aking up throughout the night is normal. Most adults do it between two and six times per night—and if you’re a good sleeper, these wakings will be so brief that you likely won’t remember them, says Lynelle Schneeberg, a sleep psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale Medicine. But for some people, nighttime wakings are so intrusive that they experience what Schneeberg calls “the download.
” “You wake up and think, ” she says. You might start worrying about something that’s been on your mind, whether it’s a big presentation at work or a conflict with a family member. After the download, you’re up.
Even people who have no trouble falling asleep can struggle with night wakings. These expert tips will help you figure out what’s waking you up—and how to get back to sleep. One good first step is to rule out intrinsic sleep disorders, says Dr.
Venkata Mukkavilli, a psychiatrist specializing in sleep medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center’s O’Donnell Brain Institute. These can include obstructive sleep apnea—a condition in which a person’s airway becomes blocked, pausing their breathing—and restless leg syndrome, a nervous system disorder characterized by an urge to move one’s legs at night. Signs of obstructive sleep apnea include snoring and waking up gasping.
: Other chronic medical conditions can also contribute to difficulty staying asleep at night, Mukkavilli says. These include depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic.
