Waking up at 3 am and losing sleep can be extremely annoying. But it seems that waking up in the middle of the night was a fairly common occurrence throughout human history. In fact, sleeping in two parts can have a stress-reducing effect instead of causing stress.
Biphasic sleep is a sleep pattern in which people sleep at two different times over a 24-hour period. Most of us are accustomed to single-phase sleep, or a single sleep pattern lasting approximately 8 hours.
Some reports of the past, most of them thanks to the research of historian Roger Ekirch, suggest that early humans slept when it got dark, then got up in the middle of the night to do something like cook dinner, talk to their neighbors, do some of the chores, then first light up. She suggests that they sleep as many times as they can and that biphasic sleep may be more natural for humans.
Sara Mednick, a professor in the School of Cognitive Science at the University of California, Irvine, says this phenomenon has not been seen as something sick or strange throughout history. The idea that we should sleep in one piece is a relatively new one, Mednick says.
What is biphasic sleep?
Biphasic sleep means having any two sleep periods in one day. These sleep periods can consist of a single 6-hour sleep followed by a short nap during the day. Or you can take a more historical route, going to sleep after dark (around 8-9 pm), staying awake for a few hours at midnight, and then going back to sleep until sunrise. Of course, the transition to this heliocentric sleep system may be more difficult today.
Respiratory health and sleep therapies specialist at Atlantic Health System, Dr. Federico Cerrone says that the different historical conditions, the absence of artificial light in the houses as they are today, and the different work schedules naturally brought this sleep system. However, with the Industrial Revolution, people became more adaptable to the new working conditions.
However, some people still maintain biphasic sleep systems today, and these systems are much more common in some countries. For example, siesta culture, which is practiced especially in Mediterranean countries, stands out as a two-phase system that is still maintained in many countries of the world.
Dr. According to Cerrone, two-phase or single-phase sleep systems do not have a great advantage or disadvantage over each other. As long as you get the recommended amount of sleep, which is at least 7 hours for most people, both systems can provide a healthy sleep pattern. Dr. Cerrone emphasizes that while there is evidence that people followed biphasic sleep patterns in the past, there is no scientific evidence that this is a better pattern.
However, the fact that this order was practiced by people in the past can be a comforting situation for those who wake up in the middle of the night and find this situation a cause for concern. People are often afraid to wake up in the middle of the night and then think they have insomnia, Mednick says. For these people, perhaps adopting a biphasic sleep pattern may be a much healthier choice.
Mednick and other experts suggest that if possible, go to sleep when you feel tired and follow the single- or dual-phase sleep pattern your body tells you.
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