The Struggles of Being a Light Sleeper

Do you get woken up easily? Do you struggle with being a light sleeper? It is like, you do not feel that your sleep is particularly light, but it is easy for you to be awakened by your surroundings. The first ring of your alarm, a soft touch on your feet, an overpowering smell of bacon in the morning. If these things can wake you up easily, then you are living with the struggles of being a light sleeper.

What is a light sleeper?

Light sleepers wake up from small disturbances within their sleeping environment. It can be from a sound, smell, light, or movement. Heavy sleepers, on the other hand, need stronger stimulating devices to be woken up. The stimulus that is being referred to is what doctors call an “arousal threshold.” An arousal threshold defines how strong a stimulus needs to be in order to wake a person up. A light sleeper has a low arousal threshold, meanwhile, a heavy sleeper has a higher one.

Aside from that, light sleepers tend to have difficulties in reaching the deeper levels of sleep because they are easily disturbed. This may cause irritation and even illnesses because they either lack sleep or do not get enough hours of it.

How difficult is it?

Imagine having a tiring day and all you want to do is lie down on your bed, get a good night’s sleep, and wake up when the sun appears. You are finally sleeping but then you live with your family. Some of them are still awake and your eyes open at the sound of doors creaking. And then you fall asleep again, but you can feel your sibling turning on their bed right underneath yours. It is a constant struggle.
Sometimes it could even just be your phone’s vibration or a sudden burst of light from the outside window. These disturbances all contribute to a difficult sleeping environment. Especially when those things are out of your control.

Sleeping is an integral part of a human’s rest. Without a complete and sound sleep, a person may feel weak and distracted during the day. A lot of light sleepers suffer from those scenarios.

Doctors do not even know how a person becomes light or heavy sleeper. It could be genetic or induced by the environment they are in- still no absolute conclusion. There are ways for light sleepers to get better sleep, such as making a routine, working out, eating fruits and veggies, and basically developing a healthy lifestyle. As if that is not what is recommended for everyone.