有些睡眠問題是很明顯的：如果你整晚都在床上翻燒餅，或是每個小時都會醒來一次，那么你的睡眠明顯是出了問題。但有時候，睡眠質量問題則并沒有那么明顯。而且直到現在，也沒有一個官方的指標來定義到底怎樣才是“良好的睡眠”。

好消息是，上個月全美睡眠協會在《睡眠健康》期刊上發布了一份“睡眠質量建議”，這也是有史以來第一份比較嚴謹的關于睡眠質量的推薦指標。這些指導標準是由一個醫療專家委員會在277份相關研究的基礎上制訂的。我們可以利用它給出的一些標準，測試一下自己的睡眠質量。

賓西法尼亞大學精神病學副教授、睡眠專家菲利浦?格爾曼指出，如果有人擔心自己的睡眠質量有問題，就可以利用這些新標準進行自測?！八粌H能讓人知道自己的睡眠質量是否不足，而且也能讓一些以為自己睡眠質量很差的人明白，自己的睡眠質量其實還是在正常范疇的。（格爾曼并未參與這些新指導標準的制訂。）

這些指導標準在好幾個指標上都劃出了“適當”和“不適當”的范疇。這些指標包括入睡所需的時間、每天夜里醒幾次、從醒來到再次入睡的時間，以及睡眠時間與床上時間的比例等等。根據這些發現，成年人的睡眠質量至少應該達到以下標準——另外，格爾曼還提供了一些關于如何實現這些目標的建議。

能在30分鐘內入睡

如果你在夜里需要半小時以上才能入睡，那很可能是由于兩個原因：“要么對于你的生物鐘來說，你上床太早了，你的生理和心理上還沒做好睡覺的準備；要么你在睡前做了一些刺激性太強的活動。”

格爾曼還表示，長時間難以入睡是非常令人沮喪的，并且可能導致焦慮和持續性的睡眠問題。為了避免這一點，你最好把睡前一小時的時間用來做一些放松性的活動——也就是說，不要收發跟工作有關的電子郵件，也不要玩電腦。如果這也不管用的話，你可以推遲一些自己的睡眠時間，等你真的感到累了再上床睡覺。

每天晚上醒來（指五分鐘以上）不超過一次

（對于65歲以上的老年人，每天醒來兩次也是可以接受的。）格爾曼表示：“如果你夜里醒來幾次，然后翻了個身又睡過去了，這并不是什么問題。”不過如果你擔心你醒得太頻繁是由于健康問題，那就應該去看看醫生了。

“這有可能是胃酸反流的跡象，也有可能是吃飯與睡覺的間隔太短了。”他說：“也有可能是睡眠呼吸暫停癥，或是由于其他疼痛或不適導致的?！比绻阕约赫也坏揭粋€明顯的原因——比如你的狗睡覺時蹬了一下腿——那么下次就診的時候，你就要向醫生反映了。

能在20分鐘之內重新入睡

（老人可能需要30分鐘。）“一般在醒來后10到15分鐘，我們的身體還保持著鎮靜和放松狀態。一旦你過了這個時間點，你就會發現自己睡不著了，你的身體就會觸發一系列反應，讓你越來越清醒?！?

格爾曼表示，一旦你醒來后超過20分鐘還沒有再次入睡，你就可以下床做一些放松的活動——最好不要看電視或者玩電腦。你可以看看書，聽聽播客，玩玩拼色板。這樣做看似是反直覺的，然而這種分心恰恰是你的大腦重新進入睡眠所需要的。

在床上的時間有85%在睡覺

如果你能達到以上三個標準，那么達到最后一個也是水到渠成的事了。我們最好記住，臥室應該只是做兩件事情的地方——睡覺和啪啪啪。他表示：“盡量不要把床用作其他用途”，尤其是看電視、玩手機或是做任何與工作相關的事情。

此次發布的睡眠質量標準已經獲得了美國解剖學會、美國神經學會、美國生理學會、美國老年學會、人類解剖學與生理學會、生物節奏研究協會、人類發展研究協會和女性健康研究協會等健康組織的認可。

該論文的作者們表示，這些新指標可以幫助醫生和患者更好地鑒別睡眠健康水平，而且也給數百萬使用商用睡眠監測設備的消費者提供了很高的參考價值。

不過格爾曼也提醒道，不要過于輕信睡眠監測設備的數據。雖然睡眠監測技術已經被研究了很多年了，而且很多科研級的設備也相當不錯，但商用級產品的精確性卻是沒有任何證據能夠確認的。一些研究也表明，商用睡眠監測設備的精確度與科學家和睡眠醫生所使用的科研級設備完全不在一個水平線上。

