Sleep expert Tracy Hannigan says there's a type of person who shouldn't book this kind of adventure
Getting enough sleep is a hard task these days, but when it comes to booking a 'sleepcation', it might not be the answer to your problem.
As humans, we need to have a certain amount of Zzz's every night so we can optimally function.
If not, things start to go downhill, and not just emotionally.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, not meeting your sleep criteria can lead to something called 'sleep deprivation', where you're essentially starving your body of sleep. When this happens, your health can take a hit, and you may experience things like developing high blood pressure (hypertension) and high cholesterol (hyperlipidemia).
You may also be at a much higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, have higher pain sensitivity, get sick easier, and also make it more likely to feel symptoms of depression and anxiety.
According to Dr David Garley, the director at The Better Sleep Clinic, and Dr Hana Patel, an NHS GP and resident sleep expert at Time4Sleep, you might feel 'emotionally slightly friable' with 'blunted' cognition, they revealed to Metro.
However, while you might be tempted to get more hours of sleep by going to bed early, Dr Garley said this could 'throw off your natural rhythm.' Similarly, an expert has warned sleep deprived people of steering clear of booking a 'sleepcation', a vacation dedicated to sleep.
Image Credit: Getty Stock
In 2014, the American naturopath Alan Christianson first promoted the idea of a sleepcation as a tool for professional performance, so workers of the corporate world could reclaim their sleep.
Calling it essential in his book The Adrenal Reset Diet (2014), his prescription included booking a hotel for three nights, lowering the blinds, avoiding stimulants, and letting yourself sleep day and night until fresh.
According to Tracy Hannigan, Insomnia Therapist at Tracy The Sleep Coach, a sleepcation is 'a vacation or holiday with no real plans other than sleeping in.'
She said, per Vice: “This could be done at home (like a ‘staycation’), but often these sleepcations are away, so the person doesn’t have to manage household affairs and can focus entirely on getting some rest."
Tracy Hannigan said it could reinforce a bad habit (Getty Stock Images)
But while this seems like an obvious solution to catching up on lost sleep, she said it's not the right way for some.
“For good sleepers, [sleepcations] can reduce the burden of external responsibility and allow more time and space for sleep,” argues Hannigan. “If someone has not had sufficient sleep, this can be enjoyable and useful. Arguably, finding ways to prioritize sleep without needing to pay for a holiday is a longer-term ideal solution, but in the short term, some rest and catch-up on sleep debt can be helpful for otherwise good sleepers.”
But for those with sleep issues like insomnia, she said this could reinforce their preference for sleeping away from home – making it harder to fall asleep in their own bed.
She said: “If a person with insomnia sleeps better when they are away from home and leans into going away regularly to get better sleep, this can actually worsen the sleeping problem at home. It may feel good in the short term, but the issues contributing to ongoing poor sleep at home never get addressed properly or resolved because of the ‘escape’ to the sleepcation.”
Almost everyone has had the experience of staring at a smartphone screen past midnight and falling asleep late. Even when the body feels heavy and the mind foggy the next day, it is easy to shrug it off, thinking, "Would missing a day or two of sleep really cause a problem?" But recent research has found that such sleep deprivation goes beyond simple fatigue and can adversely affect blood sugar from a young age.
According to a study by a research team at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark that tracked 206 healthy 18-year-old adolescents for two weeks, blood sugar remained more stable on days following longer sleep, and the range of daily blood sugar fluctuation also decreased. Conversely, when sleep was insufficient, blood sugar was higher and fluctuated more widely. Despite their young age, they showed blood sugar fluctuation patterns similar to those of middle-aged adults. Diabetes and obesity are commonly regarded as problems for those past middle age. However, the researchers warned that if sleep deprivation continues even in one's teens, a period of active growth, blood sugar fluctuation can widen and diabetes can develop. In fact, when adolescents who habitually slept less increased their sleep by about one hour a day, their insulin sensitivity improved. Insulin sensitivity is, put simply, the efficiency with which the body processes blood sugar. When this value improves, blood sugar fluctuates less even when the same amount of sugar is consumed.
An even bigger problem is when one cannot fall asleep despite wanting to get enough rest. Exposed to various stresses ranging from college entrance exams, grades, and career concerns to friendships and social media (SNS), many teens dwell on their worries late into the night and cannot fall asleep. This is not a problem for adolescents alone. Adults, too, each carrying their own concerns over work, relationships, and child-rearing, often toss and turn as one thought leads to another once they lie down to sleep.
