Debunking Sleep Series Part 2: Our greatest frenemy (our alarm to wake up)
One of the worst feelings in the world is hearing your blaring alarm going off early in the morning to get you ready for your day.
Whether you are heading to work, school, the gym, taking care of family members, shopping, etc, the sound is one that can instantly ruin your mood in the morning. If you’re like me, I even tried playing a song I really liked instead of the typical alarm sound - now, I hate the song.
One thing that fascinated me about sleep is why we hate waking up so much and why our alarms just make it so much worse!
Have you ever asked yourself why?
There is actually a psychological reason this happens: classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning was established a long time ago by a guy named Pavlov, who showed that our brains have the ability to learn that if we are exposed to a stimulus over and over, a learnt behavior will happen. Famously, he conducted a study where food was presented at the ring of a bell to dogs, and, eventually, the dogs learned to start drooling when they heard the bell ring regardless if the food was there in front of them - aka a learnt behavior.
Now, how this applies to you is that every morning your hear your alarm, you instantly feel angry, sad and/or anxious that you have to wake up and get started on your day. This is a learnt behavior associated with the stimulus (your alarm).
Have you ever been somewhere and you hear the same alarm that you use to wake up on someone else’s phone? In that moment, your heart probably dropped, you jumped because it caught you off guard, you got angry instantly, or something similar.
Your reaction to the alarm sound is the learnt behavior that you have adapted due to the associations the alarm has with your daily life.
Another element of why we hate waking up is the escape that it provides our mind and body. Sleeping is supposed to be peaceful. Maybe the processes of going to sleep is rough for you, but once you’re actually asleep, your mind and body get to rest. In our busy lives, this moment of escape, the ability to shut off physical pain, etc. is one that we, as humans, cherish and alternatively take for granted. That being said, that is also why we hate waking up.
If we are enduring physical or mental pain in our every day lives, we tend to sleep more in order to rest, relax or escape.
Our alarms then become our frenemy, because they are disrupting our chance to escape or relax. Just like when you’re enjoying your favorite show and a commercial starts right at a good part. You get frustrated that this outside source is interrupting your chance to relax and enjoy.
When thinking about your relationship with your alarm, try reframing your thoughts to one’s of gratitude. Maybe thinking “I get the opportunity to wake up today” or “It’s a new day, let’s see what is in store”.
Yes, these are cliches and can sound annoying, but, maybe, changing our mindsets will make us accept our frenemy more.
As always, stay humble.
Emily
