Why is it harder to sleep when you are tired?

• SLEEP Postponing the alarm clock for 10 minutes is bad for your health

• WELLNESS 10 tips to sleep better and fall asleep

Who has not spent

some time when, precisely, the most needed sleep.

Before an exam first thing in the morning, to catch a flight at dawn, for that tormenting decision... and various concerns.

This mental fatigue causes an

and possible secondary anxiety at the same time, explains Dr. Alba García Aragón, a sleep specialist at the Madrid Sleep Research Institute.

By turning our heads so much we are unable to disconnect from our day to day.

"These

can also occur after having performed tasks in our day with great intellectual demand," she notes.

But there is another kind of

one .

It happens, for example, if we have carried out an intense activity, which activates us and keeps us alert or awake.

"There is a tendency to think that the more tired we are, the better we will go to bed and it is totally untrue. A marathon runner,

runners or football players after a game at night

, because your brain is stimulated," says Dr. Eduard Estivill Sancho, specialist in Sleep Medicine and member of Top Doctors.

That is why there are people who prefer to train first thing in the morning instead of in the afternoon, coinciding with circadian rhythms.

SLEEP HYGIENE

Both fatigues, that of the body and that of the mind, result in the

and, with it, of our level of alarm, so that during the night it would be very difficult for us to reduce this activation, both specialists express.

"The result is an increase in the time it takes to

, as well as a more fragmented and lighter rest," summarizes García Aragón.

Be it for one reason or another, our body

for survival and, therefore, we can stay all night in a more superficial and less restful sleep.

In short, of lower quality, waking up in the morning as if we had not rested well.

"The response to stress is to stimulate the production in the adrenal glands of

. Among other functions, it contributes to control. The increase in its secretion is due to the activation of a neuronal circuit whose activity not only alters night rest, but also the immune system", defines the expert from the Sleep Research Institute.

FACTORS THAT MAKE IT WORSE

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There are a number of agents, moreover, that

, and I list these specialists below.

• If we stir up our endorphins four hours before going to sleep with

  intense

  physical exercise , for example, it will affect us.

• Likewise, it is convenient to

  maintain fixed times

  both for going to bed and when the alarm clock rings.

  "Melatonin, a key hormone in sleep, is released nearly three hours later than normal among people with irregular sleep patterns."

• The room where we sleep must be equipped for rest: "It is preferable that

  the bed is that place where we only sleep,

  and not where we watch television, work with the laptop and endless tasks not associated with its usefulness. The space must be calm, without noise and with dim light", points out the doctor.

• Another reason why we can feel that it is difficult for us to sleep is

  a very long nap and after a copious meal

  .

  "We must avoid this type of intake for dinner, as well as stimulant drinks with caffeine, theine and alcohol consumption," advises García Aragón.

  Regarding dinners, Estivill Sancho believes that they have a great influence.

  "We will go to bed

  in full digestion

  and our body will be working at full capacity," he clarifies.

• Fruit

  is also not recommended

  , despite being a healthy food.

  "It is preferable to take it in the afternoon, it takes a long time to digest."

• The doctor provides one more piece of information regarding

  caffeine

  : "It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and what we know today is that its metabolism, that is, the time it takes to eliminate it, is different depending on the person."

  There are those who with a coffee at five in the afternoon can no longer sleep and others have a cup at night and it barely affects them.

CONCLUSIONS

The more we want to sleep, the less we get it.

"Sleep appears when there is a

, which controls wakefulness. If it is not deactivated, we will not be able to sleep. It is the typical situation in which we do not know how to disconnect", summarizes Dr. Estivill Sancho.

He prescribes for his patients to try to forget those worries, although he admits that the theory is very easy to say and the real disconnection more complicated to apply.

What we can do to mitigate this type of situation is to try to have

.

Some tricks: "Turn off screens due to blue light a minimum of two hours before going to bed. Do not look at email or work-related topics that will make us think. And do activities that promote relaxation: meditation, breathing exercises, a light reading... In case of persistence, of course, go to a specialist who, after an accurate diagnosis, indicates the appropriate treatment," the doctors point out.

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