Everybody is guilty of snoozing the alarm, especially after a long night when waking up early is a monumental feat. Despite the alarm’s benefits, physicians advise against sleeping since it may be harmful to your health. In reality, this regular activity is impairing your ability to sleep and causing a variety of health issues as a result of the jolts. Dr. SP Rai, a consultant in pulmonary and sleep medicine at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai, claims that hitting the snooze button on your alarm causes fragmented sleep and sleep inertia, which is not good sleep.
‘There are different stages of sleep – NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. When we sleep we gradually go from lighter stages of sleep to deeper stages of sleep especially REM sleep during which our muscles are completely relaxed, also called restorative sleep,’, explained Dr. Rai.
An average sleep cycle lasts around 90 minutes and is repeated 4-6 times during the night. ‘ Snoozing interferes with REM sleep, which is a restorative sleep state that is disrupted when we do. Not only are those five to ten minutes long enough for restorative sleep, but interruptions can also make it harder for you to breathe and raise your blood pressure’, he added.
Then how can one quit using their alarm to get up every morning? ‘ Use better habits instead of pushing the snooze button’. Dr. Rai urged individuals to avoid coffee and instead ‘drink a significant amount of liquids immediately before bed,’ adding that ‘they should try to go to sleep and get up at the same time’.
‘Also contributing to sleep disruption is late-night phone browsing’, he continued. ‘One hour before going to bed, turn off your internet and social media accounts. Decide on a time that will work for your alarm. You can relocate the alarm clock to another location. By keeping your alarm clock on sleep mode, you won’t feel any more rested’, said Dr. Rai.
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