BOREDOM 101 Lesson2- Induce Sleep

It is 2 in the morning. You are bored as hell. You are still awake. Your alertness is not any different than this morning. How do you make use of this time? The obvious! Sleep! It's very physiologically productive.

After all possible means have been exhausted and you still could not sleep, the best thing you could do is to induce it. You have two options. One- kill yourself, hence in a state of perpetual sleep coupled with nonexistence. Not really great. Or two- PILL it! How?

We are talking of chemical terms here. Take melatonin tablets. Melatonin is a harmless hormone secreted by the pineal gland. The concentration of melatonin in our bodies normally reach its peak during the night, where there is minimal light, and it dwindles down during the day. Increased concentrations of this compound is inversely related to alertness.

My physiology professor, Dr. Rourke, told our class that interestingly melatonin has antioxidant properties but it also decreases reproductive capabilities. This is deducted from comparative physiology- note that when some mammals hibernate, there is a significant increase of melatonin and decreased sexual activity. This parallel should somehow be related to our physiology. After all, we're mammals too.

I think because I frequently work graveyard shifts, my sleep-wake cycle is messed up. Too bad. Maybe it's time to take melatonin. I, however, am not dependent on it.