THE OTHER DAY, I was plodding away on the treadmill at the gym when I overheard two blokes chatting.
"I had a great night last night," said one.
My ears pricked up. A juicy story? "Scored 96." I yawned.
"That's insane," his companion gasped. "My average is 67 and I can't seem to get it much higher."
"Ah, but how's your HRV?"
"Never check that, but I know my REM score's been all over the place this week." It was only the mention of REM, AKA rapid eye movement, that made me realise they were comparing notes on their sleep performance.
Welcome to the world of orthosomnia, the medical term for an unhealthy obsession with attaining perfect sleep, usually driven by a wearable device. The term was coined by US researchers in a study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, which showed that, ironically, geeking out over your nightly sleep data may actually make your insomnia worse. The scientists observed how some people spent excessive time in bed trying to perfect their score, while others experienced anxiety about not achieving a good enough sleep performance.
But what constitutes "a great sleep score"? And is it even possible to hack an involuntary biological process? Katie Fischer, a behavioural sleep therapist, says that many of her clients are chasing the "perfect" night's sleep. "The thing is, if you ask good sleepers what they do, they will usually say 'nothing"," she says.
"They're not thinking about sleep. They're tired, go to bed and drift off.
They wake up feeling refreshed and don't worry about the occasional bad night because they know that happens sometimes. Meanwhile, people who come to me with problems are often putting pressure on themselves to attain a magic number of sleep hours, typically eight, without understanding that they might not need that much."
Denne historien er fra October 25, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra October 25, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Friendship interrupted
They were best mates. Then one had a baby, while the other struggled to conceive. They share their brutally honest takes on what happens when motherhood affects friendship
KERNELS OF HOPE
During the siege of Leningrad, botanists in charge of an irreplaceable seed collection, the first of its kind, had to protect it from fire, rodents-and hunger
A new horizon' The inverse link between cancer and dementia
Scientists have long been aware of a curious connection between these common and feared diseases. At last, a clearer picture is emerging
Across the universe
Samantha Harvey won the Booker prize with a novel set in space. Yet, she says, Orbital is actually 'a celebration of Earth's beauty with a pang of loss'
Frank Auerbach 1931 -2024
Saved from the Holocaust, this artist captured the devastation of postwar Britain as ifits wounds were his own but he ultimately found salvation in painting
Seven lessons I've learned after 28 years as economics editor
Margaret Thatcher was Britain's prime minister and Neil Kinnock was leader of the Labour party.
Droughtstricken dam leaves economies powerless
A ll is not well with the waters of Lake Kariba, the world's human-made lake largest A punishing drought has drained the huge reservoir close to record lows, raising the prospect that the Kariba Dam, which powers the economies of Zambia and Zimbabwe, may have to shut down for the first time in its 65-year history.
Let this be the end of these excruciating celebrity endorsements
I wish celebrities would learn the art of the French exit. But they can't, which is why Eva Longoria has announced she no longer lives in America. \"I get to escape and go somewhere,\" she explained.
Alive, but unable to thrive under absolute patriarchy
Since the Taliban returned to power, women and girls have tried defiance, but despair at their harshly restricted lives
‘It's tragic’ Reflection in the wake of Amsterdam violence
Carrying signs scrawled with messages urging unity, they laid white roses at the statue of Anne Frank, steps away from the home where her family had hidden from Nazi persecution.
