There is nothing better for getting the day started off right than waking up in a good mood.   This is especially true if we weren't in the best of moods when we went to sleep.  Well there is good news from the sleep researchers.   The sleep we get while we are dreaming helps us wake up in a better mood.

A recent study by researchers at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, demonstrated that the more REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep we get the more likely we are to wake up feeling positive and upbeat.

Their study measured overnight mood and depression change in 30 men and 30 women and revealed that increased REM sleep time contributes significantly toward reducing negative mood overnight. The researchers used mood and depression scales combined with sleep and dream content measurements collected over two nights in a sleep lab to observe these results.

REM sleep, also commonly known as dreaming sleep, is one of the two types of sleep we experience during a sleep cycle.   During recent years sleep researchers have been discovering more and more relationships between REM sleep and emotional relaxation and rejuvenation.   This study continues to affirm that connection. The other type of sleep we experience is known as NREM or Non-REM, which includes the deep or Delta sleep that provides for daily physical and mental rest and renewal.

What can a person do to get more REM sleep?   Basically, just sleep a little longer.   A person will typically experience a period of REM sleep every 60-90 minutes starting approximately 90 minutes into the sleep cycle.   The first REM period is only about five minutes long, but the duration increases with each REM period with the fourth or fifth period lasting up to an hour.  It is because of this characteristic of REM sleep that people who sleep for seven hours or more get significantly more REM sleep than those sleeping six hours or less.

The chart below is the typical adult sleep cycle prepared by Quanta Dynamics illustrates this relationship between REM and non-REM sleep.¹   It shows the approximate timing of the last lengthy REM sleep period and the significance of that extra hour of sleep if we want to wake up feeling good.

The study conducted by Drs. R.D. Cartwright, A. Luten, A. Patel, and M. Yound was presented during the 11th Annual Conference of APSS meeting in San Francisco, California, in June 1997.  All of the subjects were screened in advance to eliminate those suffering from depression, and all were drug and alcohol free.   They all also agreed to regularize their sleep patterns prior to the test.

¹ Please note: This diagram of the Natural Sleep Cycle represents a broad generalization of typical sleep patterns. Sleep patterns are unique to each individual and vary between age groups.