{"id":25578,"date":"2014-03-06T07:15:42","date_gmt":"2014-03-06T12:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=25578"},"modified":"2021-08-26T15:12:25","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T19:12:25","slug":"sleep-insomnia-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/lifestyle\/sleep-insomnia-myths\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Sleep Myths to Finally Put to Bed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sleep
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The real reason you can\u2019t fall asleep<\/a>\u00a0might not be as simple as you think. If you\u2019ve ever said, \u201cI need to catch up on sleep,\u201d or cranked up the radio while driving to offset fatigue, you\u2019ve been letting some of these myths creep into your life. Quit believing in these six misconceptions and instead take our experts\u2019 advice on how to kick that tired feeling to the curb \u2014 for good.<\/p>\n

1. \u201cIf I miss sleep during the week, I can make up for it on the weekend.\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

You can catch up on short-term sleep debt if you do it within a few days, explains Dr. W. Christopher Winter, of Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine<\/a>. If you slept poorly last night, go to bed early tonight and you\u2019ll probably make up for the sleep you lost. But you can\u2019t make up for the zzz\u2019s you lose over a long period of time. Trying to catch up on those all-nighters you had in college with better shut-eye now isn\u2019t going to repair any damage done.<\/p>\n

“The last thing we want is for someone to attach a feeling of frustration to their sleep environment. We don\u2019t want people to ‘try’ to fall asleep.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While this still might tempt you to shortchange yourself during the week, making up for lost sleep on the weekend is really too late, says Joyce Walsleben, RN, PhD, associate professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine. \u201cYou\u2019ve already been irritable and possibly experienced poor reaction times that may have caused accidents,\u201d she says. \u201cSnoozing late on the weekend can also disrupt your sleep rhythm and make it difficult to go to bed Sunday\u00a0night, so you\u2019ll be starting the next week already in the hole,\u201d Walsleben says.<\/p>\n

2. \u201cIf I wake up in the middle of the night, I should stay in bed and try to fall back asleep.\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

While you may think counting sheep will send you back into Snoozeville, if hundreds of animals have traipsed through your mind and you\u2019re starting to feel stressed out about it, getting out of bed may help, according to the National Sleep Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can lie in bed awake in the dark and stay relaxed, thinking positive thoughts, then I advise those people to stay in bed,\u201d Winter says. \u201cThe people I tell to get out of bed and go to a new environment are those who get frustrated and irritated when they can\u2019t fall back<\/a> asleep.\u201d If that\u2019s the case for you, go to another room and try reading a book. \u201cThe last thing we want is for someone to attach a feeling of frustration to their sleep environment,\u201d Winter says. \u201cWe don\u2019t want people to try <\/i>to fall asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you wake up in the middle of the night and experience problems falling back asleep frequently, change up your bedroom by buying new sheets, painting your room, or making the room darker with new blinds. Make it feel like a different environment other than the one you associate with your lack of sleep.<\/p>\n

3. \u201cI have to get eight hours of sleep because that\u2019s what\u2019s recommended.\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

There isn\u2019t a magical amount of sleep<\/a> that\u2019s universally right for everyone. Winter recommends a healthy, young person aim for seven-and-a-half to eight hours a night, but it\u2019s a matter of personal trial and error. If you get eight hours of sleep a night and you\u2019re exhausted during the day, that might not be enough for you. On the other hand, if you\u2019re getting a solid seven and a half hours of sleep a night but you experience trouble passing out at night, that could be your brain saying it doesn\u2019t need quite as much time in bed as you may think it does. The amount of sleep your body requires may change over the years, so listen to it and adjust your sleep schedule accordingly.<\/p>\n

4. \u201cMy snoring is normal and not really a problem.\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

Although 40 percent of us will snore at some time, it shouldn\u2019t go ignored, Walsleben says. Snoring is a sign of obstructive sleep apnea<\/a>, when your airway collapses or becomes blocked during sleep. Sometimes people with sleep apnea wake up during the night gasping for breath<\/a>. These breathing pauses all night long can strain the heart and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to the National Sleep Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Snoring can happen at any age and should be evaluated by a doctor to determine what\u2019s causing it. Sometimes sleeping on your side or with your head elevated will make a difference, as will weight loss in those that are overweight, Walsleben says.<\/p>\n

5. \u201cIf I feel sleepy when driving, turning up the music and opening the window wake me up.\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

Research<\/a> has shown that nothing will correct drowsiness while driving except sleep. \u201cIf you recognize that you\u2019re having trouble staying alert, pull over to a safe location and take a brief nap,\u201d says Walsleben. The brain is like a computer: When it begins to get tired, it shuts down its ‘programs’ one at a time. One of the first areas to shut down are the frontal lobes where our judgment centers are located. So we are usually the last to know when we\u2019re tired and having trouble concentrating. Having another passenger in the car may come in handy to spot signs of weariness, and possibly take over driving responsibilities if they\u2019re alert and able.<\/p>\n

6. \u201cI have insomnia and never sleep.\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you are reading this article, you sleep. <\/b>Insomnia<\/a> is when you don\u2019t get quality sleep, or quality sleep that meets your expectations. \u201cI see patients every week who tell me they never sleep or only sleep about an hour a night, which just isn\u2019t true,\u201d says Winter. You create more sleep issues when you start framing your problems based on a premise that may not be true. These perceptions are as equally damning as the lack of sleep itself, Winter says. Try not to tell yourself, others, or your doctor that you never sleep. Rephrase the issue to say you\u2019re having trouble falling asleep or that you\u2019re waking up during the night or more specifically identify the problem at hand. Best case scenario, you\u2019ll hit the hay with a more positive outlook ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not getting enough shuteye? Learn the real reasons you\u2019re tossing and turning at night and ways to fix them in order to get better sleep tonight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":25579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[117,280,282,347,348],"class_list":["post-25578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-sleep","tag-relaxation","tag-sleep","tag-stress","tag-tax1family","tag-tax2miscarriage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}