Why do I wake up at 3am?

94 Answers Moderated by Anna Pavia, psicologa psicoterapeuta psychotherapist psychologist counselor Updated: May 2, 2022

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theveggiebunny on Aug 30, 2015

I wake up at three am because when life is falling apart during the day, my brain processes at night and shows me all my fears but in an overly dramatic way. Being awake may still feel better than being asleep

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Anonymous on Sep 2, 2015

Sometimes the human mind records a specific time to wake up because their minds fall out of the sleep paralysis

lachat on Sep 4, 2015

Age is an enemy of sleep. Childlike sleep is sound sleep for it is not burdened with care or sorrows that come our way as we grow up. I now usually wake at 3 am because the thought of my young son who died in a road accident keeps haunting me.

Anonymous on Sep 18, 2015

There could be something on your mind that's making you wake up this early. Try and clear your head.

joce92 on Oct 29, 2015

There could be lots of reasons, you could be waking up from a dream, you might even be fully rested by then! if you are stressed, that could also be the reason, Talk to your doctor, they might be able to help !

LunaDesireeFuller on Oct 29, 2015

Your body could be naturally waking you up because of your body clock/sleep pattern- you could be stressed or even uncomfortable. Maybe you have dreams that wake you up but you do not remember having them?

Peacefulmeditation on Aug 19, 2015

Everybody has a different circadian rhythm.  Usually it's from 4-10 hours for adults.   Other causes can be nightmares to environmental intrusions. 

Anonymous on Aug 20, 2015

i wake up at 3am because of my cat! she gets a wild burst of energy in the early hours of the morning. 

SpiritedMeteor on Aug 20, 2015

I wake up most often because my boyfriend is not great at snoozing! He needs a lot less sleep than I do; I could sleep for hours and hours past him. Fortunately, he's courteous enough to head into the living room when he wakes up to find something quiet to do. He's always been very considerate in that.

Anonymous on Aug 20, 2015

Sometimes i have nightmares and then i wake up. This feeling really sucks . I usually try to calm down after that: Drink some water , take a deep breath or go on Tumblr . It really helps me to calm myself , so i can sleep fine after that. (: