Interrupted Sleep: 5 Tips for Preventing Interrupted Sleep

Interrupted Sleep is the interruption of nocturnal sleep. Arousals during your sleep cycle throw off your natural circadian rhythms, leading to sleep disruption and overall poor sleep. Sleep fragmentation and the resultant sleep loss can lead to significant differences in your waking functions.

Interrupted sleep affects sleep quality because it disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm. When you sleep, your brain cycles through three sleep stages: light sleep, deep sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM). This sleep cycle restarts after it is interrupted. Without sufficient REM sleep, your cognitive performance and emotional well-being can suffer. People who regularly experience interrupted sleep may also experience sleep deprivation.

In studies of sleep disorders, neuroscience researchers subject their patients to overnight polysomnographic evaluation to gauge the effect of fragmented sleep. Through the use of electromyographic (EMG) electrodes, polysomnography records sleep latency (how long it takes to fall asleep), cardiovascular activity, blood oxygen metrics, periodic limb movements, and cortical brain activity. This helps neuroscientists track the stages in the sleep-wake cycle, including light sleep, rapid eye movement (REM sleep), and deep sleep. When sleep fragmentation interrupts any of these sleep stages—particularly REM sleep and deep sleep—can lead to adverse mental and physical effects.

Several internal and external factors cause interrupted sleep. Some common causes include:

1. 1. Everyday stress: The regular stressors of life, such as money or work, can keep you up at night.
2. 2. Mental health disorders: Anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder can affect your sleep.
3. 3. Physical conditions: You might have a hard time falling asleep if you have chronic pain from an injury or arthritis. An overactive bladder or enlarged prostate can also cause you to wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.
4. 4. Breathing problems: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome or other sleep-disordered breathing issues that affect airflow can cause sleep disturbances.
5. 5. Uncomfortable bedroom: The temperature in your bedroom may affect your ability to sleep comfortably. If you sleep next to a person who snores or tosses and turns, that might disturb your sleep.
6. 6. Drugs and alcohol: Many drugs impair sleep cycles thanks to their activation of wakeful chemicals in the body. Alcohol can make you sleepy, but it often leads to restless sleep.
7. 7. Napping during the day: A short 20–30 minute nap can be a helpful way to feel reinvigorated during the day, but if you nap any longer than that, it may disrupt your sleep patterns and prevent you from sleeping at night.
8. 8. Medication: Some medications can cause interrupted sleep, such as pseudoephedrine (found in many decongestants), certain antidepressants, cold medication that contains alcohol, beta blockers or ACE inhibitors (used to treat high blood pressure), and corticosteroids.

The lack of sleep that comes from interrupted sleep can make it harder for you to function during the day and can have harmful health ramifications in the long term. Common effects of interrupted sleep include:

1. 1. Drowsiness: Excessive daytime sleepiness, which feels similar to jet lag, can decrease mental acuity and memory retention.
2. 2. Immune system impairment: Normal sleep can strengthen your immune system, and disturbed sleep can weaken your body’s ability to fight infection.
3. 3. Mood swings: A person overcome by sleepiness may be cranky and irritable, and they may also experience headaches that further sour their mood.
4. 4. Microsleep: In addition to general drowsiness, a person running on very little sleep can experience microsleep—very short bursts of unconsciousness that feel like blacking out.

Achieving a good night’s sleep requires a focus on wellness. Here are some tips for developing good sleep hygiene:

1. 1. Maintain a regular sleep schedule. Establish a consistent sleep schedule by waking up and going to bed at the same time every day, including weekends. Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule sets your body's internal clock to anticipate winding down and waking up at specific times, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep until morning.
2. 2. Turn off your phone, laptop, and TV. The blue light that radiates from electronic screens prevents your body from releasing the sleep hormone melatonin, which throws off the timing of your circadian rhythm. In addition, electronic devices tend to keep your mind racing and make it more difficult to wind down into sleep mode.
3. 3. Invest in your sleep environment. Create a dark, cool, comfortable space for yourself. You might want to invest in quality sheets, cooling pillows, or even blackout curtains.
4. 4. Avoid exercising close to bedtime. While establishing a regular exercise routine can improve your quality of sleep over time, you should plan to work out at least three hours before you want to fall asleep. Exercise increases adrenaline and stimulates brain activity, neither of which promotes drowsiness.
5. 5. Avoid midday caffeine and late-night alcohol. A late-afternoon coffee boost may help get you through the end of your workday, but any caffeine consumed within six hours of your bedtime has the potential to keep you lying wide awake in bed. While alcohol will certainly make you feel sleepy at first, just one alcoholic beverage close to your bedtime can obstruct your sleep cycle, preventing you from getting enough REM sleep and deep sleep.

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