Healthy sleep is sleep which restores and energizes a person, so he or she feels wide awake, dynamic and energetic all day long. Health and disease are opposites, and therefore, when disease (disorder) of sleep does exist, sleep investigation is worth assessing and mitigated. Sleep disorders are not rare, and they can cause serious problems, if left untreated.
Yes! Chronic sleep deficits are common and occur when a person does not obtain the needed amount of sleep on a permanent basis. There are numerous causes of it, including shift work and other environmental demands (occupational or family responsibilities such as caregiving for children or elderly, desire for social life, recreation, etc.), medical and sleep disorders (including sleep apnea, insomnia, movements disorders among others) that impair sleep architecture and increase nocturnal wakefulness, and the modern twenty-four hour lifestyle expectation. If you are getting less than seven hours of sleep each night, feel sleepy or tired during the day, fall asleep instantly, and/or do not feel rested upon awakening, you most likely live in a sleep deficit, and should seek professional advice.
Dreaming is a mental activity that occurs in sleep and has been linked to physiology. Disturbed sleep physiology due to disorders of sleep or wakefulness has been shown to affect dream recall and content, supporting the arousal-retrieval model of dreaming. Regardless of the theory, if you are healthy, absence of recall of dreams might suggest that your sleep is continuous, free of interruptions, and you are in an emotionally stable state during wakefulness. Most of us dream every night. It is normal not to remember our dreams.
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, ideally 25% of sleep, is frequently referred to as paradoxical or dream sleep, because EEG determines brain wave recordings display activity similar to that of wakefulness. Muscles are paralyzed in REM sleep, and this sleep stage is frequently associated with dreaming. The body processes emotional/mental processes during the sleep stage.
Deep (Delta), non-REM sleep is ideally 25% of the sleep cycle. It is only during this stage that the brain can flush its (g)lymphatic system of the brain of all the toxic waste that has accumulated during the day. It is essential to overall health and well-being. It is often the stage that most people are deficient in.
Microsleep refers to short lapses in responsiveness lasting between 0.5 and 15 seconds, associated with partial or full eye closure, preceding drowsiness, and lack of responsiveness to the external world. This is highly relevant to high risk occupations that require high alertness and immediate responsiveness such as in pilots, air-traffic controllers, and truck and car drivers.
Insomnia is defined as difficulties to fall and stay asleep or early awakenings when you have the appropriate opportunity to do so.
