When sleep backfires
18-07-2012
Sleep is a fairly illogical part of human life. The more you look at it, the less sense it makes. Often trying to get to sleep makes it harder to actually drop off. Also, sometimes having less sleep is better than having more.
There is no denying that we all need sleep, it is a vital part of our lives. With most beneficial things, the more you have the better it is. However, with sleep there is a fine line between enough and too much. Most people will have overslept before.
Often if you wake up too early in the morning and then go back to sleep you will wake feeling more groggy and disorientated than usual. Same goes if you have a nap and sleep too long.
Sleep can backfire. You think by getting more you will feel more energised and awake, but there is a danger that you can overdo it and end up feeling worse. This is because of the sleep cycles. There are a number of different stages of sleep and each has different properties and qualities. If you wake during one of the deeper cycles of sleep, you will wake feeling more groggy and tired. That is why it is important to monitor how much sleep you get, so it doesn’t backfire on you.
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