Why do we need sleep?

When it comes to the "why" of sleep, there are many different ideas. The most likely explanation is a mix of all of these ideas.

The "why" of sleep can be found by looking into what happens when we don't get enough sleep.

Long-term sleep loss puts you at risk for obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, mental illness, poor memory, focus, concentration, clumsiness, and a weakened immune system. We might not have these things happen after a few broken nights. But it shows how important sleep is for our health as a whole.

After a stormy night, we might notice that our reactions take longer, and our thoughts aren't as straightforward. It's hard to think, pay attention, and stay happy simultaneously. One reason for these problems is that when we don't get enough sleep, parts of our brain don't work as well while awake.

If you don't get enough sleep often, these signs can be hard to notice because they become routine.

When we sleep, what does our mind do?

When we sleep, our brain's waste-clearing system removes waste from our central nervous system and toxic by-products that have built up during the day. This is important because it helps our brains work well when we are awake.

Our nerve cells talk to each other and change shape. This helps keep the brain working well.

Sleep lets our brain move information from our working memory (short-term memory) to our longer-term memory. It does this only when it thinks the information is essential. Information that isn't needed is forgotten. This is a vital part of how we remember things and how we learn new things.

When you get enough sleep, it's easier for your brain to learn, remember, solve problems, be creative, make decisions, focus, and concentrate.

When we sleep, what does our body do?

While we sleep, our bodies are rigid at work. It fixes muscles, makes tissues grow, gives back energy, and makes proteins.

Poor sleep can cause weight gain. This is because our "hunger hormones" go down while we sleep. These hormones can get out of whack if we don't get enough sleep. We feel more hungry and less complete, so we might overeat without realising it.

Insulin is a hormone that controls how much glucose is in the cells of our bodies. Sugar is quickly taken up by healthy cells. When we're asleep, we use less glucose. This helps our body control the overall amount of glucose in our blood. This keeps our cells healthy and prevents insulin resistance.

"Cytokines" are some proteins our bodies make while we sleep. These proteins are used to produce antibodies and immune cells, which help our bodies fight off diseases. This is one reason we need more sleep when stressed out or sick.

Sleep is also essential for our hearts. Heart disease is more likely to happen if you gain weight or don't respond well to insulin. Because our blood pressure goes down when we sleep, not getting enough sleep makes high blood pressure worse. When we are awake, our bodies release a hormone called cortisol. High levels of cortisol are another thing that can make you more likely to get heart disease. In general, sleep is an essential part of keeping your heart healthy.

Sleep and mood

How you feel depends on how much sleep you get. We're less patient and more likely to cry when we're tired. We find it hard to think, which makes it hard to use healthy ways to deal with the ups and downs of life.

While we sleep, the parts of our brain that control how we feel become more active. This helps us deal with and figure out how to handle difficult situations. The amount of our brain in charge of our "fear" response, the amygdala, works better when we get enough sleep. When we're sleep-deprived, it tends to overreact. When we've had enough sleep, we're better able to handle challenging situations.

Not getting enough sleep can make mental health problems start or get worse. It can also lead to a relapse. Even how we feel can affect how well we sleep. When our mental health isn't excellent, it's often hard to sleep, or we sleep too much. Trying to deal with a sick brain is tiring, and when we're feeling anxious or "down," we often need more sleep.

Sleep and mood are linked in a way that can't be broken.

Sleep cycles

We all have a 24-hour clock in our bodies that helps us stay on track. This is our  "circadian rhythm". It wakes us up in the morning and makes us increasingly tired throughout the day until we reach "maximum fatigue" in the evening.

Adenosine

Adenosine is a chemical that makes up part of our brains. It makes us tired because it is part of our "sleep drive." Our brains make it all day long, so as the day goes on, we have more of it and feel more tired. When we sleep, our bodies break things down, making us less tired.

Light

Our circadian rhythm is changed by light. Our suprachiasmatic nucleus works on it (that's a mouthful!). This is a group of nerve cells that live in a part of our brain called the hypothalamus. They help our brain figure out when it's day or night.

Another hormone, cortisol, comes out when the sun comes up in the morning. Cortisol gives us energy and makes us feel alert, awake, and ready to take on the day.

When it gets dark, our bodies make the hormone melatonin, which makes us sleepy. This helps us get ready for bed.

One reason to stay away from screens before bed is that light can affect our circadian rhythm. Our brain reacts to both natural and artificial light in the same way. Having a lot of light around us before bed can make our brains think it's still daytime. Having less light in the evening can help us get ready for bed.

Sleeping stages

Each night, we go through four stages of sleep. A complete process lasts 90-120 minutes. We say it several times each night. The first three stages are called Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM) sleep, and the fourth is Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.

Stage 1: This stage of NREM sleep lasts a few minutes. In light sleep, our muscles loosen up, our heart rate and breathing slow down, our eye movements slow down, and the waves in our brain slow down.

Stage 2: This is the longest NREM stage overall. As we fall deeper into sleep, our heart rate and breathing slow, our muscles relax more, our body temperature drops, and our eyes stop moving. There are times when our brains have electrical activity with a high frequency. Still, besides that, our brain waves keep getting slower.

