and need more than eight hours of sleep per day. Older folks nap, partly because they don't sleep as soundly at night. The rest of us have to look for excuses to nap. It's become a cultural thing.