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== Stage 4 ==
== Stage 4 ==
After sleep is efficiently repartitioned and the...
After sleep is efficiently repartitioned and mostly stabilized, sleeper enters the last stage of adaptation. This one 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 without the necessary caution. The main reason is sleep debt, which still isn't fully recovered, often REM debt and a bit more rarely SWS debt. This stage is the last step for sleep stabilization and recovery, and adaptation is reached after the sleeper met the criteria, listed in the next section.
== Alternative hypothetical adaptation models ==
Some schedules might not be adaptable for a specific sleeper, this usually leads to never reaching adapted state after being stuck in a [[Alternating Stage 3/4|loop of Stage 3/4]]. Albeit Stage 4 sometimes is just much longer than average, usually either because of a high sleep debt or because of excessive [[flexing]].
== Adaptation signs ==
The polyphasic community has established some signs of adaptation, which help to distinguish adapted state from being on other stages. Adaptation usually is reached after gradually going through the above mentioned stages and staying on schedule for at least 4-8 weeks. These 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 can never be met on the extreme schedules, thus isn't a necessary criteria of being adapted.
* Having increased dream recall and much denser naps, which usually feels 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 initially have dense REM dawn naps on some extreme schedules such as [[E3]].
A sleeper usually is considered adapted to a schedule after 1-2 weeks of the adaptation criteria being stable.
== Alternative adaptation models ==
It was noticed by some [[Template:Polyphasic Sleepers|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 easier adaptation, usually almost without noticing Stage 3 or intense sleep deprivation symptoms in other words. Usually this is the case for non-reducing schedules with a structure, which is close to natural. The examples include Biphasic schedules ([[BiphasicX]] in particular) and sometimes other more exotic forms, usually also non-reducing. This actually is still on of the cases of the 4-stages adaptation model, being much milder because of the lower amount of sleep debt.
=== Linear adaptation ===
Other case was reported by some sleepers, a difficult start of the adaptation, with the signs gradually getting more and more mild as time goes. This case was met both on extreme schedules and on the easy ones, usually with pre-existing sleep deprivation and [[random]] sleep. This phenomenon can be explained by partially or fully skipping Stage 1 and 2, thus starting from the most difficult part. Worth noticing, this adaptation type usually has the same length as the standard one.
