Why Are You Experiencing Interrupted Sleep? Know the Possible Reasons

Having a good night's sleep is essential as it ensures a refreshing start to your day. In fact, powering through your routine with interrupted sleep can cause troubles for your health and affect your work negatively. Getting sleep without any interruptions is equally significant as much as the amount of sleep you receive.

You'd be surprised to learn that even if you are sleeping for eight hours, the continuity with which you are sleeping becomes significant, as interrupted sleep disrupts the natural sleeping cycle of the body. Interrupted sleep can make you sleep deprived and lethargic, and can also contribute to insomnia.

In this article, we will discuss more about interrupted sleep, its causes, symptoms, and the ways to prevent it.

---

Symptoms of Interrupted Sleep

Look out for the symptoms (Image by benzoix on Freepik)

If you wake up very frequently during your sleep, it is possible that you have an interrupted sleep schedule. Further, if you feel tired after waking up, feel restless while you are trying to sleep, and experience sleepiness throughout the day, you might be exhibiting other symptoms of it.

Moreover, there are often cases when the individual may experience phases of awakening that they themselves might not be aware of, and this could be due to obstructive sleep apnea. In this condition, the individual stops breathing during sleep for a short interval of time.

Other symptoms of this condition include aches during the day and reduced concentration and attention span. An increase in stress and facing difficulties with memory are other symptoms of this condition.

---

What Can Be the Causes of Interrupted Sleep?

The causes for interrupted sleeping patterns can be majorly due to stress, health conditions, old age, or due to medication.

Causes of sleep interruption (Image by shurkin_son on Freepik)

Stress

Be it your personal life or work, any troubles in any aspect of your life can cause stress, which may take away your sleep at night and become the reason behind your troubled sleep. Further, worrying and overthinking about problems can wake you up and make it harder for you to sleep again.

---

Health conditions

Problems in your health can also be the reason behind your troubled sleep. Restless leg syndrome, a condition in which there is a strong need to move your legs, often interrupts sleep.

Further, problems in breathing or issues in the heart can also hinder your sleeping pattern. In addition to this, medications for some underlying conditions can also keep you awake at night.

---

Age

Apart from stress or underlying health conditions, age can also be a crucial factor that can interrupt sleep. As we age, our circadian rhythm shifts, which makes us tired as we reach the evening and tend to wake up early in the morning.

So, if you are sleeping at the same time as you always have been, then waking up earlier can interrupt your sleep.

---

Bedroom

Another reason behind your troubling sleep can be the bed you are sleeping on or the partner you are sleeping with. An uncomfortable bed, sleeping in a noisy environment, and a snoring partner can also contribute to such irregularities.

---

Prevention Techniques

Prevention strategies you can adopt (Image by diana.grytsku on Freepik)

There can be many strategies that you can apply to sleep uninterrupted. The basic steps that can be taken to do so are by improving sleep hygiene, whereby you maintain a similar sleeping schedule every day and avoid doing the things which might affect your sleep.

Avoid drinking coffee or any other form of stimulants, avoid using screens an hour before sleeping, wear ear plugs, or use a sleep mask to avoid noise or light.

If the problem still persists, it is better to seek medical advice as the effect of interrupted sleep can worsen with time. In fact, it will only make you grumpier and tired.

---

Thus, sleep interruptions can be a significant challenge, and they need to be addressed as soon as possible for the well-being of the individual.