What causes you to wake up in the middle of the night? 5 bad habits that interfere with sleep

What wakes you up in the middle of the night? 5 bad habits that interfere with sleep

Many people have trouble sleeping. According to the Cleveland Clinic, about 70 million Americans suffer from some form of sleep disorder, and about 100 million people in America generally are sleep deprived. This problem became even more pronounced during the pandemic. America is exhausted, but there are many people who wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling asleep, even if they are not diagnosed with sleep disorders. This is not a full-fledged insomnia, but a medical condition called "sleep maintenance disorder", which has its own pain. If you find yourself waking up repeatedly in the middle of the night and sleep deprived, here are five habits to avoid and recommended strategies. Hopefully one of them works, or a combination of them will help you get back to sleep more easily and stress-free. Table of Contents Looking at your smartphone or clock and worrying too much about the time Don't limit blue light and screen time Neglecting mental and physical relaxation Lying in bed without sleep Drinking alcohol

1. Worrying too much about the time by looking at your phone or clock

I woke up in the middle of the night because I was worried about something. Avoid checking the time on your phone (there are many good reasons to ignore your phone, which we'll get to later). If you have an alarm clock, turn the dial away so you can't tell the time. What is needed is stillness of mind. Therefore, if you are conscious of "what time is it?", you will not have peace of mind.

2. Don't limit your blue light and screen time

While it's nice to unwind with a little swipe of Instagram before bed, the blue light emitted by your phone can affect your sleep/wake cycle. This may pose a dilemma in the production of the hormone melatonin, which greatly contributes to the control of Harvard Medical School explains: Any type of light can suppress melatonin production, but blue light at night is even more potent at suppressing melatonin. A research group at Harvard University conducted an experiment comparing the effects of 6.5 hours of blue light and 6.5 hours of green light exposure. Blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as green light, and blue light shifted the circadian rhythm by twice as much as green light (3 hours vs. 1.5 hours). Try to keep your phone away from your phone an hour before bedtime, or at least adjust your settings to dim your screen and limit blue light emission before bedtime. That way, you have a better chance of producing enough melatonin for your brain to naturally fall asleep. We live in an era where we can't let go of devices like smartphones and tablets, but it's important to put them away before going to bed. Otherwise, you may suffer disadvantages both in terms of falling asleep and staying asleep.