You may be sleeping more than you think

Off-Broadway, “Sleepwalk With Me” was TimeOut’s Show of the Year in 2008, and in 2012 the movie version won a Sundance Film Festival NEXT Audience Award. Seems everyone loved comedian Mike Birbiglia’s tale of lost love and his ever-worsening REM disorder that caused him to engage in bizarre activities while snoozing: attacking a hamper, waltzing naked through hotels, meandering outdoors, risking life and limb.

Such behaviour is not so uncommon. A 2012 study found that more than eight million Americans are sleepwalkers, who act like they’re awake but are totally unaware of what they’re doing.

What about folks who have chronic insomnia and swear that they’re awake when they are, in fact, sleeping? Sounds strange, but it’s characteristic of almost anyone with chronic sleep issues. Now researchers know why. For a new study published in the journal Sleep, researchers tracked the brain activity of 32 people with insomnia and found that, after falling asleep, they still showed high activity in the areas of the brain tied to consciousness.

So if you feel like you’re tossing and turning all night, the researchers suggest that cognitive behavioural therapy and perhaps medication can let you appreciate the sleep you do get and increase its quality. You also might try a sleep tracker. Brown University tested 10 of them and found that the “Fitbit Alta seems to be the most accurate ... in terms of sleep versus awake data.” It might help you feel more rested just to know that you actually are sleeping.