What does it mean if you fall asleep quickly and wake up after 2 hours? It could be a symptom of a sleep disorder

To sleep. We all know how important it is, but unfortunately it can be very difficult for some to reach. It may be hard for you to fall asleep together, or you will find that you get away easily but do not stay asleep for too long. Sometimes these may be due to rather trivial reasons – for example, a loud noise or forgetfulness of that last-minute trip to the bathroom – but this may also be a symptom of a potential sleep disorder. So, what does it mean if you fall asleep quickly and then wake up after two hours?

Alison Gardiner, behavioral psychologist and founder of Sleepstation, an online sleep improvement program, tells me that if you try to understand what is going on in your sleep, you must first understand "the structure some sleep". "We sleep in cycles," says Gardiner. "During these cycles we go through different phases of sleep, cycles tend to look like this: awakening> light sleep> deep sleep> light sleep> awakening Each cycle ends with a brief waking period, which is quite normal.In fact, no one "sleeps all night" is a myth, however, good sleepers tend not to notice these brief awakenings and often report that they have slept until At the end.

And Sleep.org agrees. "Waking up once or twice during the night is normal," says the website. However, he also points out that this can be a source of concern when you have trouble going back to sleep after a rude awakening. One of the main reasons is sleeplessness insomnia, he says.

Harvard Health Publishing considers that sleep-related insomnia is a person who "has trouble staying asleep, and in particular waking up too early and having trouble going back to sleep." This condition is also "more common in women than in men". especially among women in transition because "it is often a period of psychological stress." Sleep-related insomnia can also be caused by other factors, as Harvard Health points out, such as "pain, depression, or a sleep disorder like sleep apnea." "

Sleep apnea, also known as obstructive sleep apnea, "is a relatively common condition in which the walls of the throat relax and contract during sleep, interrupting normal breathing," as the NHS describes, which "can lead to a regularly interrupted sleep". This condition can be caused by several factors, including narrowness of the airways, nasal congestion, smoking, alcohol and overweight according to the NHS. While sleep apnea can often be one of the main reasons for waking up early enough in your sleep, conditions such as insomnia may also be the reason for sleep interruptions.

But how to fall asleep quickly intervenes? If you want to go to sleep, it's not "technically abnormal" as Andrew Varga, M.D. said on the SELF wellness website. "There are criteria for anything that is too short or instant to fall asleep at night. People who do not have sleep problems should fall asleep after 20 minutes. But if you do not get the recommended number of nights sleep, but you can fall asleep quickly, it could also be a sign of sleep deprivation. . "If we do not sleep enough hours to meet our needs, we will fall asleep faster," said Brandon Peters, MD at SELF.

According to Verywell Health, this is due to "the build-up of a chemical in the brain called adenosine," which increases the feeling of drowsiness in the state woken up because of the "process of" use of energy and metabolism ". If you stay awake for a long period of time or if you stay awake late, "you will fall asleep faster because the levels of adenosine have increased", which may cause "a phenomenon called homeostatic sleep training. [which is] sometimes called sleep load or sleep debt. "

Fortunately, there are many ways to combat these problems. Sleep.org suggests a caffeine restriction after 2pm and you drink alcohol 2 hours before falling asleep. This is due to the fact[c]Affiene stays in your system for up to six hours and alcohol has a negative impact on your REM sleep, which forces you to turn around and turn around. "Turning off all screens an hour before going to bed also applies here and dedicate this time to relax and get your body used to a" Routine that signals to your body and mind that " ;it is time to sleep."

If you have done all this but still wake up at night, staying in bed and being frustrated will not help you. As Sleep.org suggests, get out of bed and "[g]o In a quiet place, turn off the lights and do something relaxing (such as breathing or reading exercises) until you are sleepy. "

Alison Gardiner's sleep enhancement program can also be helpful. Sleepstation is free on the NHS in England and available for private purchases around the world.