When better than Halloween to give you some scary sleep facts?!
Scary snack attack!
Midnight feasts are not just for humans! Dust mites love nothing more than to feast on sweat, dead skin cells, and hair while you sleep. Given the fact humans shed up to 10g of dead skin cells each week and approximately 2.5 pints of sweat every week, there is always a feast for them to enjoy. With plenty of food to go around, it is no wonder 100,000 rising to millions of dust mites come to the feast!
Just like vampires hunt at night to suck blood, you could be sharing your bed with your very own bloodsuckers! Cimex Lectularius (bed bugs) feed solely on the blood of people and animals while they sleep! They then leave blood splatters, corpses, and feces in your bed plus holes in your flesh!
Scary sleep fact: sleepers might be unaware they’re sharing their bed as bed bugs have anesthetic properties in their saliva! This means victims don’t feel their bites! These reddish brown in colour and wingless, these parasitic insects range from 1mm to 7mm. Eek!
Using a mattress protector can help to stop these unnerving creatures from feasting on you while you sleep.
Another pest you do not want to share your mattress with is mould. Mould is a menace! By the time you can see visible evidence of mould growth on your mattress, it is probably already a deeply rooted problem. If you regularly wake with a headache, red eyes, congestion, a scratchy throat, or itchy skin, scarily, you could be sleeping on a mattress harbouring an insidious growth! The good news is you won’t turn into a zombie, but you could end up with severe respiratory problems.
Alarmingly piling on the pounds…
Sleep related eating disorder (SRED) is a type of parasomnia (abnormal behaviour that happens during sleep). It causes people to prepare and eat food while they are asleep! Often, sleepers only realise what has happened when waking to the mess the following morning or noticing the pounds piling on!
Scary sleep fact – midnight sleep feasters might use a knife or turn on the stove when preparing their midnight feast, which can be extremely dangerous!
Scary sleep fact – sleep related eating disorders (SRED) are most common in women under the age of 20, however they can affect all ages and genders.
Walkie talkie….
Sleep walking (or parasomnia as sleep experts term it) can be a scary experience for both the sleeper and housemates/partners.
Sleep walking can be as simple as sitting up in bed while asleep or involve more complex behaviours like walking around, leaving the house, and travelling long distances, etc. in deep sleep. When sleepwalking, the cerebellum (part of the brain associated with practiced movements such as walking) are awake, while the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (areas responsible for memory and decision-making) are still asleep! This means victims often complete activities that could put themselves or others in danger!
Scary sleep fact – a young, British 15 year-old girl was once found asleep on top of a 130-foot-tall crane!
Scary sleep fact – a large number of people have used sleep walking as their main reason when entering a not guilty plea for murdering someone!
Research reveals that adult sleepwalking is a potentially serious condition which can affect health related quality of life. While sleepwalking, people are more likely to induce violent behaviours, injury to themselves or others, and psychological distress. This can then lead to psychological distress, daytime sleepiness, and fatigue.
Weep if you get no sleep – it’s scary stuff!
Although there is no fixed rule about how much sleep we need each night, many of us simply do not get enough! Sleep deprivation can leave you feeling tired, and can significantly increase your chances of depression, cancer, weakened bones, raised blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes! Lack of sleep can also cause increased weight gain and inflammation. The longer you are sleep deprived, the more terrifyingly scary, the effects on your health!
Scary sleep fact – research suggests regular flyers are more likely to be sleep deprived. Flying at high altitudes means reduced levels of oxygen which can have a horrifying impact on your sleep.
Scary sleep fact – one sleepless night affects your head the same way being drunk does!
Tears for fears…
We have all been guilty of pushing bedtime back a bit later but by doing so, you increase your risk of experiencing a nightmare! Cortisol peaks in the body in the early hours of the morning, so falling asleep during these hours can significantly increase your chances of a disturbed night’s sleep due to a scary dream!
Scary sleep fact – no one will hear you screaming during a nightmare! Once you are sitting up and screaming, you are already aroused and coming out of dream sleep.
Scary sleep fact – your brain is wide awake when you experience a nightmare!
Frightening, exploding head syndrome!
Luckily, exploding head syndrome (EHS) is not as scary as it sounds! It is the term given to a type of sleep disorder where people hear loud noises or explosive, crashing sounds in their head. EHS occurs when someone is heading towards deep sleep, but their body hasn’t achieved paralysis yet so their senses are still turned on!
Scary sleep fact – being stresses or very tired can make you more susceptible to exploding head syndrome!
Scary sleep fact – the exact cause of EHS isn’t known, however, some theorists believe it happens due to minor seizures in the temporal lobe (the area of the brain most commonly associated with processing auditory information and with the encoding of memory).
Silent night…
Sleep paralysis can be extremely scary. Sleepers find themselves unable to move or speak when they wake up or fall asleep. Although temporary and not harmful, it can be a scary experience! Caused by many factors including sleep deprivation, sleeping on the back, narcolepsy (a rare brain condition that causes someone to suddenly fall asleep at inappropriate times) or irregular sleep patterns, sleep paralysis can result in people being unable to take deep breaths or to move their eyes, feeling restricted or hallucinating, often resulting in a feeling of intense fear.
Scary sleep fact – every time you fall asleep, there is some risk of waking up in sleep paralysis! Once in sleep paralysis, you cannot wake yourself up – frighteningly, you must wait and ride it out!
Scary sleep fact – during sleep paralysis, a person’s senses and awareness are active and awake, but their body is in a state of paralysis and cannot move.
The good news is good sleep hygiene can significantly reduce the likelihood of sleep paralysis. Thankfully, most people only experience sleep paralysis once or twice in their life…however, at the time, it is extremely frightening!
Unfortunately, at Land of Beds, we don’t have anything to protect you from these scary sleep facts, but we do have a wide range of bed frames, divan beds, ottoman beds and mattresses to help you find somewhere comfortable to rest your head. We also sell mattress and pillow protectors and a range of bedding to help you create a good sleep environment.