 Hey, Psych2Goers, and welcome back to another video. Are you having trouble getting a full night's rest? Do you go to bed at 11pm helping for a good night's sleep, but wind up waking somewhere between 3am and 5am instead? Do you feel tired, foggy, and sluggish when you don't get enough sleep? A good night's sleep is very important for your health. Are you struggling to get enough sleep at night because of this? If so, let's find out what may be interfering with your natural sleep patterns. Number 1 – Your Lifestyle Choices How much of your daily and nightly routine do you build around ensuring a good night's sleep? Your daily and nightly routines are what will help determine how well you sleep at night. These five things can disturb your sleep patterns – drinking, caffeine, or alcohol before going to bed, eating food right before bedtime, staying up late on your phone or your computer, taking a nap too late in the day, and smoking. So we all want to stay up to date on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. When you stay up late checking your feed and scrolling through your phone, it'll only make getting to sleep that much harder for you. And with the business of your day, you might start to feel run down and droopy-eyed. But if you lie down and take a nap in the late afternoon or early evening, you'll be too alert and awake by bedtime to even be able to go to sleep. If you struggle with waking up in the middle of the night, think about your daily and nightly routines and try to weed out some bad habits that may be hindering you from getting proper sleep at night. If you make the changes you need for a good night's rest, then you'll be well on your way to sleeping through the night. Number two, your emotional state. Can you recall a period of time when you slept well every single night? Did you have better sleep during a lighter, happier time in your life? Your emotional state has a significant effect on how you sleep and your quality of sleep. Your emotional state can be left in turmoil if you're experiencing a time of heightened stress or anxiety. And this can lead to sleep disturbances. Stress and anxiety trigger your ingrained fight or flight feeling. And this will elevate your heart rate, quicken your breathing and increase the stress hormones in your body, all of which make it more difficult for you to sleep peacefully. If you're struggling with sleep and anxiety in your life, try a guided meditation before bedtime. Deep breathing exercises will also help you relax enough for sleep. Taking a hot shower or bath will help de-stress you enough to wind down properly for bedtime. These tips can help you with your stress or anxiety and in turn help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Number three, low blood sugar. Did you know that low blood sugar can cause your brain to wake you up in the middle of the night? Your brain is very active during the night as it regenerates, repairs and converts your short-term memories into long-term memories while you sleep. However, since it's so active during the night, it also uses up a lot of your energy reserves. If you suffer from low blood sugar levels, your brain will consume most of your energy reserves and think that you've run out of fuel. As a result, your brain will release cortisol to make you hungry and wake you up so you can go get something to eat. If you find yourself routinely waking up and going to the kitchen to root around for a midnight snack, you may have low blood sugar levels and this might be the cause of your sleep disturbances. If you're having trouble sleeping through the night and are waking up at odd hours, do you now have a better sense of why this is happening to you? What are other reasons you think could be waking you up at 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below. Please like and share this video if it helped you and you think it could help someone else too. The studies and references used are listed in the description below. Don't forget to hit the subscribe button for more Psych2Go videos and thank you for watching. We'll see you next time.