Crisis looming? Concerns after several complaints of sleep troubles

A man has raised an unusual concern after discovering that five of his seven close friends are experiencing similar sleep problems, including difficulty sleeping, waking up exhausted, and having disturbing dreams they often cannot remember.

The man, who asked Mushene to keep his identity anonymous, said the issue became noticeable after several conversations with his friends over the past week.

“Five of us are having that problem,” he told Mushene.

He said his own sleeping pattern recently changed, with nights of struggling to fall asleep followed by waking up feeling tired. He also reported having disturbing dreams but said he would forget them shortly after waking.

The situation became more interesting after a woman who spent a night at his place reportedly told him she had experienced the best sleep she had had in about two weeks.

That prompted him to ask what she meant, and she explained that she had also been struggling with sleep and often woke up feeling exhausted.

Five friends report similar symptoms

The man said he later noticed dark circles under another friend’s eyes and asked whether she was okay.

She reportedly told him she had not been sleeping well and had also been experiencing disturbing dreams that she could barely remember after waking.

During a later gathering involving the seven friends, the topic came up again.

According to the man, three of the group were men and four were women, and another friend said he finally felt as though he had become calmer.

As they discussed the issue, more similarities emerged.

“Out of the seven of us, five of us are having that problem,” the man said.

He added that his friends did not report obvious sources of stress, although he acknowledged that people may not always know or openly discuss what is affecting them.

Why can someone dream but forget it?

Dreaming is a normal part of sleep, particularly during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when brain activity becomes more similar to wakefulness.

Dreams can feel extremely vivid, strange or disturbing, but remembering them is a different matter.

Most dreams are forgotten quickly after waking. Research into dream recall suggests that the timing of waking, sleep stage and individual differences in memory can influence whether a dream remains accessible after waking.

That means forgetting a disturbing dream does not necessarily mean it was not experienced.

Why wake up tired?

A person can spend several hours in bed and still wake up feeling exhausted if their sleep is fragmented or insufficient.

Sleep normally moves through repeating cycles involving lighter sleep, deeper slow-wave sleep and REM sleep. Interruptions can interfere with the restorative quality of sleep.

Stress, irregular sleeping schedules, environmental disturbances, medications, caffeine and other substances can all influence sleep.

Alcohol can also make someone feel sleepy initially while disrupting sleep later in the night. Cannabis may affect sleep and dream recall as well, although its effects can vary between individuals.

This is why feeling sleepy after using a substance does not necessarily mean the resulting sleep will be better quality.

Could five people have the same problem?

It is possible for several people in the same social circle to experience sleep difficulties around the same period, but the account alone does not establish a common cause.

People can share routines, environments, work pressures, screen habits, sleeping schedules and social patterns without necessarily realising that those factors are affecting their sleep.

There is also a psychological component. Once people start discussing poor sleep, they may become more attentive to their own sleeping patterns and notice symptoms they previously ignored.

For the seven friends in this account, the most important clue may therefore be the persistence of the symptoms rather than the fact that several people reported them at the same time.

When should poor sleep be taken seriously?

Occasional poor sleep is common. Persistent insomnia, repeated nightmares, excessive daytime sleepiness or regularly waking unrefreshed can, however, deserve attention.

Sleep problems can sometimes be associated with anxiety, depression, sleep apnoea, medication effects, substance use or other underlying conditions.

For anyone experiencing persistent symptoms, keeping a simple sleep diary can help identify patterns involving bedtime, waking time, caffeine, alcohol, cannabis, screen use, nightmares and daytime fatigue.

And while five out of seven friends experiencing similar symptoms is certainly unusual enough to get people talking, it is not by itself evidence that a wider “sleep crisis” is looming.

For now, the mystery remains: five friends, similar nights and very little memory of what happened between closing their eyes and opening them again.