Clipart Korea
If this condition persists more than three times a week for over three months, it can be regarded as chronic insomnia. Insomnia does not end with merely feeling tired the next day. When bodily functions that should recover through sleep fail to perform their role, it can burden not only metabolic functions including blood sugar, but also brain and cardiovascular health.
So how should insomnia that has already begun be managed? Korean medicine classifies the causes of insomnia into five types. These include "sagyeol-bulsu," caused by excessive thinking or worrying; "yeonghyeol-bujok," arising from a deficiency of blood; "eumheo-naeyeol," in which deficiency heat prevents sleep; "simdam-heogeop," caused by psychological shock; and "damyeon-ulgyeol," in which phlegm collects in the chest and causes palpitations.
When diagnosed with insomnia, acupuncture is mainly used. According to a paper published by Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine in the international journal Healthcare, the number of acupuncture treatments administered to insomnia patients in Korean medicine departments over the seven years from 2010 to 2016 reached about 100,000. Placing needles at key acupoints that calm the mind and nerves, such as Sinmun, Baekhoe, and Sameumgyo, helps with blood circulation and easing tension, and can be expected to balance sleep hormones.
Herbal prescriptions such as Gwibi-ondam-tang, Bohyeol-ansin-tang, and Anmae-tang are sometimes administered in parallel. Bohyeol-ansin-tang, a representative example, is known to replenish depleted blood to supply the nutrition needed by the heart and nervous system, and to help keep an unstable mind and body in a comfortable state. It is also effective in calming nerves made sensitive by stress and inducing stable sleep.
Treating insomnia does not necessarily require enormous cost or effort. Going to bed and waking up at similar times each day, and reducing smartphone use and caffeine intake before sleep, can improve sleep quality on their own. However, if insomnia continues despite these efforts, rather than simply dismissing it as being "the type who cannot sleep," it is advisable to seek professional diagnosis and treatment. Sufficient sleep tonight can be the first step toward protecting not only tomorrow's condition, but also your future metabolic health and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular health.
Sleep and pain are closely linked (poor sleep can make pain feel worse, and pain can make sleep harder)
Melatonin is best known for helping us sleep. But a new study suggests it might have another surprising use: easing muscle and joint pain.
Produced naturally by the pineal gland in the brain at night, melatonin helps regulate the body’s sleep-wake cycle. That’s why this hormone is widely used as a treatment for insomnia and jet lag.
Produced naturally by the pineal gland in the brain at night, melatonin helps regulate the body’s sleep-wake cycle (Getty Images)
Sleep and pain are closely linked (poor sleep can make pain feel worse, and pain can make sleep harder). But melatonin may also reduce pain directly. Researchers believe it dampens pain signals in the brain and spinal cord, reduces inflammation, calms overactive nerves and protects cells from oxidative stress – the cellular wear and tear caused when harmful molecules build up.
In the new study, researchers combined the results of 23 clinical trials involving over 2,000 participants to identify overall patterns. These trials looked at melatonin for long-term muscle and joint pain as well as pain after surgery.
Overall, melatonin reduced both pain and sleep problems in people with chronic muscle and joint pain. But the improvements were modest. On average, pain scores fell by about nine points on a 100-point scale. That’s within the range reported for some anti-inflammatory drugs in similar studies, although the two treatments haven’t been directly compared.
Melatonin’s effects may also depend on whether people already have sleep problems or other long-term health conditions. Most of the chronic pain studies included people who already had poor sleep to begin with, but none of the trials looked at results separately for people with and without sleep issues. Because of this, it’s unclear whether melatonin works better for people who struggle with sleep or whether the effects are similar for everyone.
The findings were much less convincing for pain after surgery. Melatonin did not make a noticeable difference to pain or sleep. One analysis found a tiny improvement (about 2.5 points on a 100-point pain scale), but this is far below what would matter to patients recovering from surgery.
The benefits in chronic muscle and joint pain are modest. Based on the current evidence, melatonin should be seen as a possible add-on treatment rather than a replacement for established therapies. The evidence suggests melatonin could complement treatments such as physiotherapy, exercise and anti-inflammatory medicines rather than replace them.