Stage 3: The last NREM stage starts out longer than stage 2, but as the night goes on, it gets shorter. Our brain waves, heart rate, and breathing all slow down to their lowest levels, and our muscles become as relaxed as they can be. It's also a crucial step. Our body fixes our cells, tissues, and muscles, giving us back our energy.

Stage 4: This is the only stage where we sleep. As the night goes on, it gets longer. Our breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure start to increase again. Even though our eyes are closed, they move quickly back and forth. We might dream, but our arms and legs will still be paralysed, so we won't be able to do anything about them. Our memories get stronger during this stage. Things that are essential move from our working memory, which is short-term, to our longer-term memory.

Sleep problems: nightmares and night terrors

Nightmares and night terrors are often linked to kids but can also happen to adults.

Night terrors are not the same as dreams. We might thrash, wake up quickly, and scream during a night terror, but we probably won't remember it the next day. Nightmares can make you scared, upset, and anxious. The next day, we might not recognise them.

Conditions like migraines, sleep apnea, fevers, head injuries, restless leg syndrome, and some antidepressants can make us more likely to have nightmares or night terrors. Traumatic events can also put people at risk.

If we often have nightmares or night terrors affecting our daily lives, we should talk to our doctor.

When do you want us to go to bed?

We may have heard the saying, "An hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours of sleep after midnight." Even though it's not that simple, there is some truth. Nothing magical happens at midnight, but we have more REM sleep as the night goes on. If we go to bed early every night, we might not get deep enough restorative sleep, so we might not feel as good when we wake up. The exact time varies from person to person based on their genes and how their bodies work. But if we're always tired, we should consider going to bed earlier.

Work in shifts

A consistent sleep schedule can help, but it's not always possible. We sometimes have to sleep during the day or switch between day and night if we work shifts. It can have a significant effect on how we feel about ourselves.

Even though the situation isn't ideal, there are things we can do that will help.

First, having at least one day off a week is essential. If we don't, we might want to talk to our line manager or someone from HR.

Ear plugs are one thing that can help you sleep during the day.

Blinds or curtains that block light.

Stuck our phone on silent.

Asked the other people in the house not to bother us.

Take a hot shower before you go to bed.

When we get off a night shift, it can be easier to fall asleep if we go straight home and jump into bed instead of going to the store first. Keeping track of how much alcohol and caffeine we drink, especially before bed hours, can also help. Big meals can make it hard to fall asleep, so it can help to plan our meals around our shifts, so we don't eat a big meal right before bed.

Before bed, a routine that helps us "wind down" can help us get into a "sleepy space." We could do the same things when we slept at night and when we slept during the day.

We can feel more "awake" when we use light boxes. This is especially helpful when we have to prepare for a night or very early shift.

Shift work can make it hard to figure out how to sleep in a way that works for us. It's essential to pay attention to our bodies and find a way of doing things that work for us.

Coming to an end

Many of us have trouble getting to sleep at night. We know it's essential to have some free time in the evening, but knowing this in theory and putting it into practice are two different things.

A reasonable bedtime is an excellent place to begin. Setting our rest for 8 p.m. when we often have trouble getting home before 7 p.m. is not fair. We won't see it, give up, and go to bed too late. Setting a reasonable (but realistic) bedtime can help us place limits on our sleep time. The exact schedule can also help our bodies and minds know when it's time to sleep.

There are a lot of other things that can make us sleepy. Temperature, light, a comfortable bed, screens, caffeine, and smoking can all affect our sleep by changing how our bodies and minds feel before bed. Changing them, so they help us instead of hurting us can take time, but it's worth it.

Exercise can help us sleep, but we should do it earlier in the day rather than right before bed. Some people find that weighted blankets help them relax and feel better. They can help our bodies calm down.

Some foods can help us sleep. These include kiwi, tart cherries, malted milk, fatty fish, nuts (including nut butter), banana, rice, turkey, dairy, and porridge. We could also try a tea that makes us sleepy.

Waking up

A lot of us wake up feeling tired and groggy. Sometimes we're more tired when we wake up than when we sleep.

We can do things to make our mornings better.

A big thing is the type of alarm we use. Many of us hit the snooze button, but this isn't always a good idea. Stopping the snooze can be as easy as moving our alarm clock away from our bed, so we have to get up to turn it off. Some people like alarm clocks that make it look like the dawn. Some people have cool gadgets that wake us up at a particular time in our sleep cycle. We might decide to get rid of alarms for people who don't have to be anywhere at a specific time.

Once we leave the bed, we often reach for caffeine to clear our eyes. Having a cup of coffee in the morning is OK, but a glass of water first can help us stay hydrated.

Slow stretches, light exercise, and a breakfast full of protein can also be good ways to start the day. We can put down our phones for a while and stick to a routine.

When to get some help

We have many problems with being too tired, not getting enough sleep, insomnia, exhaustion, fatigue, and feeling sleepy all the time, affecting our life. In this case, we should get help and check in with our doctor. They should be able to find out if we are tired for psychological or physical reasons.

Please share this post with others so we can help more people. There's no telling who might need it.