The Truth About Sleep: Are We Trying Too Hard for Perfection?

 

Sleep is essential for life, and when we struggle to get enough, we often seek solutions desperately. Recently, our obsession with sleep has taken on an urgent tone. A quick online search will reveal countless articles on how to achieve perfect sleep—fancy gadgets, alarm clocks, avoiding blue light—accompanied by advice warning that we’re sleeping “wrong.”

The messages are clear: not enough sleep, poor-quality sleep, or the wrong sleep habits could shorten your life and lead to serious health issues like high blood pressure or Alzheimer’s. One common worry is that anything less than seven hours of sleep spells doom for your health. But this narrative has two critical flaws.

First, it’s not entirely accurate. While seven to eight hours is the recommended average for adults, it’s just that—an average. People have different sleep needs. Some thrive on eight hours, while others function perfectly on six. Simplified public health messaging often overlooks these nuances. Although long-term sleep deprivation is linked to conditions like heart disease and depression, obsessing over hitting a precise number ignores the individual variability in sleep requirements.

Second, this "doomsday" messaging can backfire. For those already struggling with sleep, the pressure to get it right can create anxiety. Take sleep trackers, for example. By 2019, 21% of U.S. adults were using them, and the number has likely grown. While tracking sleep patterns is fascinating, for some, it’s led to an obsession known as orthosomnia—a fixation on achieving perfect sleep. Ironically, this fixation often worsens sleep problems.

Experts suggest focusing less on numbers and more on how you feel. Dr. Colleen Carney, head of the Ryerson University Sleep Lab, offers three key questions:

1. Do you feel reasonably well-rested during the day?

2. Can you generally sleep through the night or return to sleep easily if disturbed?

3. Can you stay awake during the day without nodding off?

If you answer yes to these, your sleep is likely fine. For those struggling, expensive gadgets or blue light filters aren’t necessarily the answer. Instead, consult a doctor to rule out underlying medical issues and consider evidence-based strategies, like the recommendations from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

One highly effective approach is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). This non-medication-based therapy has a low failure rate and can significantly improve sleep quality.

So, stop chasing perfection and start focusing on what works for you. Sleep is vital, but stressing about it might do more harm than good.