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Better Sleep
In the 80's the claimed ability to live with
very
little sleep was held up as some kind of badge of honour. The
less sleep you needed, the more intelligent you were, and the more
highly regarded you were.
Modern scientific research shows that not only were those "sleep
rejectors" behaving unintelligently and producing lower-grade, lower
levels of work, but they were setting themselves up for serious mental
and physical disease.
In fact a lack of sufficient sleep is now being seen as a modern
disease, creating stress, compromising the body's ability to
regenerate, and even lowering our basic metabolic rate.
Quality sleep is essential, although the actual amount varies from one
individual to another. Most adults need at least
7.5-8.0 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Children and
teenagers require much more - around 12-13 hours of sleep each night.
Quality sleep is even more essential in the journey to recover from any
illness, including depression.
9 Steps
to Improve Sleep
1
Protect your sleep time.
Don't allow the expectations of others to detract from your
sleep. If you need to go to bed early in order to get your
sleep,
do it. If you need to stop people from interrupting your
sleep,
do it.
If sleep interruption is beyond your control (for example if you have
small children or a sick partner who needs care during the night) make
sure you get extra sleep during the day, and also make sure you get
some nights off.
2
Have a routine.
A time for slowing down in the evening, a time for going to
bed,
a time for waking up, a time for all of the activities you need to do
in the day. Although you'll obviously vary your routine from
time
to time, your regular routine will help to train your brain for
efficient "shut down".
3
Slow Down Before Bed.
Keep away from alcohol or stimulants for at least an hour
before
bed, and avoid stimulating books or television programs. Dim
the
lights, play some nice music, and relax.
4
Remove Unacceptable Stress from Your Life. Oftentimes
people find it hard to relax enough to go to sleep, or to stay asleep,
because they're plagued by troublesome thoughts. There are
highly-effective techniques to both remove the stress, and to deal with
the thoughts. The two most commonly used are Logotherapy and NeuroStim, both of
which you'll find help for on the forums.
5
Prepare Your Bedroom. Of
course your bed and pillows etc should be comfortable! But in
addition your room should be dark and on the cool side, with fresh air.
Those are ideal sleeping conditions.
6
Stay in Bed. Some
sleep experts advise you to get up if you can't fall to sleep within 30
minutes, so that in your mind bed is linked only to sleeping.
I
find this rather silly, since bed can be linked to having sex, reading,
resting, daydreaming, and even being ill. Instead I recommend
staying in bed so that you train your mind that this is the correct
place to be at this time.
There is quite good evidence for my recommendation. For
example
if we're helping a new baby to get into a good sleep routine, one of
the things we do is try to keep them in their cot and provide as little
stimulation as possible even if we have to give an extra bottle or
change a nappy. The last thing we'd do is pick them up and go
and
sit in a bright room with a television on. That'd be teaching
them to wake up!
So stay in bed, and use one of many proven relaxation techniques so
that if you're not sleeping, you're at least training yourself to
maintain a relaxed state - you're at least "resting".
7
Be Active During the Day. A good level
of physical activity is essential to good sleep.
8
Foster your relationships
with family, friends, workmates and the wider community. We
feel
a greater sense of wellbeing and we sleep better when our relationships
are good.
9
Enjoy good nutrition. In the end it's
the nutrients we take into our body that allow us to produce the
hormones that allow good sleep.
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