What’s the difference in quality of rest between sleeping for 6 hours in a dark room vs. laying down for 6 hours in a dark room awake (but with your eyes closed)?
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the difference is that rest is not the same as sleep; so depending on lots of other variables youd get different results in physical and mental performance at some point after the 6 hours…..maybe +4 hours or +9 hours
Your brain needs sleep for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is memory formation.
Not a sleep expert, but your brain and body both need sleep to perform maintenance functions that cannot be performed while awake.
Your brain processes memories and stores them in long-term memory storage. It also clenses itself of toxins that build up while you’re awake.
Neurons and nerve cells organise themselves and communicate which supports healthy brain function.
The body repairs damaged cells, releases hormones and proteins, and restores energy.
Think of it like performing maintenance on a highway bridge. Limited maintenance can be performed while the bridge is open, but to perform in depth and proper maintenance, the bridge needs to be closed to traffic so the crews can work on all of it at once.
Sleep alone isn’t enough to allow the maintenance to occur, it has to be the right amount and quality of sleep to get the full benefit. Imagine the bridge repair crew having to stop their work every 30 minutes to allow a few vehicles through, it would impact the efficiency and quality of their work.
That is where the 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep figure comes from. The bridge repair crew needs the bridge closed for 6 hours to perform the maintenance work and have it ready for traffic in the morning.
In my experience, rest is better than nothing but it doesn’t substitute sleep. I do wonder what the action percentage is of efficiency compared to getting a full nights rest, but I doubt its 20-30%
We need REM ( Rapid eye movement) sleep. I suffer with sleep apnea (I snore so badly I actually stop breathing 40 times per hour ) and once diagnosed and started on a CPAP machine the difference was amazing. I was “resting” as you described, but never achieving a deep (REM) sleep. This led to feeling tired and foggy most of the day, crankiness, depression and could have led to other health problems. While your body can rest as you lie awake, your brain needs deep sleep.
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