What we still don’t know
There is also still a lot we don’t know. The trials in this study used a wide range of doses, from 1mg to 10mg, and the researchers couldn’t determine which dose worked best.
There were hints that longer treatment helped more in chronic pain, but this was based on only a few studies. There is also very little evidence on the effectiveness of higher doses, even though they appear safe in other studies.
Melatonin is widely used and generally considered safe for short-term use, but it can cause side-effects, such as daytime sleepiness, dizziness, headaches and nausea.
It is also worth noting that melatonin is regulated very differently around the world. In the US, melatonin is sold as a dietary supplement, meaning people can buy it easily in supermarkets and online without medical advice. But in the UK, melatonin is a prescription-only medicine and is only licensed for short-term sleep problems and jet lag.
For now, the findings suggest melatonin may offer modest relief for some people with chronic muscle and joint pain, particularly if poor sleep is part of the problem. It’s unlikely to replace established treatments, but it could eventually earn a place alongside them. Larger, well-designed trials will be needed before doctors can say with confidence who is most likely to benefit.
All the sleep tech in the world wouldn't have helped me sleep through the night if I was still making these simple yet sleep-costly mistakes
As a sleep editor I get the opportunity to test a huge range of sleep tech and products, all geared towards helping us in our collective quest for a decent night’s sleep. I have everything I need for a good night’s rest, and yet I still struggle with middle insomnia.
Middle insomnia is characterised by falling asleep with ease, only to then wake in the middle of the night. For me, I go through periods of waking up at 3 a.m., unable to fall back to sleep. While unpicking the root cause of my night-time awakenings is an ongoing process, I’ve learnt that there are habits that make the issue worse.
Below, three leading sleep doctors weigh in on the night-time routine mistakes I’m making, like falling asleep in front of the TV. Plus, they share the three simple switches I can make in order to better manage my middle insomnia.
Why do I keep waking up at 3 a.m.?
Sleeping in on the weekends: Breaks your natural circadian rhythm and causes 'social jet lag.'
Falling asleep in front of the TV: Falling asleep in front of the TV diminishes your sleep pressure, making it harder to both fall and stay asleep.
Getting inadequate exercise: Incorporating less movement into my day when I'm tired perpetuates the cycle of poor sleep.
3 simple doctor-approved daily routine switches to help you sleep through the night
I strongly suspect that the underlying cause of my 3 a.m. wake ups is due to elevated baseline levels of cortisol, the 'stress' hormone.
While there's no quick fix to dealing with stress and anxiety, there are several night-time routine mistakes that I wasn't aware were contributing to my middle insomnia.
Below, sleep doctors weigh in on why certain common daily habits wreak havoc on my rest, plus the simple switches I can try instead for better sleep.
1. The 3 a.m. culprit: Sleeping in on the weekend
(Image credit: Future)
As a parent, sleeping in on the weekend isn’t something that I get to do all too often. But if the opportunity arises to sleep in past my usual wake time, I tend to grab it with both hands — especially following a broken night’s sleep.
But, according to experts, this is one of the biggest sleep routine mistakes I could be making.
“Even after a poor night's sleep, maintaining a consistent wake time can help restore healthy sleep patterns more effectively than sleeping in,” says Dr. Joshua Roland, medical director at Dreem Health.
Dr. Matthew Walker, a leading sleep scientist, agrees. "Irregular wake times, particularly across weekends, can create social jet lag: a mismatch between biological time and clock time, even without travel."
The swap: Sticking to a consistent sleep schedule
Following a consistent sleep schedule, like the 7:1 sleep rule where you go to bed within the same one hour window and achieve a minimum of seven hours of sleep, ensures you have enough time to build adequate sleep pressure throughout the day.
Sleep pressure is your biological urge to sleep. It’s also referred to as your homeostatic sleep drive. It starts building from the moment you wake up, reaches its peak as you nod off, before levels begin to drop again.
“A consistent wake time is arguably one of the most important anchors of the body's circadian rhythm"
Dr. Joshua Roland, Board-Certified Sleep Medicine Physician
When you sleep in later than usual, you aren’t giving your body enough time to build enough sleep pressure to both fall and stay asleep all night. The best way to fall into a consistent sleep schedule is by anchoring your wake up time — even on the weekend.
