![]() ![]() If you experience a lack of REM sleep or notice a change in the quality of your sleep, ask your doctor about switching to another medication or lowering your dose. REM rebound is often experienced once the medication is stopped. Some prescription medications, including beta blockers, alpha blockers, antidepressants, and sleep aids are known to suppress REM sleep. Treating sleep disorders like sleep apnea have shown to not only improve overall quality of sleep once REM is restored, but also improve mood. ![]() Poor quality sleep can also cause a decrease in REM. Experts advise developing and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule to achieve your body’s ideal amount of REM sleep per night. Longer periods of REM sleep align with the decrease in body temperature that occurs in the early morning hours. Develop and Maintain a Sleep ScheduleĪccording to the Sleep Foundation, REM sleep usually stabilizes once a person starts receiving quality sleep on a regular basis. Adding even a few comforting essentials like the Sleep Kit and Loftie Lamp are easy ways to curate a sense of calm. Try updating your bedding, turning down the temperature or darkening the shades. And thankfully, this doesn’t require a full-blown bedroom transformation. One of the best ways to get high-quality sleep is by creating a space you love winding down in. Less than that and you’ll run the risk of skipping your sleep cycles. Since REM sleep occurs mostly during the second half of our sleep cycle, seven hours is ideal. Knowing how to get more REM sleep out of every snooze resides in ensuring you clock enough hours to allow your body the time to cycle through the stages. For example, those with depression often experience their first REM cycle earlier in the evening (and it lasts longer), whereas those with insomnia obtain less REM throughout the night. Certain underlying conditions such as depression and sleep disorders can also affect REM sleep. Because REM sleep in particular is so closely linked to our circadian rhythm, exposure to light can influence our ability to wind down and therefore the quality and length of our REM sleep. There are a variety of external and internal factors that influence sleep. This is when the body tries to make up for missed REM by increasing the amount in the next sleep cycle. If you’re getting less than seven hours of sleep per night, you may not see immediate effects, but 12-24 hours of sleep deprivation can cause REM rebound. That being said, we know seven hours per night is the average recommendation for adults, which means REM sleep should account for 20-25% of that time (or about 1.5 to 2.5 hours). So, how much REM sleep do you need to reap these kinds of benefits? Experts typically suggest total sleep time rather than specific amounts of REM sleep because the body regulates its own sleep cycles. REM sleep is also linked to recovery from traumatic events and even appetite regulation. Dreaming occurs in both REM and NREM (non rapid eye movement) sleep, but REM dreams are reported as being more vivid and unusual than NREM dreams. It’s been attributed to increased emotional and creative processing. REM sleep importance cannot be overstated. Newborn babies spend 50% of their total sleep time in REM. Research suggests that adequate REM sleep can actually improve your memory and brain development. REM states are broken into shorter cycles starting at 10 minutes long, then progressively get longer towards the morning, sometimes lasting as long as one hour. In general, and depending on your age, REM sleep accounts for 20%-25% of an 8-hour night of sleep. So, what is REM sleep? REM occurs approximately every 90 minutes, with the average person ideally experiencing four to six REM episodes per night. We’ll discuss why REM sleep is so important, how much you need, and how to increase REM sleep if you’re not getting enough. It’s often associated with dreaming and processing memories and emotions. REM stands for rapid eye movement, and despite our bodies being asleep, REM is actually one of the most active sleep stages we experience. REM is a sleep stage scientists discovered in 1953. If you answered “refreshed,” then you can thank REM sleep for that. But if you want to measure the quality of your sleep, all you have to do is ask yourself, how do you feel when you wake up? From steps and reps to calories, and everything in-between, today we can track just about anything. ![]()
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