When your head hits the pillow, do you go swiftly and sweetly to dreamland – or do you stay awake, wracked with existential dread, and struggle to doze off?
The answer to how you spend your nights can reveal surprising insights into your overall health.
The amount of time it takes your body to reach a rested state is known as “sleep latency,” and while this figure is somewhat flexible, there are some parameters for optimal shut-eye. Sleep experts agree that either extreme—falling asleep too quickly or too slowly—can cause discomfort.
“The ideal amount of time for the body to fall asleep really varies from person to person. The National Sleep Foundation suggests it should take about 15 to 20 minutes for a healthy person,” Kristen Casey, a licensed clinical psychologist and insomnia specialist, told HuffPost. “However, people are complex, so we can we have more problems preventing us from falling asleep peacefully, which are likely out of our control.”
According to experts, proper sleep hygiene can help mitigate these factors beyond our control.
“Decades of sleep science research show that having excellent sleep hygiene is your best bet for getting regular sleep, staying asleep, and feeling and functioning better when you’re awake,” sleep guru Jeff Kahn, Chicago-based CEO and co-founder of Rise. Science, creator of sleep and energy tracking app RISEKahn, told Fox News Digital.
Common best practices include keeping a regular sleep schedule, cutting out caffeine 12 hours before bed, avoiding late meals and alcohol, getting sunlight every morning – and keeping your bedroom as cool as possible. , dark and quiet.
Research suggests that some measure of physical activity before bed can also help improve sleep quality, The Post previously reported.
Falling fast
Experts note that lights out within minutes are clearly not cause for alarm, but may indicate some lifestyle factors that need to be changed.
Some possible reasons for the rapid decline:
fatigue
“Falling asleep too quickly can be a sign of exhaustion, a sign that we’re overworking ourselves, a sign of burnout, and generally a sign that we’re not spending enough time recovering and resting,” Dr. Dave Rabin, a neuroscientist. board-certified psychiatrist and co-founder and chief innovation officer at Apollo Neuroscience, told HuffPost.
Experts recommend seven to nine hours of sleep a night to lower the risk of developing obesity, heart disease and depression, among other chronic conditions, but many Americans struggle to meet this important goal.
Trash sleep
If you are leaving in a few minutes, you may get enough sleep, but the quality does not match the quantity. Experts call this “junk sleep” and suggest it’s not the kind of eye that supports true rejuvenation.
For those who doze off quickly, Casey recommends seeking a medical opinion.
“We choose a treatment that will be clinically indicated based on the origin of the sleep latency issues. For example, if someone is falling asleep very quickly because they are exercising a lot and working 12 hours a day, it is likely that they have a very high sleep arousal. Sleep induction is the body’s biological need for sleep.”
Treatment may look like adjusting exercise, getting lab tests, and simply getting more sleep.
Mental health
The negative effects of chronic sleep deprivation are well documented, but not getting enough shut-eye for just a single evening is just as damaging. Research from the American Psychological Association determined that even an hour or two of poor sleep increases the risk of depression and anxiety.
In a catch-22, Casey explained that depression and side effects from antidepressants can cause fatigue.
Sleep apnea
An estimated 39 million Americans, including President Biden, currently suffer from sleep apnea.
The most common form of the disorder is obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA. In patients with OSA, the upper airway partially or completely closes during sleep, blocking airflow to the lungs and causing the breathing to start and stop repeatedly.
In addition to risks such as death, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and possibly cognitive decline and dementia, OSA contributes to a serious decline in sleep quality.
Common symptoms of sleep apnea include excessive daytime sleepiness, mood swings, and brain fog. If you suspect you are suffering from sleep apnea, it is critical that you seek medical attention.
Falling slowly
On the other side of the pillow lie people struggling to fall asleep. Paradoxically, the same issues that cause exhaustion also cause resistance to sleep.
“Difficulty sleeping can be a symptom of insomnia, chronic pain, or a psychological or medical condition,” Casey explained. “Most of the time, people who struggle to fall asleep are restless, experiencing pain or struggling to get to sleep at night.”
Some additional factors that may contribute to slow sleep latency include:
Routine below the level of sleep
“Having an inconsistent sleep schedule, poor sleep habits, working non-traditional shifts (such as evening/night shifts or rotating shifts), undiagnosed or unmanaged health conditions such as stress, depression, anxiety , COPD, GERD and having an uncomfortable sleep surface can all contribute to oversleeping,” Catherine “Katie” Yu, a psychiatric mental health nurse with Thriveworks in Portland, Maine, told HuffPost. specializes in depression, anxiety and sleep/insomnia.
As The Post previously reporteddrinking coffee in the afternoon can contribute to insomnia, while drinking alcohol at any time during the day can disrupt sleep patterns and sleep quality.
In addition to adjusting the sunlight in the morningIn circadian rhythms, experts note that it is important to turn off screens that emit blue light 30 to 60 minutes before bedtime.
Research suggests that going to bed at 1am can lower your risk of developing mental and behavioral conditions such as depression and anxiety.
For those struggling to find the perfect bedtime and wake-up time, try going to bed and waking up 15 minutes earlier each day until you find your ideal time.
Stress
Rabin claims that sleep is the foundation of mental health.
“Almost every mental illness often begins with difficulty sleeping. This does not mean that if you have trouble sleeping, you have a mental illness, but it does mean that the body is fighting something that is making it feel unsafe or unable to relax enough to be able to. be vulnerable to falling asleep. states – particularly states of deep sleep.”
In an unfortunate cycle, insomnia can be caused by depression, and symptoms of depression can reinforce insomnia.
Medical providers can offer solutions to insomnia in the form of psychotherapy to address the source of anxiety and depression.
Dr. Wendy Troxel, a Utah-based sleep expert and senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation, told Fox News Digital that incorporating a quiet bedtime routine can reduce stress levels and improve sleep quality.
These routines can include relaxing activities, such as deep breathing exercises, cuddling with a partner, journaling, gentle yoga, or listening to music.
“It’s just about finding something that you can ritualize and do every night to set the stage … to put aside all the demands and stress of the day and prepare for the finish and [going] to sleep.”
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