When it comes to sleep, I'm not sure there a topic that frustrates more than waking up at night (sometimes referred to as sleep maintenance insomnia). The struggle to make it from bedtime to wake can be a long and tortuous journey for some.  In this episode we will:explore the history of sleep and nocturnal awakenings define the prevalence of nocturnal awakenings in the adult populationunderstand both the definition of arousal and its relationship to awakeningsinvestigate the concept of sleep efficiency, how it relates to sleep expectation versus sleep need, and how this itself can lead to increased awakenings at nightdetermine how the presence or absence of excessive sleepiness can help to understand the cause and seriousness of nocturnal awakeningslearn the risk factors and predictors that often lead to nocturnal awakeningsfind out that an individual's determination of the cause of their awakenings can be unreliablediscuss the role of sleep studies in determining if there are pathological causes for nocturnal awakeningsexplore the role of anxiety and worry in nocturnal awakeningssummarize the numerous studies that have shown the role of exercise in reducing both frequency and duration of nocturnal awakeningsProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!