Don't set an alarm like that! It's more harmful than you think

  "Jingle bell~~~" Every morning, how many alarm clocks do you need to press to get up smoothly? After being woken up by the alarm clock, my head is dizzy, my heart beats fast, and I feel that the whole person is not good.

  When setting an alarm, it's best not to wake ourselves up with strong music. Intense music pulls people out of their sleep through rapid, even uncomfortable sounds, which for some sensitive people are woken up.

  Studies have also found that if you are woken up by an alarm clock in deep sleep, your short-term memory, cognition and other aspects will be poorer within 2 hours after waking up, and your exercise ability will also be affected.

  So does being constantly woken up by an alarm clock have any effect on the body, and why is it so annoying to be woken up by an alarm clock?

  Why is it so painful to be woken up by an alarm clock?

  When we go to sleep, we don't close our eyes and sleep until dawn, but we go through several sleep cycles. Within each sleep cycle, there are three phases: light sleep, deep sleep, and REM period.

  The light sleep stage, which is also the stage when we are most likely to wake up, is also the so-called half-dreaming and half-awake stage. This phase usually lasts only a few minutes, and our muscles gradually relax, and our breathing and heart rate slows down slightly, so that we can move on to the next stage if we are not disturbed.

  But many times, we will be disturbed by some small squeaks, or even the turning over of the person next to us.

  In the deep sleep stage, we sleep deeply, our heart rate and breathing rate are at their lowest level, and our body is completely relaxed. During this sleep stage, it is difficult for us to be woken up.

  Eventually, we enter REM period, where our breathing and heart rate increase, and if someone stares at you at this time, you will notice that your eyes are moving back and forth under your closed eyelids. At this point, the neurons in our brains are actually as active as when we are awake, except that our bodies are completely relaxed. Our colorful dreams actually happen in this process.

  Natural waking often occurs after REM periods, when our brains are almost awake and we can quickly move from sleep to wakefulness as our bodies need to keep up. In addition, since we go through several sleep cycles in one night, sometimes we also wake up in light sleep, when our brain and body are not fully dormant, and we don't feel bad when we wake up.

  But waking up to an alarm clock is different, what sleep stage we are in when it goes off is completely random, if we happen to be in a deep sleep stage, or are dreaming, we will not be very comfortable when we wake up.

  Studies have found that if you are awakened by an alarm clock in deep sleep, within 2 hours after waking up, your short-term memory, cognition and other aspects will be poor, and your motor ability will also be affected.

  In addition, it will also cause the brain to accumulate more sleepy adenosine, so that we wake up like a walking corpse groggy and groggy like a walking corpse, and even chaotic awakening in severe cases, the so-called wake-up gas is a very typical one, I don't know the place and time after waking up, and my temper is much more irritable than usual.

  In addition, no matter what stage we wake up, our brain and body actually need a little time to wake up, which is called sleep inertia.

  If we sleep well, then we will be fully awake after a few minutes, but if we are not sleeping well, then the elimination of this state may take several hours.

  This is also the reason why many people must have a cup of coffee when they get up, and by consuming caffeine, it can speed up our wakefulness. And if the alarm clock wakes us up at the wrong sleep stage, it can exacerbate sleep inertia.

  What can be done to change this?

  Researchers have found that different alarm clock sounds can significantly affect people's sleep inertia after waking up. Soft music, natural sounds, white noise, melodic music, or your personal favorite music are better for your alarm audio than standard alarm tones like iPhone's default alarm audio "radar."

  Of course, when choosing an alarm clock audio, you can follow a principle, whether it is melodious in the prelude and gradually agitated in the afternote, such changes are mainly through the slow increase of the sound, the slow hovering of the melody, and the gradual awakening of the body. The "radar" is not, it forcibly pulls you out of your sleep through a rapid, even uncomfortable sound, and for some sensitive people, it is actually simply awakened by life.

  According to research, when we wake up to a strong alarm clock, our blood pressure rises sharply, our heart pounds, and our body enters a state of tension, similar to when we are suddenly slapped from behind. Although our blood pressure and heartbeat slowly recover after we wake up, it is really uncomfortable to come here every morning. There are also certain health risks for people who are easily frightened and have related problems.

  So, if you must wake yourself up with a sound alarm clock, you might as well choose a softer and soothing one.

  In addition to the sound alarm clock, we can also choose some other ways to wake ourselves up, such as sunlight and vibration, which are more in line with our body's natural rhythm of wake-up.

  Our bodies are very sensitive to both light and darkness, and we are naturally awake in bright environments and sleepy in dark environments. Therefore, we can leave a gap in the curtains before going to bed, and when the sun naturally shines in every day, we will naturally enter to get ready to get up. If your room is not getting sunlight, you can also use the method of turning on the lights at regular intervals to put your body into a gradual waking process.

  The vibrating alarm clock also works well, and the gentle vibration can also wake us up gradually. You can put the vibrating alarm clock under your pillow or wear a vibrating bracelet and wake up comfortably with gentle vibrations.

  By the way, if possible, it is also a good choice to let the family gently wake you up. Pay attention, gently, and not violently pull off your quilt and wake you up in horror and shame.

  Author丨Hydra Popular Science Author

  Audit丨Tang Yicheng, Deputy Director of Beijing Zhongpu Psychological and Mental Health Promotion Center

Source: "Popular Science China" WeChat public account