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• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Worries >> Worries

Worries

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Partners, companions and pets >> Partners, companions and pets

Partners, companions and pets

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Dreams >> Dreams

Dreams

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• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 75+ >> Daphne - Interview 29 >> When Daphne’s daughter came to live with her she felt she had to get up earlier in the mornings than she normally would.

Daphne has been retired for a few years, but has had a variety of very interesting professions, such as officer in the WAAF, fashion model and actress. On the whole she finds she sleeps well, but would like to have more than the five or six hours she currently has. Daphne believes sleep is very important, but would only really be concerned if she felt she couldn’t get to sleep.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Robert - Interview 06 >> Robert believes the stress from his recent bereavement has caused him to have dreams about the past where he is searching for things and people.

At the time of his interview Robert had recently lost his wife and was still trying to cope with the aftermath of her illness and his subsequent bereavement. Robert has found that he wakes up quite a lot in the night and hopes that, with time, his sleep pattern will settle back into the routine he had before his wife was ill. Robert likes to keep very active and enjoys engineering problems and making things. He has recently started to cycle again.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Dessie - Interview 17 >> After Dessie’s husband died, she had frequent dreams which contained flashbacks to what had happened.

Dessie feels her sleep has got a lot worse, especially since she lost her husband. She finds she sometimes wakes up in the very early hours of the morning and can’t get back to sleep at all. Dessie is very active and likes to keep herself very busy, working in the garden, visiting friends and helping her family.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> William - Interview 38 >> William dreams more when he is stressed, and his dreams are full of frustrations and tensions, so that he wakes up feeling anxious.

William lives with his partner and has been retired for about 14 years. He likes to keep active by swimming four days a week and going to a gym class one day a week. He also attends art classes and is a member of a local literature club. William has noticed a change in his sleep over the last couple of years in that he finds he is having very vivid and sometimes difficult dreams. He notices he also has to get up now in the night because of cramp or to go to the toilet, which he never used to do.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 65-74 >> Mike - Interview 12 >> Mike often lies awake worrying in the night, but in the morning realises his problems aren’t that serious.

Mike works part-time as a test centre administrator. He has noticed a change in his sleep as he has got older, noticeably that he has periods of deeper sleep, but he doesn’t believe he sleeps any longer than he used to. Mike noticed his sleep changed when he first had children, and finds that pattern has continued.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Women aged 65-74 >> Valerie - Interview 11 >> Val slept very badly when she was running a care company because of the worry and concerns for the people under her care, and this pattern of sleep co

Valerie often wakes up in the night and can’t get back to sleep. This means she will be very tired by the early evening, but will try not to go to bed too early because she doesn’t want to waste the evening.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Daniel - Interview 28 >> Daniel, who had lots of recurring nightmares when he was younger, remembers a hissing sound in his ear which he identified as a trigger for his nightm

Daniel is a retired social worker, having spent a large part of his working life with children and teenagers. He was diagnosed with sleep apnoea when his snoring at night was making him feel very drowsy during the day. His sleep is quite broken at night, and he often finds he dozes off during the day.

• Later life >> Sleep problems in later life >> Men aged 75+ >> Daniel - Interview 28 >> Daniel remembers having very bad nightmares at a time when he was under a lot of stress during his employment as a social worker.

Daniel is a retired social worker, having spent a large part of his working life with children and teenagers. He was diagnosed with sleep apnoea when his snoring at night was making him feel very drowsy during the day. His sleep is quite broken at night, and he often finds he dozes off during the day.