Ashima Sharda Mahindra • 06 Aug 2024
Why Is Setting Multiple Alarms In The Morning Bad For Your Health?
Waking to multiple alarms every morning can majorly disrupt your rapid eye movement or REM cycle
There are always two types of people in the morning – those who always hear their alarm or even wake up before it rings, and those who regularly sleep through the loud noise or snooze it. According to experts, the second type should stop doing that.
Doctors say you should not set multiple morning alarms as the sequence noise can be harmful to your health.
Why is snoozing alarm bad for your health?
Waking to multiple alarms every morning can majorly disrupt your rapid eye movement or REM cycle - a phase of sleep associated with dreaming, nightmares, and penile tumescence. Doctors say it is one of two phases of sleep that people cycle through, along with non-REM sleep. REM sleep is characterized by increased brain activity, regulated breathing, slow heart rate, and low blood pressure, as well as rapid eye movements while the eyes are closed.
And so, continuous ringing of alarms can trigger a “fight or flight response” every time they go off, which can be deemed stressful to the body – leading to sleep inertia, increased drowsiness, fatigue, mood swings, and also a huge jump in your cortisol levels. Studies say, that over time, chronic adrenaline response can lead to stress, depression, and even life-threatening and fatal heart problems, apart from obesity and weight gain due to continuous tension building due to lack of sleep.
Why you may not be able to wake up in time?
Research says the quality and amount of sleep you get every night should be blamed for your oversleeping and not being able to get up in the morning issues – specifically if you have an inconsistent routine and sedentary lifestyle. According to the American Sleep Foundation, you need at least eight hours of sleep, or else your body gets into stress mode.
Doctors say uninterrupted and unregulated sleep leads to:
- Night terrors
- Sleepwalking
- Sleep apnea
- Headaches
- Feeling irritable and tired the next day
Mental health issues
One of the most common symptoms of depression is oversleeping and not being able to get up from bed every morning.
Experts say those who are depressed often suffer from anxiety and lethargy and are not able to sleep properly at night. Similarly, stress and anxiety can cause worry that leads to sleep deprivation and a lack of motivation to get out of bed in the morning.
Easy ways to not sleep through your alarm
- For a consistent and regulated sleep, it is important to practice good sleep hygiene before bed every night. For that, doctors suggest you eat healthy and balanced meals, stay hydrated by drinking water throughout the day, andexercise regularly.
- By the time evening approaches, avoid drinking coffee or any caffeine product and opt for a relaxing activity like reading a book, instead of scrolling through your phone.
- Have some motivation to get out of your bed – be it work, meeting a friend, or an early morning Zumba session.
- Keep your alarm a little away from your bed so that you physically get up to shut up. However, it should be loud enough for you to hear.
- Waking up to light makes a lot of difference. Make sure to stand in the sun for at least 10 minutes after you are up to feel energetic.
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