Sleeping Well - Some Simple Tips
The occasional missed night's sleep may make you
feel tired the next day, but it won't harm your health. However, if
you frequently miss sleep this can lead to:
* Prolonged bouts of tiredness
* Difficulties in concentrating and lack of productivity in daily
tasks
* Irritability or anxiety
* Feelings of depression and/or frustration
* Poor judgement
The amount of sleep needed varies for different individuals, but on
average
adults need around 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
If you are frequently not sleeping, this may be due to:
- Practical causes, e.g the bedroom being too noisy or the
bed being uncomfortable
- Psychological or emotional causes, e.g. worrying about
something or feeling low
- Physical or physiological causes, e.g. illness, physical
pain or the response of your body to your diet or medication.
Here are some simple Do's and Don'ts to help if you have
difficulty sleeping:
DO:
* Go to bed at regular times and get up at regular times
* Exercise moderately 4-5 hours before bedtime if possible (but
not just before sleeping)
* Establish a regular, relaxing routine just before you go to bed
- for example, by using a simple relaxation
exercise
* Sleep on a bed which is comfortable
* Ensure as far as possible that your bedroom is not too hot or
too cold or too noisy - for some people it can help to have
relaxing music playing in the background when they fall asleep.
DON'T:
- Don't drink anything with caffeine in it after early afternoon.
Caffeine is a stimulant drug which can keep you awake and can stay
in your body for up to 8 hours (sometimes even longer) after your
last drink of tea or coffee
- Don't eat a lot shortly before you go to bed
- Don't drink a lot of alcohol - it may help you to fall asleep
initially, but you will probably wake up later
- Try not to make up for lost sleep the next day or on the weekend
if you have had a poor sleeping pattern or episode. This can make
it harder to get to sleep the next night.
If you find that you are worrying about something and you are
still unable to get to sleep, or you wake up later and you
can't get back to sleep, then you may find it helpful to get out
of bed, go to another room and try the following:
1. Ask yourself what the likelihood is of the thing you are
worrying about happening? If you give it a very high
percentage, then ask yourself what percentage other people you
trust might give to the event happening. You can write down these
estimates and who might make them. You don't need to decide which
is correct.
2. Then ask yourself what is the worst that could happen?
Write down the most positive response that you could have to the
event if it did happen.
3. Next write down one or two simple things you can do to
reduce the likelihood of the event happening, even if in
only a small way. If you judge that there is nothing that you can
do to reduce the likelihood of the event occurring, then
acknowledge that the event may be beyond your control.
4. Finally, write down in a short statement of 1-4 sentences a
summary of what you have learned from steps 1-3 above.
Once you have completed the exercise, try not to dwell on it but
spend 10-20 minutes (still in another room) on a distracting and
relaxing activity such as watching television, listening to the
radio or reading. Then return to bed. If helpful, practise a short
relaxation technique before you get back into bed, such as a
breathing exercise, taking slow, measured breaths and counting
them down from 30 or 40.
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