格爾曼表示：“它們可以提供一些有用的信息，但你對它的信任應該是有保留的?！彼€表示，要想知道你的睡眠質量究竟怎樣，你自身的感覺（無論是白天還是晚上）仍然應該是你最重要的指標。 （財富中文網）

本文原載于Health.com。

譯者：樸成奎

Some sleep problems are obvious: When you’re tossing and turning all night, or waking up every hour, it’s clear that something’s wrong. But sometimes, sleep quality can be more ambiguous. And until now, there weren’t any real guidelines to define what, exactly, good sleep really is.

That changed last month when the National Sleep Foundation published a first-of-its-kind set of sleep-quality recommendations in the journal Sleep Health. These guidelines, established by a panel of medical experts and based on a review of 277 previous studies, include several measures people can use to determine how well they’re really sleeping at night.

Sleep-medicine specialist Philip Gehrman, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, says these new guidelines can be helpful for anyone who’s wondered if their terrible night’s sleep was as bad as it seemed. “Not only will it help people know when their sleep is poor,” he says, “but sometimes people think they are bad sleepers when really they’re in the normal range.” (Gehrman was not involved in crafting the new guidelines.)

The recommendations determined “appropriate” and “inappropriate” ranges for several indicators of good sleep quality, including the time spent drifting off, number of times you wake up at night, time it takes for you to fall back asleep, and percentage of total time in bed spent snoozing. Based on those findings, here are the goals adults should aim for—plus advice from Gehrman on how achieve them.

You fall asleep in 30 minutes or less

If it takes you longer than half an hour to fall asleep at night, it’s likely for one of two reasons: “Either you’re going to bed too early for your internal clock, when you’re not physically and mentally ready for sleep,” says Gehrman, “or you’re engaging in activities that are too stimulating before bed.”

Lying awake is frustrating, he adds, and can lead to anxiety and continued sleep problems. To avoid it, reserve the hour before bed for relaxing activities—that means no work emails or computer time. If that doesn’t do the trick, try changing up your sleep schedule so you go to bed later, when you actually feel tired.

You wake up—for five minutes or longer—no more than once a night

(For adults 65 and older, twice a night is appropriate, as well.) “If you wake up a few times and roll over and go right back to sleep, that’s no big deal,” says Gehrman. But if you suspect you’re waking up often because of a health issue, it’s worth talking to your doctor.

“It could be a sign of acid reflux, or eating too close to bedtime,” he says, “or it could be due to sleep apnea, or pain or discomfort.” If you can’t pinpoint an obvious cause—like your dog kicking while he’s dreaming, for example—mention it at your next checkup.

You fall back asleep within 20 minutes

(Older adults may take a little longer, up to 30 minutes.) “We usually have 10 or 15 minutes after waking up when our body is calm and relaxed,” says Gehrman. “But once you hit the point where you realize you’re not getting back to sleep, it can trigger a cascade of feeling more and more alert.”

When you hit the 20-minute mark, he says, get out of bed and do something relaxing—and preferably not TV- or computer-related—like reading a book, listening to a podcast, or coloring. It may seem counterintuitive, but the distraction could be what your brain needs to finally fall back asleep.

You’re asleep 85% of the time you spend in bed

If you follow the first three guidelines, this last one will likely take care of itself. But it’s a good overall reminder, says Gehrman, that the bedroom should be for two things only: sleep and sex. “Try to minimize the use of the bed for other activities,” he says, especially watching television, scrolling through your phone, or doing anything work-related.

The new guidelines have been endorsed by the American Association of Anatomists, American Academy of Neurology, American Physiological Society, Gerontological Society of America, Human Anatomy and Physiology Society, Society for Research on Biological Rhythms, Society for Research of Human Development, and Society for Women’s Health Research.

The authors say the recommendations can help both doctors and patients better define sleep health, and can also provide valuable context for the millions of consumers using commercial sleep trackers, as well.

Gehrman cautions against reading too much into sleep-tracker data, however. Sleep-tracking technology has been studied for years, and many research-grade devices are quite good, he says. But commercial products have little to no evidence to validate their accuracy, and several studies have shown they don’t work nearly as well as those used by scientists and sleep doctors.

“They can provide useful information, but they should always be taken with a grain of salt,” says Gehrman. When it comes to really understanding how well you’re sleeping, he says, how you feel—both while you’re in bed and during the day—should still be your most important indicator.

This article originally appeared on Health.com