Festival Of Sleep - Love It Or Hate It
Love it or hate it, the feeling of climbing into a freshly made bed, with the electric blanket on and falling into that blissful slumber is what most of us dream of. However, what do you do when the battle to fall to sleep becomes a war?
Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. The way you feel while you are awake depends in part on what happens while you are sleeping. During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health.
In children and teens, sleep also helps support growth and development. Getting inadequate sleep over time can raise your risk for chronic (long-term) health problems. It can also affect how well you think, react, work, learn, and get along with others. But how do we know the difference between the sleep needed to feel awake and the sleep needed to be healthy?? Take a look at the attached
Sleep_Brochure.pdfFor some, falling asleep, which is a normal everyday function, can be the most difficult thing to achieve. In particular when you have disabilities or conditions which also have an element of painsomnia, is a term which describes the difficulty of falling or staying asleep due to chronic pain. Other conditions such as sleep apnea, sleep deprivation, mental ill health conditions can all leave many feeling at a loss in terms of what to do to get just a few hours sleep.
We have looked at what issues can cause a lack of sleep, but what can we do to get out of the vicious circle. We have all experienced those nights where we just cannot catch some zz's or wake up and then sit looking at the four walls. Hopefully this short video will give you some tips....most importantly we need to start valuing our sleep.
On average adults need between 7 to 9 hours sleep per night, but there is also a proportion of people who oversleep which is more than 9 hours in a 24 hour period. This is known as Hypersomnia or medically termed EQS, excessive quantity of sleep. A number of health conditions contribute to EQS but regardless of the cause there are things you can look at introducing to help, a sleed diary for example.
Set a Regular Sleep Schedule: Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. This helps you avoid sleep loss and sleep debt. Turn the phone and laptops off!!!
Create a Bedtime Routine: Your routine should help you relax and prepare for sleep. Avoid light from electronics in the hours before bedtime, as this light can delay sleep onset.
Consider Your Sleep Environment: Your bedroom should be a cool temperature and free of excess light and noise.
Keep Active: Daily exercise and sunlight exposure help you sleep well at night. Avoid excessive exercise close to bedtime.
Nap Early: Naps later in the afternoon can make it difficult for you to fall asleep on time at night.
The final thing to think about is when we take sleeping aids to help us sleep also known as medicated sleep. There are times when people who are prescribed medication to help them sleep due to sleep deprivation. However not all sleep medications deliver the same restorative benefits as natural sleep and are only prescribed for a short period of time. In addition other tools such as CBT research has shown works better to fall into natural sleep patterns.