I’ll Paint You a picture
00:00 The blanket gets pulled over my body, the light turns off
00:10 i am asleep
07:00: and ambulance passes by, a ray of sub hits my face directly, i have go to the bathroom whatever It Is, i wake up
07:05 situation solved. Given my alarm Is at 8, I try go back to sleep.
07:30: given i’m still awake, I decide to fully get out of bed, since 30mins isn’t worth It
This happens to me at least weekly. Why? Why Is going back to sleep once You’ve been women up so much harder than going to sleep the First time?
In: Biology
If you’re startled awake, your body may be filled with a rush of adrenaline (sort of a built-in unga bunga caveman instinct that keeps you awake & alert to fight the saber-toothed tiger that just invaded your cave-village).
Nowadays, we don’t usually have to fight off vicious creatures in the middle of the night; but we still possess those chemical pathways and responses that have allowed us to survive all these years. Unfortunately for you, it’s hard for your sleeping body to differentiate between an ambulance siren and a saber-toothed tiger — so it sends all the signals, hormones, etc. anyway just in case it’s the big cat.
For the other, non-startling situations (like going to the bathroom), it’s possible that your body didn’t start sending “wake-up signals” until you actually walked around a bit more. That would explain why you were still tired while initially sitting on the toilet, but you found it difficult to sleep after walking back to bed. It’s like your body/brain said, “Ah, yes, this extra walking confirms that we want to be awake right now! I’ll send all the appropriate hormones.”
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