Why you can be wide awake at night while you are tired all day long
Nothing is more annoying than the following situation: you are dead tired all day and would prefer to get into bed as quickly as possible. Finally, at the end of the day, the moment arrives and you can go to sleep. You lie down comfortably in bed and look forward to a long night, but then suddenly: WIDE AWAKE. This is really the most annoying thing ever, right? I experience this so often. Then I lie there frustrated in bed, knowing that I will be tired again tomorrow. How can this be?
Okay, this seems to be one of the most common sleep problems. Experts believe it is caused by something in your sleep environment telling your brain that your bed equals ‘being awake’. According to sleep expert Philip Gehrman, this phenomenon is called ‘conditioned arousal’: ‘If someone is a good sleeper, they easily fall asleep every night. So when they crawl into bed, it gets associated with sleep, activating that response. But if you are tossing and turning every night and can't fall asleep, your body associates your bed with staying awake.’ I can relate to this phenomenon: when I have a night of such poor sleep every now and then, I really dread going to bed the next day because I am already afraid that I will sleep poorly again. What a miserable cycle.
There are many causes that can trigger this sleep problem, such as thinking about work or other things you need to do. And do you often sit in bed with your laptop? Then stop that right away, because it can cause your brain to think that your bed is a workspace. Even people who normally fall asleep like a log can end up in such a terrible cycle. This can be caused by stressful events, such as losing a job or the death of a loved one. Worrying disrupts your sleep and can cause your bed to be associated with staying awake, as it has become the ‘worry place’. There is another term for this: psychophysiological insomnia, or not being able to fall asleep because you firmly believe that you cannot fall asleep. Well, I have psychophysiological insomnia, so now I know that too.
But what can we do about it? Dr. Ronald Chervin (specialized in sleep problems) indicates that this issue can be addressed by changing your sleep schedule and habits. The bed should only be used for sleeping, not for other activities. Except for sex, of course. Chervin also advises against screens, but I think we all know that very well. Finally, he gives the tip: ‘If you are awake in bed for more than twenty minutes, get up and do something else. Only lie back down when you are really ready to sleep. I am often too lazy for this, but it certainly seems worth trying. So, what it comes down to is that we need to retrain our brains so that we see our bed as a sleep place only. This way, the cycle can be broken.
Source: Marie Claire, TIME
