Getting Uninterrupted Sleep

The Importance of Continuous Sleep Cycles

Discover what’s it like to experience long uninterrupted, sleep

“Those who say it can’t be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.”- James Baldwin

Most people assume that as long as they meet the eight-hour quota for sleeping everything is OK. However, they fail to realize that both quantity and quality of sleep need to considered before achieving real health and well being. 

Interrupted sleep refers to sleep with periods of waking up throughout the cycles. This problem occurs due to various external environmental conditions such as noise, urinary needs, unsolved thoughts, light change, and sudden movement. 

According to the National Sleep Foundation, interrupted sleep can cause multiple health concerns for an individual. An interruption in the sleep cycle causes it to reboot and start from the beginning again. This interruption prevents the body from going into a deep sleep which is responsible for the restoration and balancing of physiological functions and needs of the body. In turn, it can affect the mood and attention span of an individual. It can also cause Alzheimer’s disease due to amyloid protein buildup in the brain.

How to help remedy interrupted sleep:

Change your lifestyle. Figure out how many periods of wakefulness you get in one night and subtract it from your overall sleep time. 

Cut down on your sleep. This method may sound counterproductive, but by decreasing sleep temporarily, you can become more sleepy, which allows you to sleep the next day deeply.

Stick to a sleep and wake schedule. Set a regular sleeping schedule to help balance the sleeping cycle of your body.

FURTHER READING

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/sleep-deprivation-and-deficiency

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/improving-sleep-quality-what-interrupted-sleep