Effects of interrupted sleep, more dangerous than little sleep

The effects of interrupted sleep may be more harmful than little sleep. How can it be? To give us a small idea, let’s remember those nights when, for whatever reasons, it is impossible for us to maintain a continuous rest without waking up. The next day we not only feel more exhausted, bad mood, apathy and demotivation will be a constant.

Sleep disorders are more common than we think and more serious than we believe. Night awakenings are like fractures in the dream tissue and the normal sleep cycle. As we well know, these sleep phases follow very specific patterns and times; breaking them completely affects the balance of the brain and other metabolic processes carried out by the body.

Sleep well, is live better. It is essential, therefore, take care of our night’s rest and use the means that are within our reach to facilitate that dream, that biological need that not only mediates physical health, since psychological well-being also depends on it.

What are the effects of interrupted sleep?

The effects of interrupted sleep are multiple and it is generally something that couples who have just become parents, as well as those who work shifts, are well aware of. Thus, When talking about the quality of night’s rest, both the number of hours we rest and its continuity matter. or the ability to avoid its interruption.

Frequent awakenings are a form of insomnia and therefore a sleep disorder. That is, one can go to bed at eleven and fall asleep at the second, but if throughout those 8 hours we wake up 20 times, that rest is not healthy and even less restorative. And this is actually what thousands of people suffer from.

Let’s now see what the consequences of experiencing this problem are.

The fewer slow waves in the brain, the greater the discouragement and risk of depression

It would be enough to suffer interrupted sleep for three days in a row to begin to feel less optimism in our spirits.. This is, at least, what a study from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reveals to us. Patrick Finan, professor of psychiatry and director of this research, explains the following:

Disrupted sleep is more damaging to our mood than lack of sleep.When our sleep is interrupted during the night, the stages of sleep are altered. This phenomenon makes it impossible to advance from the NREM stage to that fifth essential stage for the body and the brain, which is the REM phase. Likewise, these alterations reduce the number of slow waves that the brain experiences.The reduction of this type of waves It is correlated with an increased risk of suffering from disorders such as depression.

Memory failures and long-term cognitive problems

The effects of interrupted sleep can be dangerous, especially if this problem lasts over time. Studies such as those carried out in the sleep and cognition department of the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience reveal, for example, that one of the most common consequences is memory failure.

The structure of sleep and its cycles are essential for the correct consolidation of each learning, of every thing seen, felt, experienced…Through slow waves and then in the REM phase, we integrate all these facts into declarative memory (long-term) and into their correct consolidation.Other effects of interrupted sleep They are problems with concentration and difficulty when making decisions. That poor night’s rest slows down our reactions and our ability to respond to life’s problems.

Likewise, there is another important fact. If you have been suffering from this problem for years, There is a greater risk of ending up showing cognitive deficits. We will sculpt, almost without realizing it, a more fragile, less agile brain, with fewer neuronal connections and with a greater risk of suffering from neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s.

Effects of interrupted sleep: migraines

Sleep disorders that last for weeks or months usually cause headaches.. This is undoubtedly something that most of us have experienced at some point. That classic morning dullness after a bad night can gradually transform into migraines.

We know that when the brain does not reach the REM phase, one of its most common effects is the appearance of these annoying conditions. Studies such as those carried out in the department of neurology at the University of California, They link the problem of interrupted sleep with the appearance of migraines. The cause would be a genetic mutation.

They are undoubtedly aspects of great interest that science tries to unravel.

How can we treat those nighttime awakenings?

Sleep interruptions usually have some triggering factor behind them that we must know about. It is important to go to the doctor when we perceive that rest is not restorative, that we wake up more exhausted than when we go to bed and especially when headaches, memory problems, etc. appear.

Restless legs syndrome or sleep apnea is known to be linked to these nighttime awakenings. Likewise, another factor associated with this reality is undoubtedly stress. So, before resorting to classic sleep medications, let’s understand what causes it and address those triggers.

Sometimes, taking care of our lifestyle habits and reduce technology use two hours before going to sleep It makes it easier for us to abandon ourselves to rest with greater peace, so that soon Morpheus will welcome us in an interrupted manner.

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