Aussies have dreamy sleep ideals: survey

Monday Sep 3 15:17 AEST

Australians have an unrealistic perception of "normal" sleep which is fuelling bedtime anxiety and can trigger insomnia, a study has found.

A survey of 250 healthy adults presented to an international sleep conference has revealed that 70 per cent believe it is standard to fall immediately into uninterrupted deep sleep and to stay that way all night.

In reality, sleep is a rollercoaster of 90-minute cycles of deep sleep, light sleep and brief awakenings throughout the night.

The fact that very few people understand this could be causing sleep time anxiety for those who wake in the night, and may be to blame for some people's insomnia, said study leader Professor Leon Lack, from Flinders University in Adelaide.

Researchers asked people to plot a curve of what they believed was normal sleep, with 70 per cent drawing a deep U-shape showing an instant plunge into deep sleep and resurfacing about six hours later.

Another 15 per cent believed there would a couple of peaks and troughs, but no one correctly mapped the real pattern comprising about five dips and rises in one night.

"A large majority of the public believes that healthy young adult sleep is an unbroken deep sleep," Prof Lack said.

He told delegates at worldsleep07 in Cairns that this concept was in sharp contrast to the real pattern, meaning that those who don't fit this ideal may believe it is wrong to wake, triggering anxiety and even long term sleep difficulties when they do.

"Therefore public education about the normality of light sleep phases and awakenings may be protective against the development of insomnia," he said.

"It can also be part of the education and cognitive therapy component for insomnia treatment."

Between five and 10 per cent of Australians suffer from insomnia, with women and people aged over 65 most commonly affected.

International insomnia expert Professor Colin Espie, director of the Glasgow Sleep Centre, said it was particularly important that older people understand the true gold standard of sleep, and that this naturally becomes more fragmented with age.

"If they understand what's happening to them and know it's a reality just like losing your hair with age, then they know not to stress about it and take it more in their stride," Prof Espie said.

"That has got to help stop it turning into a major problem like insomnia."

©AAP 2007