Understanding the Basic Steps of Sleep Cycles

When it comes to the sleep cycle, five basic steps come into play. Each step holds a very vital part of the journey of falling into a deep, peaceful sleep. When a person isn’t able to reach these steps and struggles with different types of sleeping disorders such as sleepwalking, insomnia, or sleep apnea, they can suffer serious issues to their mental and physical health. Understanding the basic steps of sleep cycles helps to learn how sleep affects the overall relationship with one’s physical and mental state.

The first stage of the sleep cycle is when a person is beginning to grow tired. Their brain produces alpha and theta waves, which makes a person feel as if they are somewhat daydreaming. It is not uncommon to reach the alpha level throughout the day, and many people who perform yoga or meditation can reach these waves without much trouble. It is in this stage that a person can come in contact with muscle tightening or feeling as if they are free falling. The theta waves are reached when a person is in the time between being fully awake and falling to sleep. This stage lasts for about five to ten minutes.

Stage two of the basic sleep cycle can last for around twenty or so minutes. During this time the brain creates fast brain wave activity called sleep spindles. It is in stage two when a person’s heart starts to sleep down to a peaceful pace and their body temperature drops. This stage and stage one are both very light ‘sleep’. Even if a person were to awake during these stages, it would appear as if they were never asleep, to begin with.

Stage three is when delta waves begin to show up. Delta waves are the highest and slowest amplitude brain waves. It is the period that a person travels from very light sleep to deeper sleep. Which leads into stage four—Delta Sleep. Stage four is where the delta waves take a person into a deep, deep sleep. This stage can last around thirty minutes or so. It is during stage four when a person may experience sleepwalking or sleep talking. If a person is awakened in this stage, they are heavily tired, perplexed, and unsettled.

Lastly, stage five, rapid eye movement (REM), is the stage where dreams happen. Walcutt, (2009), states, “REM sleep is characterized by eye movement, increased respiration rate, and increased brain activity.” It is in this stage where the body seems to become paralyzed and a person’s muscles relax. It may occur in other stages of the sleep cycle that a person sees images and things, such as during stage two with the theta, yet it is only in the REM condition that one has a true dream state.

Sleep patterns have huge effects, both negative and positive, on a person’s physical and mental health. Some of the negative aspects of a person being sleep-deprived include issues such as weight gain, symptoms that mimic depression or anxiety, lower immunity, and in severe cases, even accidents and death. Some individuals may even experience high blood pressure due to lack of sleep, which can cause sleep apnea resulting in pauses in one’s breathing pattern during their sleep. This sleep complication requires treatment and can lead to even worse periods of sleep and it can seriously damage one’s cardiovascular system.

There is always a balance to the world, and with the negative results of not sleeping, there are positives when one does sleep. When a person receives a good night’s rest, they can improve their physical and mental health immensely. One benefit of sleeping throughout the night is reduced levels of stress. When a body reaches REM, their muscles finally get a chance to calm down and take a rest from a hectic day. Their heart and breathing get to slow down, which in turn helps fight the risk of heart problems. After a good rest, a person wakes up with more energy. This energy is carried throughout the day, making a person able to be more active and attack more issues head-on with a clear head and a strong mind. If a person can wake up with more energy, they can make better choices for their health and wellness.

One sleep disorder that affects many people across the world is insomnia. Insomnia is a sleeping disorder where an individual has a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. A few signs of insomnia include having a rough time falling asleep, trouble staying asleep during the night, waking up at extremely early times in the morning, and feeling extremely exhausted and restless once finally wake. With insomnia, the effects on the brain are astonishing. It appears that insomniacs are unable to tap into the task-appropriate brain regions. This means during a business day, an insomniac will have to work almost twice as hard as their co-worker to complete the same tasks. Insomnia also affects the brain region that deals with emotional processing, which can lead a person to depression thoughts.

Two types of insomnia have been identified: acute and chronic. Acute is known as short-term insomnia. This is simply when a person cannot sleep for one night or up to a few weeks. This type of insomnia doesn’t require treatment of any kind, and learning great sleep habits may help. If the issue of not sleeping is affecting one’s day, sleeping pills may be prescribed for a short period. Chronic insomnia can last for months and normally deals with finding the health problems that are causing the lack of sleep. Learning how to fix those behaviors will help in aiding one’s insomnia. Relaxation exercises such as yoga and breathing classes can help, along with sleep restriction therapy. Knowing and understanding the basic steps of the sleep cycle are key to helping a person reach a strong, healthy lifestyle.

Reference

Walcutt, D. (2009). Stages of sleep. Psych Central. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/lib/stages-of-sleep/0002073