Why is broken sleep worse than unbroken sleep?!
Question: If I get 5 hours of sleep, wake up for an hour, then go back to bed for another 5, why do I wake up feeling like all I've had is 5 hours instead of 10? My girlfriend always wonders why I get so cranky when my sleep is broken, because I go to bed so early "so I should be getting plenty of sleep."
Answers: If I get 5 hours of sleep, wake up for an hour, then go back to bed for another 5, why do I wake up feeling like all I've had is 5 hours instead of 10? My girlfriend always wonders why I get so cranky when my sleep is broken, because I go to bed so early "so I should be getting plenty of sleep."
Sleep cycles through stages throughout the night. There are three stages ( one, two and delta), plus REM sleep. Normally, when you first fall asleep you go into stage one, then two, then delta, then REM, and then it starts all over again, usually at stage two, and you cycle through this way about every 90 minutes. If you wake up, instead of starting over at stage two, you start back at stage one which is a lighter, and less restful stage of sleep. So, when you wake in the middle of your sleep, it disrupts the cycle of these stages and causes you to have more of stage one sleep and less of the deeper, more restful stages. When this happens, you usually get less Delta and REM sleep. Delta sleep is what helps refresh you physically and REM helps refresh you psychologically, so if you have less of these you don't feel as rested. Quantity of sleep is important, but quality of sleep is more important. Besides, we all need different amounts of sleep, so what is "plenty of sleep," for your girlfriend may not be plenty of sleep for you. If you're chronically sleepy during the day it can cause depression, memory loss, imparement of motor skills and even health problems. If you're having a lot of trouble with disrupted sleep and there's no external source (such as your bed partner disturbing you, or noise waking you), you should see a sleep doctor and get a sleep study to see why you're waking at night. If you think you know what is causing you to wake and it's something you can control, then fix it so you're not getting disturbed while you sleep. Hope this helps. :)
Donna
Has something to do with reaching and staying in REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement)...it's when you are fully at rest and gaining the most from sleeping. If you wake up once, or a lot, you don't feel the benefits as much.
Because the brain needs a certain amount of REM sleep every night. It takes time to get to this point and if sleep is interrupted it will not get enough of it. Google ' REM sleep'
YOU ARE LAZY you wont benefit from sleeping
When you get 5 hours of sleep then wake up, out of REM sleep, it takes approx 45mins to fall back into REM (the sleep that counts). so really you are losing almost an hour of quality sleep. the longer your body stays asleep the deeper and better quality sleep you get.