Sleep
Introduction
Everyone tells you how good sleep is for you, but what use is that when you can’t sleep? The evening is naturally a time to daydream and think about stuff, which makes it even more difficult for people who have trouble sleeping because in order to get to sleep you need to shut off.
Not only that, nobody wants to miss out. A lot of people enjoy staying up late drinking in bars or staying up with mates. The only problem is, it’s so important to have a regular bedtime! Borrring, we know.
However, once you get a little regular sleep you’ll feel miles better so you can still have late nights and party on with the rest of them. Until then, try to take the time to look after yourself.
You probably need about 10-11 hours sleep minimum, so do what you can to get it. Also, try not to nap in the day as it’s far better for you to have one big fat juicy sleep at night. However, if you really can’t resist and need a nap then make sure you don’t have one any longer than 15 mins.
How does sleeping help?
Sleeping helps restore your body’s energy. If you manage to get enough sleep it makes it easier the next day to deal with anything, including dealing with any emotional or psychological problems.
If you’re struggling to sleep here’s a few tips to help you:
- Have a regular bedtime.
- Check the bedroom temperature and how comfortable your bed is.
- Before bed: Take a bath, read, draw, listen to music, play an instrument. Do something that will help you shut off so when you go to bed you’re not thinking of your problems.
- Exercise – if you do some exercise in the early evening around 5 – 6pm this will help you relax before bed. Don’t over do it though, especially when you are just beginning. Do not exercise just before you go to bed. See our page on Exercise.
- Eat at a reasonable time in the evening, rather than just before you are going to bed.
- Relax before bed – for at least 4 hours before bedtime try not to take anything that will keep you awake such as caffeine (remember cola and stimulant drinks contain caffeine as well as tea & coffee) . Keep an eye on your caffeine intake during the day, if you are getting through a lot of coffee, tea, cola etc then this may still affect your sleep, even if you don’t drink it at night.
- Remember that computer, Playstation & Xbox games can be very stimulating and leave you wired up before going to bed, so try to leave some wind down time before bed if you use these at night.
Once in Bed
- Don’t worry about sleep – it’s important that you try to take your mind off it because if you keep worrying you’ll find it harder get to sleep.
- Block your thoughts – pick a good word like “sea” or “grass” and lie in bed with your eyes closed. After taking 10 deep breaths keep repeating the word in your head and if you start thinking about something else just come back to the word and keep saying it until you either fall asleep or are thinking nice thoughts.
- Concentrate on nothing but the blackness of your eyelids. Just feel your brain relax as you stop thinking about anything and just look at your eyelids.
- If you find closing your eyes does not work try staring fixedly at the ceiling telling yourself you will not go to sleep whatever happens. Even though you know this is a trick it can work, perhaps for the more stubborn of us!
What else helps you sleep?
Take Valerian before bed. This will help you relax and are completely natural. As always, read the label and check for any side effects before taking them, but you already know that.
Alcohol, Drugs and Sleep
Alcohol may help you sleep if you are having an occasional drink. But if you are drinking lots regularly it will stop you sleeping, this can be a real problem as people can then drink more and more to put themselves to sleep. They will ultimately need to drink even more and more to get themselves to sleep.
Many illegal drugs stop you sleeping, when you are taking them and when you are withdrawing from them...
What to do if sleep problems persist:
It’s worth talking to your GP or Nurse about what’s going on. There are lots of things that can affect sleep, the most common being anxiety/worry.
There are lots of books and tapes etc on how to get a good night’s sleep. It ‘s worth checking these out.
Goodnight.... Zzzzzzzzzz