4-Stages Adaptation Model
This is the most popular and up-to-date model of the polyphasic adaptation currently, developed by the Polyphasic Community.
The most popular polyphasic sleep schedules are based on the natural sleep patterns. Those are, first of all, the Biphasic sleep schedules, which were widespread both in the pre-industrial era and nowadays; Everyman, which uses the mechanism of power naps; Dual Core, which is based on the the Segmented sleep pattern that was common in the pre-industrial society, as well as the schedules with even more cores, which are based on the mechanism similar to the Segmented sleep.
When switching to a new sleep schedule, it is necessary to go through the adaptation process, which includes sleep stage repartitioning, as well as conditioning the brain to get used to the new sleep pattern. According to the community observations, the adaptation process typically has a similar timeline for most people, which can be modeled by the 4-Stage Adaptation Model. This model contains 4 stages which gradually follow one after the other. The whole process generally takes 4 to 8 weeks, but in some cases it might be slightly shorter or much longer.
Stage 1
Staying awake is easy during this stage since sleep debt has not been accumulated to a large degree yet. Falling asleep is usually difficult for the naps and easy for the cores, assuming the person is not struggling with insomnia, and that the scheduled core does not start much earlier than the usual sleeping time. Sleep stage repartitioning has not started yet, so the sleep quality is the same as of monophasic sleep, presumably with uncompressed 90-120-minute sleep cycles. This stage is also beneficial for adjusting to new sleep habits.
The duration of Stage 1 is shorter for the schedules with a low total sleep time or for the individuals with a preexisting sleep debt. In this case, the overall duration of the adaptation is not shortened. Instead, stages 1 and 2 are shortened, being partially replaced by stages 3 and 4. Those struggling with insomnia might want to shorten this stage of the adaptation (e.g. by doing Naptation for a few days before starting the adaptation) since it is much easier to fall asleep in the later stages, but generally this is not recommended. The benefit of falling asleep faster does not compensate for the higher risk of oversleeping and the extended period of experiencing intense sleep deprivation symptoms.
Stage 2
Stage 2 is mostly similar to the Stage 1. The main difference is the intensifying sleep deprivation symptoms, which become more apparent, but not intense yet. The energy dips start to occur more often throughout the day. Falling asleep becomes easier as sleep pressure keeps increasing. Similarly to Stage 1, this stage is typically shorter on the difficult schedules.
Stage 3
By Stage 3, the sleep debt accumulates enough to cause intense sleep deprivation symptoms, which often leads to oversleeps or noticeable difficulty of staying awake. The intensity of this stage depends on the schedule, and might be very mild for non-reducing schedules, or insanely hard for the ones with an extreme sleep reduction.
Previously, it was thought that the sleep stage repartitioning happens during Stage 3, however some polyphasic sleepers have reported that their experience was different: the repartitioning actually happened very early on, and took just a week or so. However, other people reported their sleep structure being messy at this stage.
During Stage 3, it is much easier to fall asleep, and much more difficult to wake up, which is often accompanied by a strong sleep inertia. It is also significantly easier to oversleep, so it is recommended to be as cautious as possible, and to make sure that the alarms are reliable.
This stage is typically longer for the schedules with a low total sleep time, as well as for the attempts with a preexisting sleep deprivation. In these cases, Stage 3 might start as early as the first week of the attempt. Therefore, it's recommended to go through recovery to reduce sleep debt before attempting a new schedule.
Stage 4
After the sleep is efficiently repartitioned and mostly stabilized, the sleeper enters the last stage of the adaptation. Stage 4 usually closely resembles the first two stages, as the sleep deprivation symptoms finally become less intense after Stage 3. This stage should not be confused with the adapted state since some microsleeps or even oversleeps are still highly possible if not cautious. The main reason for that is sleep debt, which still isn't fully recovered, typically REM debt. This stage is the last step required for sleep stabilization and recovery, and the adaptation is reached after the sleeper meets the criteria listed in the next section.
Certain schedules might not be adaptable for some people, which usually leads to them never reaching the adapted state after being stuck in the Stage 3/4 loop. Also, in some cases, Stage 4 might be much longer than the average, usually caused by having a high sleep debt or due to an excessive flexing.
Adaptation signs
The polyphasic community has established the adaptation signs which helps distinguishing adapted state from the other stages. The adaptation is usually reached after gradually going through the above mentioned stages and following the schedule for at least 4-8 weeks. The adaptation signs include:
- Feeling alert and rested throughout the day, no memory loss, stable mood and appetite.
- Waking up easily after every block of sleep, little-to-no sleep inertia.
- Falling asleep easily, having a short sleep onset (a few minutes for naps, <15 minutes for cores).
- Naturally waking up without alarms. This sign usually requires sticking to a schedule for a long time, and it might not be possible for some polyphasic sleepers, thus this isn't a necessary criteria of being adapted.
- Having an increased dream recall and much denser naps, which usually feel long. For some people with a naturally low dream recall ability this sign might never appear, thereby being an unnecessary criteria too. Worth mentioning, it is possible to have dense REM naps from the very beginning on some extreme schedules such as E3.
A sleeper is usually considered adapted to a schedule after 1-2 weeks of the adaptation signs being stably met.
Alternative adaptation models
It was noticed by some polyphasic sleepers that sometimes this adaptation model might not match the real experience. This section describes a few types of such cases.
Easier adaptation
Some people reported an easier adaptation, without having to face Stage 3 or intense sleep deprivation symptoms. Usually, this is the case for non-reducing schedules with a sleep structure resembling monophasic sleep. The examples include Biphasic schedules (BiphasicX in particular), and sometimes other more exotic non-reducing schedules (e.g. Triphasic-extended). This can be viewed as a special case of the 4-stage model, with the third stage being much milder because of the lower amounts of sleep debt.
Linear adaptation
Another case was reported by some sleepers: the adaptation is difficult from the very beginning, with the sleep deprivation signs gradually getting more and more mild as time goes. This case was reported on both extreme and easy schedules, usually caused by having a preexisting sleep deprivation. This phenomenon can be explained by the sleepers partially or fully skipping Stages 1 and 2, thus entering the most difficult stage immediately after start. It's worth noting that this adaptation type typically has the same duration as the standard one, 1-2 months.
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