Story at-a-glance
- The sleep onset latency test, created by the late Nathaniel Kleitman, Ph.D., can help you determine if you need more sleep
- Lie down in your darkened bedroom to take a nap during the early afternoon. Hold a spoon over a metal tray placed on the floor beside your bed, noting the time
- When you fall asleep and the spoon crashes down onto the tray, waking you up, immediately check the time and note how much time has passed
- If you fell asleep within five minutes, it means you’re severely sleep deprived; if it took you 10 minutes to fall asleep, you could use more sleep, but if you managed to stay awake for 15 minutes or more before falling asleep, you’re probably well rested
Original Source:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/05/18/sleep-onset-latency-test.aspx
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By Dr. Mercola
Are you tired? If your answer is yes, it would seem relatively straightforward to assume you’re not getting enough sleep. Yet, signs of sleep deprivation may not always be this obvious (and there are other factors besides sleep loss that can make you feel fatigued). The late Nathaniel Kleitman, Ph.D., professor emeritus in physiology at the University of Chicago, came up with one of the simplest tests to determine if you’re sleep deprived — and as a pioneer in sleep research, he was well qualified to know.
Not only did Kleitman co-discover REM sleep, but he published the first major textbook on sleep (“Sleep and Wakefulness” in 1939). He even stayed awake for 180 hours to figure out what sleep deprivation does to your body. Kleitman also spent more than one month underground in a cave — an environment without sunlight or schedules — in order to track changes in wakefulness and circadian rhythm.1 So when he suggested a way to test yourself for sleep deprivation, people took notice.
Sleep Deprived? Take the Sleep Onset Latency Test to Find Out
Kleitman’s sleep onset latency test sounds complicated, but it’s quite simple. And, “It’s based on solid science,” said Dr. Michael Mosley, who is both a physician and a journalist for BBC in the U.K.2 Here’s how it works: In the early afternoon, grab a spoon and head off to your darkened bedroom to take a nap. Place a metal tray on the floor beside your bed, and hold the spoon over the tray as you attempt to fall asleep.
Be sure to check the time as well. Next, when you inevitably fall asleep and the spoon crashes down onto the tray, waking you up, immediately check the time again and note how much time has passed.
If you fell asleep within five minutes, it means you’re severely sleep deprived, according to Kleitman. If it took you 10 minutes to fall asleep, this is still a sign that you could use more sleep. If, however, you managed to stay awake for 15 minutes or more before falling asleep, you’re probably well rested.3 If you don’t happen to have a spoon and metal tray handy, you can still take this test by setting an alarm for 15 minutes to see if you fall asleep before it goes off, Dr. Mosley adds.