“A fixed wake time determines the length of the waking day, stabilizes the accumulation of sleep pressure, and provides a repeatable circadian cue when paired with morning light,” explains Dr. Walker, neuroscientist and professor of neuroscience and bioengineering at the University of Texas at Dallas.
“A consistent wake time is arguably one of the most important anchors of the body's circadian rhythm because it helps set the timing of hormone release, body temperature cycles, alertness, and subsequent sleep pressure,“ agrees Dr. Roland, a Board-Certified Sleep Medicine Physician.
2. The 3 a.m. culprit: Falling asleep in front of the TV
“A [mistake] is the brief evening doze, often during television or reading," Dr. Walker has previously explained. "Even twenty minutes of sleep in the evening can partially discharge sleep pressure and make it harder to initiate sleep later."
Falling asleep in front of the TV or napping during the day is a common mistake that Dr. Roland also encounters.
“Many people compensate for sleepiness by resting on the couch or napping throughout the day, which can relieve sleep pressure and make night-time sleep more fragmented,” explains the sleep doctor.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
What's more, when we push past our natural sleep window, it can trigger the production of wakeful chemicals, such as orepinephrine, dopamine, orexin and, my biggest foe, cortisol.
"When we push past our natural bedtime, we create a tug-of-war inside the body. Sleep pressure has been building all day; natural melatonin is rising, and every signal is telling you it's time to rest," Dr. Roland has previously explained.
That can result in a tired and wired feeling, which is when you're physically exhausted but feel too mentally stimulated to fall asleep.
The swap: Pay attention to sleep cues and go to bed when I’m tired
Instead of napping through a film or falling asleep when reading, Dr. Walker stresses the importance of staying in tune to our natural sleep window.
“Adequate sleep pressure is usually signalled by increasing eyelid heaviness, yawning, reduced alertness, impaired sustained attention, and the repeated loss of focus while reading or watching something,” explains Dr. Walker, who notes that artificial lighting, screen time and stimulation late into the night can impair your natural sleep cues.
“These [sleep] signals are often missed because evening light exposure, screens, and mental stimulation can override or obscure the biological drive for sleep," explains the author. "Think of the system like an instrument panel: the body is displaying reduced alertness, but environmental stimulation can distort the reading."
(Image credit: Getty Images)
3. The 3 a.m. culprit: Getting less exercise on the days I feel tired
Forget the under eye bags — a quick glance at my fitness tracker stats will tell you if I’ve had a good night’s sleep or not.
On the days when I’m existing in a fog of sleep deprivation, my step count is pitifully low. But when I’ve had a good night’s sleep I tend to move more.
Why does this matter? “Moving less during the day can make it harder to get a good night's sleep,” explains Dr. Shelby Harris, a licensed clinical psychologist who specialises in behavioural sleep medicine.
“But it’s really a cycle because when people don't get enough sleep, they're also often more fatigued the next day, which can lead to spending more time sitting and being less physically active.”
The swap: Incorporating movement into my day to build adequate sleep pressure
Instead of leading into exhaustion and barely getting out of my chair, Dr. Harris recommends incorporating movement into my day — even after a terrible night's sleep.
"Regular physical activity helps build the body's natural drive for sleep"
Dr. Shelby Harris, board-certified behavioral sleep medicine specialist
“Regular physical activity helps build the body's natural drive for sleep, supports a healthy sleep-wake cycle, and can reduce stress and improve mood,” says Dr. Harris, author of The Women's Guide to Overcoming Insomnia.
However, that doesn’t mean you need to push yourself too hard. “If you're exhausted after a bad night's sleep, don't put pressure on yourself to do an intense workout," says Dr. Harris. "Even getting up to stretch every hour, taking a short walk during lunch, or walking while you're on a phone call can make a difference.”
How to fall back to sleep when you're awake at 3 a.m.
Don't check the clock: If you're anything like me, rolling over and checking the time can stress you out further. It can also lead to the temptation of scrolling on your phone, making it even harder to go back to sleep.
Practice the 15 minute sleep rule: When I do wake up at 3 a.m., the advice from experts is clear — get up and leave the room and do something relaxing. This prevents creating a negative association with your bed and bedroom.
Try the cognitive shuffling method: This is a visualisation technique or random objects and helps empty my mind of racing thoughts. To practice it, think of a word and spell out as many objects as you can beginning with each letter.
