There are many reasons why you might not be able to sleep. Here is a quick rundown of the most common causes of poor sleep:

- Stress

- Anxiety

- Depression

- Caffeinated drinks

- Exposure to blue light

- Irregular sleeping patterns

- Lack of exercise

- Chronic pain

The hours of sleep you need can depend on a few factors including your weight, height, age as well as your daily routine. However, you can use the following guide below to help you figure out how much sleep you need.

School-age children (6-13): Sleep range widened by one hour to 9-11 hours 

Teenagers (14-17): Sleep range widened by one hour to 8-10 hours 

Younger adults (18-25): Sleep range is 7-9 hours 

Adults (26-64): Sleep range is  7-9 hours

Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7-8 hours

Another top tip which will help you find out how much sleep you need is going to bed at your usual time and naturally waking up without an alarm clock. Then you can figure out how much sleep your body normally needs.

Regular sleep has many benefits for your body. Getting enough sleep impacts your appetite, your immune system as well as your memory. 

There has been some research that shows poor or irregular sleep impacts your appetite. When you’re sleeping you don’t need to eat to keep your energy levels up. However, poor sleep signals your brain to tell your body it’s hungry and you need to eat more. This means you are likely to eat more than what you need. 

A goodnight’s sleep is also crucial for a healthy immune system. Your body produces a type of protein called cytokines which have a protective effect on your immune system by helping it to fight inflammation. These proteins are often produced while asleep. If your body doesn’t get enough sleep it can’t produce the cytokines your immune system needs, as well as other components like antibodies and white blood cells which you need to fight infections. 

Not only does your body benefit from getting a goodnight’s sleep but so does your memory. According to recent research, sleep plays a key role in both short and long term memory.

“Whereas initially it was commonly assumed that sleep improves memory in a passive manner, 

by protecting it from being overwritten by interfering external stimulus inputs, the current theorising assumes an active consolidation of memories that is specifically established during sleep, and basically originates from the reactivation of newly encoded memory representations.” - Björn Rasch, and Jan Born in ‘About Sleep's Role in Memory’. 

Not only does sleep help consolidate your memory but REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and slow-wave sleep contribute to the following:

- creative thinking

- procedural memory

- long-term memory

- memory processing

There have also been some studies to suggest that regular sleep helps reduce the risk of developing chronic health conditions. 

There are several things you can do to create a sleep schedule that works for you. 

1) Be Consistent - Find a bedtime and wake up time that works for you and stick to it. 

2) Make small changes - Change your bedtime routine gradually by adjusting your sleep time by 15-minute increments.

3) Sleep by the Sun - Your body’s clock is sensitive to light, that’s why it’s important to sleep in total darkness and wake up with natural light. 

4) Forget the snooze - Don’t rely on your snooze button to get you out of bed. Not only will not get enough rest but it’s better for your body to naturally wake up than with your phone or alarm clock. 

5) No midnight snacks - Make sure you don’t eat just before going to bed to allow your body plenty of time to digest your food. Two or three hours should be enough time for your stomach to settle.

Broken or interrupted sleep can happen for a number of reasons. Here is why you might not be sleeping through the night: 

Sleep apnea is a condition which causes shallow breathing during sleep. Often people with sleep apnea wake up during the night as well as waking up headaches, frequent snoring and difficulty concentrating during the day. 

Both anxiety and depression can cause restlessness as it is often difficult to quieten the mind before bed. 

Another reason why you might be waking up in the night could be because you need to go to the toilet. This could be due to the following:

- pregnancy

- enlarged prostate

- diabetes

- bladder prolapse

- overactive bladder

- some medications

You might be waking up during the night because of your body temperature. Sometimes struggling to regulate your body temperature means you wake up from feeling too warm. This can happen for a number of reasons including night sweats.

Increased time spent in front of a screen can interrupt your sleep. The light emitted handheld devices stop your brain from producing melatonin which is known to be the sleep hormone. That’s why it’s important to switch off your phone or tablet before going to sleep.

Sleep hygiene is another phrase which describes your sleep habits and practices. It’s important to practise good sleep hygiene as it has many benefits for your body and mind. There a few things you can do to practise good sleep hygiene:

- Take short 20-30 minutes naps

- Avoid drinking caffeine before bed 

- Exercise regularly 

- Don’t eat heavy food before bed

- Wake up with natural lighting 

- Create a comfortable and relaxing sleeping environment

Circadian rhythm or your sleep/wake cycle is your body’s internal clock which controls how alert/sleepy you feel throughout the day. That’s why you feel drowsy after lunch! If you have enough good quality sleep then your dips in energy will look differently from someone who struggles to sleep. 

