What is one thing every person has in common and unconditionally loves? If you guessed sleep, you are correct.

March 14th-20th is National Sleep Awareness Week. The week serves as an educational campaign to celebrate sleep health. For over two decades, The National Sleep Foundation has been promoting the health benefits of sleep, along with facts to help improve sleep.

The week officially starts March 14th, which is the beginning of day-light savings. What better time to educate than when Americans lose an hour of sleep?

But it’s worth asking, why do we need sleep? Sleep is necessary to ensure a properly functioning nervous system. An insufficient amount of sleep can cause many problems like drowsiness, poor concentration, memory problems, and worsened physical performance. Prolonged lack of sleep can cause hallucinations and mood changes.

Feeling tired or drowsy throughout the day can be an indication of insufficient sleep. Teenagers need eight to ten hours every night, and adults need seven to nine hours. As practically every teenager can attest, staying up late into the night and trying to finish the last part of a project makes it difficult to get the full recommended hours. Reduced hours of sleep can lead to serious side-effects, such as depression, weight gain, high blood pressure and more.

There are five stages of sleep. Stage one of non-REM sleep is when one first falls asleep. This is caused by the cessation of muscle and the slow movement of the eyes behind the eyelid. Many people refer to it as the ‘twilight” stage where sleep sets in but an awareness of one’s surroundings remains.

During the second stage of non-REM, heart rate, breathing and body temperature all go down, and eye movements either slow down or come to a complete stop. Stage three of the cycle is when the brain waves start to slow down with only a few bursts of activity. Deep sleep occurs at this stage, where the muscles relax and breathing slows down even more. It is difficult to be awoken, and feelings of being disorientated can occur is one is suddenly awakened.

Stage four is a deeper sleep with the brain waves slowing down even further. Researchers believe that tissue repair and release of growth hormones occur in stage four. The final stage of the sleep cycle brings on dreaming. The eyes begin to move rapidly behind the lids and breathing becomes more shallow, but rapid. Heart rate and blood pressure also increase while the arms and legs are paralyzed so that sleepers cannot act upon dreams. The purpose of dreaming is thought by researchers to stimulate parts of the brain that are needed for memory and learning; it is also a way for the brain to store and sort information. This occurs 90 minutes into the sleep cycle.

The length of the sleep cycle truly depends on the person, but typically sleepers will cycle through the stages several times before awakened.

About 50 to 70 million Americans suffer from a sleeping disorder. Having a diagnosed sleeping disorder is completely different from a few restless nights from time to time. Incidentaly, sleeping disorder can range from serious problems to minor ones, such as snoring. The National Sleep Foundation website has a section dedicated to sleeping disorders, providing articles on different disorders in detail. Many disorders can be treated with medicine.

Those nights filled with staring at the ceiling and being unable to fall asleep can be very frustrating. Counting sheep may not help, but there are better remedies. The bedroom should be set at a comfortable sleeping temperature of approximately 60 to 67 degrees. Mental preparation can also help before going to sleep. Doing something relaxing just before going to bed can facilitate sleep. This can be as simple as putting the phone away for the night and picking up a book, or drinking herbal tea.

Complete silence is also recommended by many doctors, and many recommend a white noise machine to help with falling asleep. One’s bed also must be comfortable, and the addition of a blanket or a couple more pillows can work wonders. Also, doctors recommend taking melatonin an hour before bed, though it’s advisable to check with a doctor first. Finally, practicing deep breathing while trying to fall asleep can be an effective technique for a restful night. A great method for deep breathing is to breathe in for four, hold for eight, and slowly exhale for as long as it takes. 

Finding satisfying sleep is all about trial and error, but help is always available. So, March 14th, do your mind and body a favor and make a sleep-filled night a priority.