Whether it’s sipping decaffeinated hot tea, blocking out all noise and light or spritzing lavender on a cushy pillow, many of us do what we can to get a blissful night’s rest. Take this quiz to figure out your sleep personality, and find strategies best suited to your sleep style.

Next questions are designed to test sleep knowledge. Answers address sleep disorders, myths, drowsy driving, age-related changes and sleep need.

Please choose True of False for each statement and check your answers below!

1- During sleep, your brain rests.

2- You cannot learn to function normally with one or two fewer hours of sleep a night than you need.

3- Boredom makes you feel sleepy, even if you have had enough sleep.

4- Resting in bed with your eyes closed cannot satisfy your body’s need to sleep.

5- Snoring is not harmful as long as it doesn’t disturb others or wake you up.

6- Everyone dreams every night.

7- The older you get the fewer hours of sleep you need.

8- Most people don’t know when they are sleepy.

9- Raising the volume of your radio will help you stay awake while driving.

10- Sleep disorders are mainly due to worry or psychological problems.

11- The human body never adjusts to night shift work.

12- Most sleep disorders go away even without treatment.

Answers

1 False. While your body rests your brain doesn’t. An active brain during sleep prepares us for alertness and peak functioning the next day.
2 True. Sleep need is biological. While children need more sleep than adults, how much sleep any individual needs is genetically determined. Most adults need eight hours of sleep to function at their best. How to determine what you need? Sleep until you wake up on your own…without an alarm clock. Feel rested? That’s your sleep need. You can teach yourself to sleep less, but not to need less sleep.
3 False. When people are active, they usually don’t feel sleepy. When they take a break from activity, or feel bored, they may notice that they are sleepy. However, what causes sleepiness most is sleep loss: not getting the sleep you need. Adults who don’t get enough good sleep feel sleepy when they’re bored. Boredom, like a warm or dark room, doesn’t cause sleepiness, it merely unmasks it.
4 True. Sleep is as necessary to health as food and water, and rest is no substitute for sleep. As noted above, sleep is an active process needed for health and alertness. When you don’t get enough sleep you need, your body builds up a sleep debt. Sooner or later, this debt must be paid…with sleep. If you drive when you are sleepy, you place yourself and others at risk because drowsy drivers can fall asleep at the wheel with little or no warning. Sleepiness contributes to driver inattention, which is related to one million crashes each year, and climbing.
5 False. Snoring may indicate the presence of a life-threatening sleep disorder called sleep apnea. People with sleep apnea snore loudly and arouse repeatedly during the night, gasping for breath. These repeated awakenings lead to severe daytime sleepiness, which raises the risk for accidents and heart problems. Yet 95% of those with sleep apnea remain unaware that they have a serious disorder. The good news: with treatment, patients can improve their sleep and alertness, and reduce their risk for accidents and health problems. Physicians and sleep specialists should be consulted.
6 True. Though many people fail to remember their dreams, dreaming does occur for every person, every night. Dreams are most vivid during REM or rapid eye movement sleep.
7 False. Sleep need remains unchanged throughout adulthood. Older people may wake more frequently through the night and may sleep less, but their sleep is no less than during young adulthood. When older people sleep less at night, they tend to sleep more during the day. Sleep difficulties are not a normal part of aging, although they are all too common. If poor sleep habits, pain, or health conditions make sleeping difficult, a physician can help.
8 True. Researchers asked thousands of people over the years if they’re sleepy, only to be told “no” just before the individuals fell asleep. What does this mean? Many people don’t know if they are sleepy, when they are sleepy, or why they are sleepy. When driving, don’t think you can tough if out if you’re sleepy but only a few miles from your destination. If you are sleepy enough, you can fall asleep…..anywhere.
9 False. If you’re having trouble staying awake while driving, the only short-term solution is to pull over at a safe place and take a short nap or have a caffeinated drink. Doing both – for example, drinking coffee then napping before the caffeine kicks in – may be even better. However, the only long-term solution is prevention…starting out well rested after a good night’s sleep. Research shows that loud radios, like chewing gum and open windows, fails to keep sleepy drivers alert.
10 False. Stress is the number one reason people report insomnia (difficulty falling or staying asleep). However stress accounts for only a fraction of people who suffer either chronic insomnia or difficulty staying alert during the day. Sleep disorders have a variety of causes. Sleep apnea, for example, is caused by an obstruction in the airway during sleep. Narcolepsy, which is characterized by severe daytime sleepiness and sudden sleep attacks, appears to be genetic. No one knows yet what causes restless legs syndrome, in which creepy, crawly feelings arise in the legs and are relieved momentarily by motion.
11 True. All living things (people, animals, even plants) have a circadian or about 24-hour rhythm. This affects when we feel sleepy and alert. Light and dark cycles set these circadian rhythms. When you travel across time zones, your circadian rhythm adjusts when the light and dark cycle changes. For shift workers, the light and dark cycle doesn’t change. Therefore a shift worker’s circadian rhythm never adjusts. Whether you work the night shift or not, you are likely to feel more sleepy between midnight and six a.m. And no matter how many years one works the night shift, sleeping during the day remains difficult. Shift workers should avoid caffeine during the last half of their workdays, block out noise and light at bedtime, and stay away from alcohol and alerting activities before going to sleep.
12 False. Unfortunately, many people who suffer from sleep disorders don’t realize that they have a disorder or that it can be treated. But sleep disorders don’t disappear without treatment. Treatment may be behavioral (for example, going to sleep and waking at the same time every day, scheduling naps, or losing weight), pharmacological (involving medication), surgical, or a combination. Untreated sleep disorders may have serious negative effects, worsening quality of life, school and work performance, and relationships. Worse, untreated sleep disorders may lead to accidents and death.

Correct Analysis

11-12 Congratulations, you’re a sleep genius!
8-10 Not bad! Learn more facts about sleep to improve your life.
4-7 Study the answers and you’ll see why sleep is so important!
1-3 It’s never too late to learn about sleep! Why not start now?