Waking suddenly in the middle of the night is common and usually harmless. During deep sleep, the body is relaxed and restored, but “without warning, something shifts… You are awake.” These moments, called Middle-of-the-Night (MOTN) awakenings, often pass quickly unless something interrupts the return to sleep. For many people, that interruption is checking the time. Looking at the clock can quickly turn calm wakefulness into stress. Seeing the hour triggers anxious thoughts such as “How many hours until my alarm?” and “What if I don’t fall back asleep?” This habit, known as temporal monitoring, pushes the brain into alert mode....
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