Get Virtual Care
Sleep stages
A sleep stage is one of the five stages of sleep, which differ from one another by the brain's activity. Four of the stages are called non-REM sleep, and the other is REM (or Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. REM sleep is when we dream. Non-REM sleep is stages 1 to 4, representing increasing depth of sleep.
Dr. Jeff Livingston reviewed this
24 year experience in Obstetrics and Gynecology
How long it usually lasts:
Related questions
A 33-year old asked:
What are the different sleep stages?
3 doctor answers • 5 doctors weighed in
A 22-year old female asked:
Every once in a blue moon, once i cross over from the awake to sleeping stage, i wake up coughing, and needing air. Its so weird.
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
A 35-year old asked:
Can eegs show the different sleep stages?
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in
A 38-year old asked:
Can sleep stages be detected by wrist actigraphy?
1 doctor answer • 3 doctors weighed in
A 32-year old asked:
Can dreams occur only in REM sleep stage or in all stages of sleep?
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
A 40-year old asked:
Can you enter sleep at REM and skip over the previous sleep stages?
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in
A 40-year old asked:
Will be on oxygen while sleeping affect my progression through sleep stages?
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in
A 44-year old asked:
Been prescribed clonazepam for anxiety and sleep disorder? What sleep stages will it affect and how
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
A 35-year old asked:
What causes sleep paralysis? What stages sleep is this in?
3 doctor answers • 5 doctors weighed in
A 24-year old female asked:
I am experiencing leg numbness, fainting, loss of consciousness , random episodes of first stage sleep spells and temporary paralysis anxiety itching of my hands legs and ankles. I have been diagnosed with idiopathic spells not sure if its epilepsy?
2 doctor answers • 4 doctors weighed in
A 44-year old asked:
What stage of sleep am I in if I feel like i'm falling?
2 doctor answers • 6 doctors weighed in
A 47-year old asked:
What number of stages of sleep are there?
1 doctor answer • 3 doctors weighed in
A 33-year old asked:
How are the different stages of sleep different?
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in
A 31-year old asked:
What stages of sleep refresh you?
2 doctor answers • 2 doctors weighed in
A 30-year old asked:
Can you tell me exactly when is a person in the deepest stage of sleep?
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
A 33-year old asked:
Please tell me how long it takes for to get in the deepest stage of sleep?
1 doctor answer • 4 doctors weighed in
A 38-year old asked:
What stage of sleep do you start to dream?
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
A 35-year old asked:
Which stage of sleep is it when I am dreaming?
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in
A 46-year old asked:
What stage of sleep is associated with night terrors?
3 doctor answers • 7 doctors weighed in
A 18-year old male asked:
What length should afternoon naps be (taking into consideration the stages of sleep) so that i wake up feeling revitalised and ready to work at night?
2 doctor answers • 5 doctors weighed in
A 22-year old female asked about a 31-year old male:
I'm on venlafaxine. Will my sleep return better(normal stages of sleep) after time.
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in
A 39-year old female asked:
Absent deep sleep during sleep study. Is this stage necessary? What would the symptoms be? How to get deep sleep?
1 doctor answer • 3 doctors weighed in
A 35-year old male asked:
Does amitriptyline help you achieve stage 4 sleep ?
3 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in
A 24-year old female asked:
What are the causes of light stage 1 sleep and the inability to achieve deep sleep, in addition to a hypnagogic state?
1 doctor answer • 3 doctors weighed in
A 40-year old male asked:
What stage of sleep actually makes you feel most rested? I heard REM but when I have dreams those are my worst sleeps???
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
A 36-year old asked:
What are the risks and cures for obstructive stage IV sleep apnea?
4 doctor answers • 7 doctors weighed in
A 31-year old male asked:
Respected Doctor, what can i do to fall into deep sleep? i have sleep initiation issue and even when sleep comes i am like half awake and half asleep due to which I don't feel fresh throughout day. i am unable to go past 1st stage of sleep?
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in
A 32-year old male asked:
Hello, lately I noticed that after dancing at home and making swift movements with my head, the next day in the waking up stage after sleep I get nonsensical thoughts, so to say. My brain is very sensitive to any kind of sudden movement?
1 doctor answer • 1 doctor weighed in
A male asked:
21, male. 40 days and no sleep. Its damaging..so tired I have dreams while awake and can get only minutes of stage 1 sleep. Sporadic fatal insomnia?
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in
A 23-year old male asked:
Will chronic stomach pain prevent me from entering the deeper stages of sleep?
1 doctor answer • 4 doctors weighed in
Download HealthTap
Video visit and message your doctor
