Why Too Much Sleep Can be a Form of Insomnia (yes really!)

Have you ever had the experience of sleeping for over eight hours and feeling tired and lethargic the next day? In fact its just as bad as not having enough sleep isnt it?

So what happened?

Youve had too much sleep. More exactly most of that sleep was probably light sleep. Yes you were asleep for a long time but the quality of your sleep was lacking. The deep sleep stage 4 which restores and revitalizes your body was absent.

The body tries to achieve the rest it needs. If it cant find it in eight hours sleep, it will try for longer (if its allowed to) If your sleep system is damaged, you will cycle between REM and the lighter stages of sleep, missing out on the deeper stages. This is one of the least understood aspects of insomnia.

Most people think of insomnia as not being able to fall asleep, or not being able to stay asleep and thats quite true. But the inability to have quality sleep is just as debilitating. More so because it goes unrecognised.

So how can we make sure the sleep we do get is quality sleep?

We have to reset our body clock (circadian rhythm) If this is out of sync, we will continue to struggle through the day.

Stress releases various hormones which can negatively impact on our sleep. Practice relaxation and your sleep quality will improve.

Another important way to reset the circadian rhythm is to ensure we go to bed at the same time each night. This can be nearly impossible for shift workers and this is why many shift workers have such poor quality sleep.

Bright Light Therapy (also called phototherapy). This can also help shift workers. Its very important for our eyes to absorb enough light when we wake up. Bright light therapy can replace natural sunlight for those doing shift work, or for those that live in countries with extremely short days in the winter.

Bright light boxes can emit very bright light which causes the melatonin in the body to fall, thus making us feel wide awake and full of energy. It may be worth investing in one of these if you have to start your day in the middle of the night or even on dark overcast mornings.

Having enough light in the mornings also elevates our core body temperature and even our moods. If youre lucky enough to live in a sunny climate, make sure you take advantage of this.

Too much sleep as well as being potentially unhealthy is a big time waster. Improve the quality of your sleep to sleep better and have more time to yourself during the day.

Are you sleeping too much but still feeling tired? You need quality sleep, not more sleep. Visit http://www.insomnia-connection.com/too-much-sleep.html your resource for good sleep advice and articles. Sign on for our newsletter and receive 2 books absolutely free! Wendy Owen is a health researcher and author.

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