This is controlled by the hypothalamus but it is also affected by natural/artificial light. Darkness signals to your brain that it’s time to feel sleepy while light signals to your brain to be alert. That’s why your circadian rhythm shifts to fit with the cycle of the day. Practising good sleep hygiene means your body can regulate your circadian rhythm properly.

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. Common signs of sleep apnea can include snoring loudly and feeling tired after a full night's sleep, 

The main types of sleep apnea are:

Obstructive sleep apnea - occurs when throat muscles relax.

Central sleep apnea - occurs when your brain doesn't send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing.

Complex sleep apnea syndrome - also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, which occurs when someone has both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.

Rapid eye movement or REM sleep is the phase of the sleep cycle where the eyes move rapidly in various directions. REM sleep occurs in the first 90 minutes of falling asleep and at several other stages throughout the night. Most dreams occur during REM sleep and it is known to play a role in learning, memory as well as regulating your mood.

We don’t currently have much evidence as to why we have vivid dreams despite the extensive research that exists. Vivid dreams are known to occur during the REM sleep phase. Stress and anxiety are believed to be common causes of vivid dreams, as well as certain sleep disorders such as insomnia and narcolepsy. Certain medications can also induce vivid dreams.

There are a few different stages in the sleep cycle. Firstly, it’s important to know that there are two types of sleep - non-REM sleep and REM sleep. You tend to move between these two types of sleep throughout your sleep cycle.

Stage 1: Your body’s heart rate and eye movements slow down. Your muscles begin to relax and your brain waves begin to slow down. 

Stage 2: As your body begins to slow down, its core temperature drops and your brain waves continue to slow with small peaks of activity. 

Stages 3 & 4: This is when your body enters deep sleep or “slow-wave sleep”. During these stages, your heartbeat and breathing are out their slowest as is your brain. 

Stage 5: This is when your brain enters REM sleep or rapid-eye-movement sleep which usually occurs after about 90 minutes from falling asleep. At this stage, the eyes begin to move from side to side and your brain activity increases often leading to dreams. Your heart rate and breathing become quicker often at the same pace as if you were awake.

Deep sleep or “slow-wave sleep” is incredibly important for your mind and body. This type of sleep is incredibly important for your short-term and long-term memory. Also, it’s known that the pituitary gland secretes important hormones during this type of sleep. Deep sleep also helps with cell regeneration, increasing blood supply to muscles, repairing tissues and bones as well as strengthening the immune system. Sleep deprivation is linked to conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and heart disease.

There are several parts of the brain which are activated while asleep. Several structures within the brain are involved with sleep.

The first is the amygdala which is an almond-shaped structure involved in processing emotions, becomes increasingly active during REM sleep.

The hypothalamus is incredibly important during sleep. It is a peanut-sized structure deep inside the brain and it contains groups of nerve cells that act as control centre which affects sleep and arousal. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) which sits inside the hypothalamus is made of clusters of thousands of cells that receive information about light exposure directly from the eyes. Depending on the light/darkness this will signal to your circadian rhythm to feel sleepy or alert. 

Another important part is the brain stem. This sits at the base of the brain and it works with the hypothalamus to control the transitions between wake and sleep. The brain stem also plays a special role in REM sleep. It signals to relax muscles essential for body posture and limb movement.

Between the brainstem and the structure which connect both sides of the brain, the cerebral cortex, we have the thalamus. This part of the brain relays information from the senses to the cerebral cortex.  During the non-REM stages of sleep, the thalamus is mostly inactive so your mind and body can wind down. In REM sleep, the thalamus is quite active, sending the cortex images, sounds, and other sensations that are believed to make up your dreams. 

There is another gland which has an important role in sleep. The pineal gland lies within the brain’s two hemispheres. It receives signals from the SCN and increases the production of the hormone melatonin, also known as the sleep hormone. Research has shown that changes in  melatonin over time are important for matching the body’s circadian rhythm to the external cycle of light and darkness.

In the first stages of sleep, brainwaves begin to slow down. In the second stage of sleep, brain waves are still slow with brief bursts of activity. During slow-wave sleep or deep sleep, brain waves are at their slowest. However, in REM sleep, brainwaves are at their most active and simulate brainwave patterns as if you were awake.

Many of us describe ourselves as light sleepers or heavy sleepers. However, researchers have found that there is little known about why people react differently to noises and other stimuli during sleep.

Factors such as genetics, lifestyle and daily routine may all play a role. In addition, some studies suggest that differences in brainwave activity during sleep may also make someone a light or heavy sleeper. It has been suggested that in light sleepers the hypothalamus which controls how alert your brain is, is much more active than in deep sleepers. This could be due to a number of factors including if their circadian rhythm is disrupted.