Everything You Need to Know About Placebo Sleep

Having a hectic schedule and a really stressful routine can easily impact your sleep, the lack of which can lead to sleep deprivation and take a toll on your health. But here’s something that will change the way you go about your routine: if you haven’t slept a wink, you might just get through the day by convincing yourself that you rested well the night before.

This is known as “placebo sleep”, which a recent study has shown can improve the cognitive functions of participants regardless of whether they actually had enough rest.

What is the placebo effect?

The placebo effect is simply believing that something is effective, even when it isn’t, can actually have an effect. One case for this is with ordinary sugar pills and gel caps administered to patients who are told that it’s medicine, and their symptoms are shown to improve after some time.

A similar effect can be applied to sleep. You can convince yourself that you’re better rested by simply focusing on the hours of rest that you’ve actually had rather than the ones you missed.  There are other ways you can focus on the placebo effect with, like the following:  

• Changing your outlook – Adopting a positive attitude towards life can improve your overall health, since it encourages you to take better care of yourself.
• Staying active – Just like positive thinking, simply convincing yourself that you have

But while the placebo effect is real, and have positive effects, the question is: should you do it regularly or use it to go on less sleep for an extended period? Probably not.

Simply counting on the placebo effect to substitute for sleep doesn’t guarantee that your body will shrug off stress. In fact, it’s more likely that the effects of deprivation will continue to mount and have a negative impact not just on your body, but also on your overall routine.  

Improving your sleep quality

The best way to make sure you have the energy is simply getting the rest your body needs. Instead of relying only on the placebo effect and tricking yourself about being well-rested, try these tips to make sure you’re definitely well-rested:

• Be consistent. Being in sync with your body’s circadian rhythm makes it easier for you to fall asleep and wake up.
• Sleep at an earlier time. If you’re used to staying up late, sleeping fifteen minutes earlier is a good way to start.
• Stay hydrated. Drinking enough water reduces fatigue and gives you a much-needed boost for brain power and energy.
• Keep your room dark. Bright lights can interfere with the natural sleep cycle, and makes it take longer for you to sleep.