An incomplete night's sleep is a myth. This is what good sleep looks like.

What is your idea of ​​ night's sleep?

Often when people come to our sleep clinic for treatment, they share ideas about healthy sleep.

Many people think that when their head hits the pillow, they need to fall right into a deep and restful sleep, and emerge refreshed after about eight hours. They are in good company – many Australians are. Same belief.

In fact, healthy sleep is cyclical throughout the night, as you go out and in of various stages of sleep, often waking up several times. Some people remember a number of of those awakenings, others don't. Let's consider what a healthy night's sleep looks like.

Sleep cycles are a roller coaster.

As adults, our sleep goes through Different cycles and temporary awakenings in the course of the night. Sleep cycles last about 90 minutes.

We normally start the night with light sleep, before moving into deep sleep stages, and again into rapid eye movement (REM) sleep – a sleep stage often related to lucid dreaming.

If sleeping well, we get most of our deep sleep in the primary half of the night. REM sleep More common within the second half of the night.

Adults typically undergo 5 or 6 sleep cycles an evening, and this is totally normal. common Waking up briefly at the tip of every. That means we'll be waking up five times an evening. It can increase with age and still be healthy. It's okay for those who don't remember these awakenings – they will be quite temporary.

What does 'good' sleep really mean?

You will often hear that adults Seven to nine hours are required. of sleep per night. But good sleep is greater than the variety of hours — it's also concerning the quality.

For most individuals, sleeping well means falling asleep soon after going to bed (inside about half-hour), staying asleep for long periods of time without waking up, and waking up feeling rested and prepared for the day. Prepare for

Don't oversleep in the course of the day, especially for those who're usually getting at the least seven hours of refreshing sleep an evening (it is a rough rule of thumb).

But do you discover that you simply're physically drained, needing to take regular naps and still don't feel refreshed? It could also be value touching base along with your general practitioner, as there are a selection of possible causes.

Common problems

Sleep disorders are common. until 25% of adults Insomnia is a sleep problem where it might be difficult to fall or stay asleep, or it’s possible you’ll get up early within the morning.

Rates of common sleep disorders reminiscent of insomnia and Lack of sleep – where your respiratory may stop partially or completely several times in the course of the night – also affects aging. 20% of early adults And 40% of individuals middle age. There are effective treatments, so it's essential to hunt help.

In addition to sleep disorders, our sleep can be disrupted by chronic health conditions – eg pain – by and Some medicines.

There could also be other the reason why we don't get enough sleep. Some of us are woken at night by the noise of kids, pets or traffic. it”Forced AwakeningThis means we may find it harder to stand up within the morning, take longer to get off the bed and feel less satisfied with our sleep. For some people, there could also be no apparent reason for waking at night.

A superb option to tell if these awarenesses are an issue for you is to take into consideration how they affect you. When they cause feelings of frustration or anxiety, or affect the way in which we feel and performance in the course of the day, it might be an indication to hunt some help.

We may find it difficult to stand up within the morning. This will be for a lot of reasons, including not sleeping long enough, going to bed or waking up at irregular times – and even your individual. Internal clockwhich might affect when your body prefers to sleep.

If you usually struggle to stand up for work or family needs, this may occasionally be an indication that it’s possible you’ll have to seek help. Some of those aspects will be explored with a sleep psychologist in the event that they are causing concern.

Can my smart watch help?

It's essential to keep in mind that sleep tracking devices can Varies in accuracy To see different stages of sleep. Although they will be somewhat approximate, they aren’t an absolute measure.

In the laboratory polysomnographyor PSG, is the perfect standard measure to examine your sleep stages. A PSG checks respiratory, oxygen saturation, brain waves and heart rate during sleep.

Rather than looking closely at nightly data (including sleep stages) from a sleep tracker, it might be more helpful to have a look at your sleep patterns (bed and wake times) over time.

Understanding your sleep patterns It can assist to discover and adjust behaviors that negatively impact your sleep, reminiscent of your bedtime routine and sleeping environment.

And for those who think taking a look at your sleep data is making you are concerned about your sleep, it won’t be useful for you. Most importantly, for those who are concerned it will be important to debate this along with your GP who can refer you to an appropriate specialist sleep health provider.