What’s a ‘sleep debt’? Can I ever pay it back? An expert explains

By Amelia Scott, Honorary Affiliate and Clinical Psychologist at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, and Macquarie University Research Fellow, Macquarie University

Maybe you’re a new parent or someone who lies awake at night. If so, you may have started to worry you’re not getting enough sleep.

Sleep wearables don’t help. They can show your “sleep debt”, a running total of how far you’ve fallen behind.

But the word “debt” assumes your sleep works like a bank account. It assumes lost hours stack up, carry over, and you must eventually repay them in full.

But sleep doesn’t really work this way. And chasing “enough sleep” may not be helping.

What is a sleep debt?

Two…

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