One Ring to rule them all

As I write this article, the world is conkers-deep in the covid pandemic, and so I am stuck at home under lockdown for the time being. As part of this, I’ve taken the glut of free-time to revisit my approach to exercise, food and how I look after myself in general.

To track my sleep and activity, I thought I would invest in a wearable data logger. So, after a bit of research, I settled on the Oura ring, which is unobtrusive to use (I tend to wear a thumb ring most days anyway), plus collects a lot of data (with a level of accuracy) that other wearables simply can’t match.

My general perception of the way I sleep is that I feel like I sleep deeply, that within a few minutes of going to bed I am out-cold, and that when I wake in the morning it is mostly naturally (I wake before the alarm), and I very rarely remember any dreams.

I’ve only had it a week so far, so this isn’t a comprehensive article by any means, but the initial observations from the data for my own personal sleep habits are:

•  My sleep profile shows that the majority of my deep and REM sleep is front-loaded in my sleep pattern, which explains why when I wake, there is little to remember.    

• I used to wonder whether those occasional listless nights (where I remembered waking a collection of times and had the impression of lying awake for a long time) were more an aspect of memory, rather than a factor of actually being awake. The data shows that for me I tend to wake a few times during the night, but generally don’t remember it. And even when I do remember and it seems like I was laying awake for ages, actually it was only a few minutes before I was back asleep again and it is mostly just skewed perception.

• I have always been told that I fall asleep quickly (my perception also backed this up, but as mentioned above my perception isn’t entirely accurate), but the reality is that the data also supports that I am out in less than 5mins on most nights. 

• The popular opinion often states that meditation is more restful than sleep, and in this case the data actually supports this too (though obviously doesn’t involve REM or deep sleep states). 

• Alcohol messes up my sleep efficiency disproportionately: even a single measure of whiskey in the evening will make my resting heart rate take as long as 6 hrs to settle during sleep, as opposed to 2 hrs with no alcohol.

More observations as I gather better data…

Why date rape drugs are everyone’s problem…

It’s quite likely that you have heard of the so-called date rape drugs, but you think that they are something that happens to people of a different gender, or age range, or social circle. If this is the case, then sadly you are just as wrong as I was, and I shall explain why.

Like some of you reading these words, my knowledge of these drugs used to be based entirely on a few headlines that I had read in the media, plus the Hangover series of films. It’s hardly what I would call encyclopaedic or well informed, but let’s face it: I’m a beardy, middle-aged man and not exactly ripe for being drugged in a bar. Or so I thought.

However, all that changed last year when my group of friends were targeted at a party and our drinks were spiked. To cut a long story short, we were lucky. For a start, I am physically quite large, and didn’t get enough of a dose to entirely rob me of my senses. So we managed to keep ourselves out of trouble, and in all, it ended up being a bit of a scare, but no lasting damage was done.

At this point, it’s worth saying (for those who don’t know) that the effects of this group of drugs tend to be to supress the conscious, rational part of your mind, and make you very suggestible to things you might not normally do. Along with this, they also disrupt the formation of memories, so afterwards you may only have a vague recollection of events. It’s easy to see why they are called date rape drugs, but it’s not as two-dimensional as that.

In the weeks after my own brush with these drugs, I shared my experience with friends, colleagues and family, and was surprised to find that it wasn’t some freak rarity, but that many of the people I spoke to had their own stories to tell. And the more I listened, the more it became clear that my preconceptions were very wrong, and I imagine that yours might be too, because:

• It’s not just about sex: many of those drugged were robbed rather than assaulted.
• It’s not just something that men do to women: many were men who were raped by other men, or men who were robbed by women.
• It’s not just strangers who are a threat: many were drugged by someone they knew, such as a colleague or relative.
• It’s not just the naïve who were caught out: some were among the brightest, most street-wise people I know.
• It’s not just something that happens to youngsters: many were adults with families of their own.
• It’s not just something that happens in bars and clubs: many incidents occurred after meals, in homes, or at office events.

And if after reading all that, you are still thinking it is nothing to do with you, then I’ll leave you with a final cheery thought. Due to circumstances, most of those drugged didn’t realise what had happened until much later and any evidence was long gone. So even if they knew who drugged them, they felt helpless to act.

Out of all the stories I heard, an unpalatable aspect was that only one person was held to account: a co-worker who had been fired, but had received no criminal record. Which means that every single one of them is still out there, free to repeat their actions as they wish. That’s a lovely thought, isn’t it?

So, do you still think it’s something that happens to other people?