Professor reveals two things that make you wake up at 3am every night

Frequently waking up in the dead of night can not only ruin your sleep, but also turn you into a complete zombie for the entirety of the next day.

If your slumber is repeatedly broken at around 3am, there is a strong chance that something you are doing is causing this often infuriating sleep problem. However, a health expert has explained that you might be making a fateful mistake.

Assistant Professor in Mental Health at Warwick Medical School, Talar Moukhtarian, said that it can be extremely frustrating to wake up in the latter half of the night, which can have serious impacts on your mind and body if it happens frequently.

She explained that it is quite common for people to find themselves waking up at the same annoying time every night, also pointing out in The Conversation that most will wake up several times every night but fall back asleep so quickly that they don't remember it.

It can be hard to know what to do when it feels like your body is working against you (Getty Stock Image)

However, frequent mid-sleep awakenings will leave you struggling to think straight during the day as it has interrupted one of the most important parts of your sleep cycle.

Professor Moukhtarian explained: "Sleep does not unfold in one long, uninterrupted stretch. Throughout the night, the brain moves through repeating sleep cycles that last around 90 to 110 minutes.

"Each cycle includes several stages: light sleep, deep sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when most dreaming occurs. Most adults go through four to six of these cycles each night."

As each sleeper approaches the latter end of this cycle, their sleep becomes lighter and lighter. This is when you are most likely to jolt awake, as your body begins to prepare for the day ahead by increasing levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

This is a perfectly normal part of how our body wakes up every night, but if your mind is weighed down with stress and worry, it can trigger this common sleep frustration.

Consuming the wrong things and letting life get to you can put you in an exhausting cycle of insomnia (Getty Stock Image)

Moukhtarian said: "But if your mind is already crowded with worries about work, relationships or everyday pressures, a brief awakening can quickly turn into a full spell of overthinking. At night there are fewer distractions, so thoughts that might seem manageable during the day can feel louder and harder to escape.

"Unsurprisingly, stress and rumination are strongly linked to insomnia symptoms, and can make it much harder to fall back asleep after waking."

It is not just stress and worry that can trigger this mid-sleep waking either, two of the most commonly consumed substances on Earth, caffeine and alcohol, can also cause this issue.

For its part, alcohol can help you to fall asleep quicker, but its effects on your body naturally cause a more fragmented sleep that is easier to wake up from. For caffeine, its long half life as it breaks down in your system over more than six hours can jolt you awake.

The mental health expert also pointed out that other smaller factors can contribute to this disordered sleep, like not following a regular bedtime, or 'doomscrolling' for too long on your phone while you're in bed.

But the main two problems for the chronically sleep deprived tend to be having high stress levels, and necking coffee, or a pint, far too late in the day.

What you can do to fix the problem

You can fix your brain's random 3am alarm clock by making some simple changes in your life (Getty Stock)

Assistant Professor Moukhtarian had some handy advice for people experiencing this issue, which can turn into chronic insomnia if you allow your body to fall into a pattern of disordered sleep.

She advised: “Small changes in routine can help the body settle into a steadier rhythm. These are often referred to as good sleep hygiene: habits that support healthy sleep. Keeping a consistent wake-up time, even after a poor night, helps anchor the body clock and stabilise sleep patterns.

“Allowing time to unwind before bed, limiting caffeine and alcohol later in the day, and creating a calm sleep environment can also reduce night awakenings. If you lie awake for a long time, it can help to get out of bed briefly and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy again. That helps break the link between bed and wakefulness.

“Managing stress during the day can also make a difference, reducing the chance of going to bed already tense and alert. Journaling, yoga, meditation, breathing exercises and mindfulness can all help calm the mind before sleep.

“So while waking at 3am can feel unsettling, occasional nighttime awakening is part of how sleep works. Understanding what is happening in the body, and how stress and daily habits can shape sleep, can make those middle-of-the-night moments feel a little less alarming.”