Nurse warns repeatedly hitting snooze can disrupt sleep cycle and raise stress levels

Many people rely on repeated alarms to ease into the morning, but a US registered nurse told her social media followers that the habit can disrupt sleep, worsen daytime tiredness and raise stress hormones.

Jordan Bruss, a registered nurse based in the United States, posted on TikTok that people who set multiple alarms each morning are frequently interrupting their rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and other sleep stages, which she said leads to sleep inertia, increased drowsiness, fatigue, mood swings and repeated cortisol spikes. Bruss told her roughly 5,700 followers: "If you're somebody who sets multiple alarms, I have bad news for you. Waking to multiple alarms every morning really disrupts your REM cycle frequently. This actually causes sleep inertia, increased drowsiness, fatigue, mood swings, and it also raises your cortisol levels every time your alarm goes off."

Bruss warned that repeatedly silencing alarms conditions the body to begin a stress response each time the alarm sounds. "This means that you're starting your day putting your body under a lot of stress as the cortisol spike triggers your fight or flight response," she said in the video, and urged viewers to get up as soon as the alarm goes off: "Don't keep traumatising yourself. So when the alarm goes off, it's time, get up."

Medical literature describes sleep inertia as the period of impaired performance and reduced alertness that can occur immediately after waking, sometimes lasting from several minutes to hours depending on factors such as prior sleep duration and the sleep stage at waketime. REM sleep is one of several sleep stages that normally cycle through the night; abrupt awakenings from deep or REM sleep can contribute to grogginess and impaired cognitive performance.

Cortisol, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands, typically shows a natural increase after waking known as the cortisol awakening response, which helps promote alertness. Repeated, abrupt awakenings may be experienced as stressful and could be associated with additional cortisol release, according to descriptions in sleep and stress research. Bruss framed the repeated-alarm routine as repeatedly triggering that stress-related physiology.

Sleep-health professionals commonly recommend strategies intended to limit sleep fragmentation and reduce morning grogginess. Recommendations often include keeping a consistent sleep schedule, aiming for sufficient nightly sleep, placing the alarm out of arm's reach to encourage getting out of bed, and using a single alarm timed for the desired wake time rather than multiple staggered alarms. Adjustments to bedtime routines, light exposure and caffeine use can also affect sleep quality and morning alertness.

Experts note that individual sleep needs and responses to awakening vary. For people who rely on multiple alarms because of insomnia, irregular schedules or insufficient sleep, addressing underlying sleep quantity and quality is considered important. If excessive daytime sleepiness or persistent morning impairment occurs, clinicians advise consulting a primary care provider or sleep specialist to evaluate for sleep disorders or other medical contributors.

Bruss's TikTok video reflects growing public attention to how small morning habits can influence perceived alertness and mood. While social media posts can raise awareness of sleep-health issues, clinicians say personalized assessment is important to determine the most appropriate steps for improving sleep and daytime functioning.