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Can’t sleep? You may be too tired. How to settle your brain and beat insomnia

Adults, like babies, can become overtired. Experts explain why it makes sleeping hard and how to break the cycle. Counting sheep won’t work

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Overtiredness inhibits the body’s ability to sleep. Experts share strategies for getting a good night’s rest. Photo: Shutterstock
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It typically happens to babies and young children: they become “overtired” and cannot sleep, often because they have been awake too long.

But adults can become overtired too, robbing them of longed-for sleep that can set a vicious cycle in motion.

Two experts explain what overtiredness is and how to break the cycle.

Overtiredness is feeling exhausted while your brain is overstimulated and in a state of hyperarousal, Matt Jones, professor of neuroscience at the University of Bristol in England, says in an interview with BBC Science Focus magazine.

Matt Jones, professor of neuroscience at the University of Bristol, says overtiredness inhibits important processes such as the build-up of “sleep pressure”. Photo: University of Bristol
Matt Jones, professor of neuroscience at the University of Bristol, says overtiredness inhibits important processes such as the build-up of “sleep pressure”. Photo: University of Bristol
This state inhibits important processes such as the build-up of “sleep pressure” during waking hours – that is, an increase in the concentration of various neurochemicals and hormones in the brain, such as adenosine, that allow your body to sleep, he explains.
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