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In order to help people who have a sleep disorder, it is important to know what “type” of sleeper they belong to. Do you know if you are a long or short sleeper? Are you more morning or evening? Explanations with Dr François Duforez, sports and sleep doctor.
According to Dr. François Duforez, Sports and sleep doctor and Founder of theEuropean Sleep Centerin 2019, before the pandemic, the French population had slept on average 6h42 per night: “It was the first time that the population had slept less than 7 hours on average per night. This had never happened”.
Long sleeper or short sleeper?
“With the onset of the pandemic, we realized that the environment had a huge influence on the quality of sleep”explained Dr. François Duforez during the Webinar Téraillon devoted to sleep.
As this expert pointed out, if we want to best help people suffering from sleep disorders in order to provide them with the most appropriate advice, other parameters beyond their environment must be taken into account. Indeed, first of all, it is necessary to know if the person is a short or a long sleeper.
Dr. François Duforez recalls that according to epidemiological studies, it would take 7 hours per 24 hours of sleep to recover. But beyond this average for the general population, significant individual disparities exist. We will thus have short sleepers, for whom 6 hours or less of sleep are sufficient to recover and for long sleepers, who need 9 hours of sleep to recover.
Consult a doctor online for your sleep disorders
Morning or evening sleeper?
You know if you are a long or a short sleeper, but do you know if you are a morning or an evening sleeper. Still according to Dr. François Duforez, “There are approximately 25% of people who are evening people, 25% of people who are morning people and the rest being intermediate. It’s deeply genetic.”
To help us identify whether one is morning or evening, the sleep doctor has detailed the profile of a short evening sleeper: “it’s a person who falls asleep at 1 a.m., goes to sleep for 6 a.m. At 7 a.m. this person is in great shape. In terms of work, these are people who are well armed, very vigilant for hours and at the times in the evening. In their family environment, they are exhausting people since not everyone has the same rhythm…”.
THE SLEEP WEEK CHALLENGE, A SOLUTION FOR BETTER SLEEP
According to Téraillon’s press release, a study by the National Institute of Sleep and Vigilance in March 2020 revealed that 64% of French people sleep poorly.
To make it easier to fall asleep, from October 17 to 30, 2022, the Week Sleep Challenge will take place. The concept is simple: it’s a week to teach consumers how to fall asleep well. To do this, all you have to do is meet a series of challenges:
- Day 1: go to bed at a fixed time every night from day one
- Day n°2: lower the temperature of your room to 19°C
- Day 3: Limit the time spent in bed. It should only be used for sleeping
- Day 4: turn off all devices with blue light 1 hour before bedtime (tablet, phone, computer, television, etc.)
- Day 5: from 2 p.m., stop all consumption of stimulating products (coffee, tea, energy drinks, etc.)
- Day 6: allow yourself 20 minutes of relaxation (off-screen) before going to bed.
Ready to take up the challenge?