The University of Pennsylvania recently conducted a study on people’s sleep patterns, and research shows that attempting to compensate for insomnia (a disorder that makes it difficult to fall or stay asleep) by getting into bed early is not an effective way to catch up on lost sleep.
The study shows, in fact, that limiting the total amount of time spent in bed – both before sleeping and after waking – is a better solution to curing insomnia. Dr. Michael Perlis, director of the Penn Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program and one of the researchers conducting this study, further explained this phenomenon.
Insomniacs “typically extend their sleep opportunity” to compensate for the lethargy they feel during the day due to their lack of sleep at night. Taking a nap in the middle of the day when exhaustion hits, however, only provides short term relief.
“The problem in the longer term is [taking a nap] creates a mismatch between the individual’s current sleep ability [which is low] and their current sleep opportunity [which is vast – as it has been extended] – and this fuels insomnia.”
It’s best to keep yourself awake during the day in order to increase your ability to fall asleep at night, but when you’re still struggling to fall asleep at night – whether it’s due to stress or continued insomnia – don’t force yourself to sleep. Choosing to stay in bed and hoping that you’ll fall asleep creates the same pattern against which Dr. Perlis cautioned: Increasing the amount of time spent in bed does not actually help anyone recover lost sleep.
Recovering lost sleep is best done at night, when your body is meant to sleep. Here are some techniques you can try to help yourself sleep easier at night:
- Relax before bed with music, a warm bath, or yoga.
- Don’t eat large meals too close to bedtime; your body will need time to digest everything.
- Play soothing music to lull you to sleep.
- Wake up at the same time every day to help your body get into a better sleep routine.
