For many of us, waking up is a distressful process. Living the realm of dreams and the warm bed can be associated with birth. The time between waking up and becoming fully functional is called sleep inertia. For some of us, it can be severe.
Specialists came up with a surprising discovery: the alarm that calls us to conscious life can be a trigger for experiencing severe sleep inertia. The myth of jarring, repetitive alarm tones that wakes us up, and refreshes after sleep proves to no longer be one. On the contrary. The aggressiveness of this kind of alarm causes morning grogginess consistent with sleep inertia. Instead, it seems that meaningful and melodic songs can get us smoothly into the awakening state.
What is sleep inertia?
Sleep inertia is a physiological state of impaired cognitive and sensory-motor performance that installs immediately after awakening. Between sleep to wakefulness, the individual experiences feelings of drowsiness, disorientation, and a decline in motor dexterity. One can also experience deficits in spatial memory or heightened subjective fatigue.
Usually, morning sleep inertia is experienced for 15 to 30 minutes after waking, but the impairment can take several hours to dissipate. The most affected categories of people are the professionals who must immediately respond to a call, who need decision-making abilities, safety-critical tasks, and the ability to operate efficiently immediately after waking up — medical doctors, firefighters, astronauts, pilots, or police officers. They can pose a safety hazard in the workplace.
How do we fight the condition?
Napping, caffeine, light, and now music are the key. The new study added a new factor that can dissipate the impairment of sleep inertia. The researchers say that melodic alarms had a better effect on waking. The Cure and Beach boys proved to be the best choice in starting your day as fully-awake as possible. Their music diminishes the disrupting or confusing brain activity as we wake. It seems I need Good Vibrations Close to Me when I wake up.