Ask Ms. Jessica Issue 8 – A good night’s sleep (Patreon)

(The content for Ask Ms. Jessica comes from real questions from real people sent to AskMsJessica@gmail.com)

Dear Ms. Jessica,

How does sleep work for mutants with two or more heads. Does the body need all heads to be sleeping for rest. How is it for a two headed-one mind person to fall asleep with just one head, and how does the awake one feel?

Sleep is an interesting subject indeed. It’s so strange that it’s such a major part of our lives and we still don’t understand much about it.

But here’s a short rundown of sleep science. When you sleep you rest not only your body, but your mind. The brain, as an organ, needs sleep to function. Too many hours without a full sleep cycle, and it starts to shut down. The same thing goes for your organs.

The same thing applies for mutants with more than one head too. If they have two brains, then both brains need to have full sleep cycles. Sure, one head can sleep at a time, but if the other keeps using the body, then the body doesn’t get any rest, and soon they would find themselves losing coordination, getting sick, or worse. It’s a neat trick to use at times, but in the end, everyone, all parts of us, need sleep.

The same thing goes for a person with two heads but one mind. One head can fall asleep and leave the body to the other, but that essentially means they are running at half their processing power. Their reactions will be sluggish. Their body will be hard to control. They will feel, in a sense, fatigued. Have you ever felt like your body was heavy and didn’t want to move after a long day at work? That’s because of mental fatigue. They would feel similar. They would get a boost when their other head woke up, but operating on half your mental power is not fun. Once again it’s a neat little trick to sneak in naps here or there, but it can’t replace a full night’s rest. 

So no matter who you are out there, no matter how many heads you have, remember that you need 7-9 hours of good, uninterrupted sleep each night to remain functional. That applies to all your heads AND your body. Feel free to split up rest between them as you like, but it’s certainly easiest to keep track of how much you have slept by resting all of yourself at once.

Stay curious!

Dr. Jessica Park

AskMsJessica@gmail.com