Why Snoozing Your Alarm Ruins Your Day (And It’s Bad For Your Brain)

We all have the temptation to snooze with our alarm clock every morning. At least for earn 10′ of extra sleep in the warmth of the blankets when the alarm rings it is still dark and true rest a mirage. But according to sleep experts, hitting snooze and snoozing the alarm isn’t good for your body or brain. Because it can lead to long periods of “sleep inertia,” which is that lightheaded feeling many people get when they get up in the morning and feel like they haven’t fully recovered.

The state of “inertia sleep”

Usually it state of “inertia sleep” it lasts more or less from a quarter of an hour to half an hour, then the mind and body gradually become more alert and one begins to feel “normal”. However, according to one research conducted by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Bostoncan last up to two to four hours if you wake up during your first sleep cycle or deep sleep, and this could impact how your brain works.
When you hit the snooze button and go back to sleep, it’s in fact possible for them to come released hormones that trick the body making him think he is about to fall into a deep sleep. Which, on the other hand, will not happen, because we will be woken up abruptly after only 10 minutes, making the body and mind feel out of place.

Why Snoozing Your Alarm Ruins Your Day (And It’s Bad For Your Brain)

We’ve all hit snooze on our alarm clock to get those precious 10 extra minutes in bed, and we’ve all experienced that feeling tired and confused throughout the day following that abrupt awakening after only 10 minutes with the feeling of having slept really deeply and much longer.

Most adults have need about seven and a half to eight hours of good sleep a night. This usually allows you to spend adequate time in the stages of sleep known as non-REM sleep (NREM) and REM sleep.
We tend to switch between the three stages of NREM sleep and REM four to six times a night. The first part of the night consists mainly of deep NREM sleep and the last part of REM sleep.
Maintaining this well-defined structure is important for good, restful sleep. If this process is disturbed, we tend to wake up still tired or confused in the morning.

Several factors can affect sleep cycles. For example, if a person does not breathe well during sleep (snoring or sleep apnea), this disturbs normal patterns and causes the individual to wake up without rest. The quality of sleep can be reduced by the use of electronic devices, tobacco or alcohol in the evening. Eating too close to bedtime can also be problematic.

Snooze the alarm with the snooze button can also alter this balance of sleep stages, tricking our mind and body into starting the process of secreting other neurochemicals that promote sleep, and also creating persistent states of malaise. For this reason it is much better to set the alarm clock at a specific time and get up at that time.

READ ALSO: Not sleeping well? You should move more

Photo by C. SHII / Vladislav Muslakov

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