Getting enough sleep is essential for good physical and mental health. A good or bad night's sleep can influence the mood and productivity of the day ahead. So how can we make sure to get a good night's sleep? What changes can we make to improve how well we sleep? Sleep hygiene activities can help us get a better night's sleep and manage Insomnia symptoms.
- First, we will define sleep hygiene.
- Next, we will provide sleep hygiene examples.
- Then we will explore sleep hygiene activities.
- After, we will look at the link between sleep hygiene and mental health.
- Finally, we will discuss the benefits of good sleep hygiene.
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Sleep Hygiene Definition
Good sleep hygiene is vital for getting a good night's sleep, especially for those trying to manage a sleep disorder such as Insomnia. Sleep hygiene can be defined as:
Sleep hygiene is the effect bedroom environments, and daily habits have on how well we can fall and stay asleep.
Good sleep hygiene comprises a comfortable sleep environment and healthy daily routines. Poor sleep hygiene can result from bad sleep environments and unhealthy daily routines. There are general tips for creating an ideal sleep environment and living a healthy lifestyle. However, an ideal sleep environment and daily habits can differ depending on personal preferences. What works best for one person may not work well for someone else.
Sleep Hygiene Examples
An example of poor sleep hygiene can be:
Clark struggles to fall asleep. He often tosses and turns for a few hours, worrying about not sleeping, before he eventually goes to sleep. Then, he often wakes up in the middle of the night and uses his phone before feeling tired enough to fall asleep again.
On weekdays, he wakes up early in the morning when his alarm goes off and suffers from feeling sleepy during the day. On weekends he sleeps in until the afternoon. This often occurs, so the amount of good quality sleep he gets is inconsistent.
On the other hand, an example of good sleep hygiene involves:
Laura goes to bed at around the same time every night. She reads a book chapter before bed, not watching TV or using her phone or computer before trying to sleep. Laura has a weekday morning alarm and naturally wakes up at a similar time on weekends.
She only drinks coffee in the morning and doesn't eat much food or drink alcohol right before bed. A regular exercise routine and some relaxation techniques help her feel calm in the evening; she has a restful night's sleep.
Consider these two examples; what are the main differences between them? What kind of sleep environment or daily routines make for good and poor sleep hygiene?
Unlike Laura, Clark does not go to sleep or wake up at a similar time every day. Clark also uses his phone during the night and does not have relaxation techniques to help him stop worrying before sleep.
Sleep hygiene research by Brown et al. (2002) highlights that worrying while trying to fall asleep, a noisy environment, and erratic sleep schedules are the main reasons for poor sleep hygiene and low-quality sleep.
Sleep Hygiene Activities
Depending on the type of disorder, you can employ various sleep hygiene activities to improve your sleep quality and subsequently treat sleep disorders. For those with insomnia, good sleep hygiene activities can relieve some symptoms.
Improving Sleep Hygiene
Some things can improve sleep hygiene and help to get better quality sleep. Good sleep hygiene activities include:
- Having a regular sleep/wake time and routine
- Limiting drinks containing caffeine (coffee, energy drinks etc.) and don't drink them in the afternoon or evening
- Not eating a large amount of food or drinking alcohol right before trying to sleep
- Reducing screen time by not watching TV or using a phone or computer in or before bed
- Make sure any reading before bed is calming and not too exciting
- Having a comfortable, cool, dark and quiet sleep environment
- Regular exercise during the day and even light stretches in the evening before bed to help relax the body
- Relaxation techniques such as mediation, nature sounds, sleep music or breathing exercises to reduce worrying before bed
- Smart watches can help to track amounts of sleep and sometimes even specific sleep stages
- Some prescribed medications can help people with sleep, or mental health disorders (for example, anxiety or insomnia) fall asleep
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Sleep Hygiene and Mental Health
Poor mental health can be worsened by nights of sleeping poorly and unhealthy sleep hygiene habits. This could also be true if reversed. Long periods of experiencing symptoms of mental health disorders (such as anxiety or depression) will most likely result in poor sleep hygiene activities and less quality sleep.
Having problems sleeping can negatively impact our energy, memory and relationships, increasing Stress and reducing self-esteem. Overall, making everyday life difficult to cope with and mental health worse.
Using healthy sleep hygiene activities can help to improve sleep quality, which in turn can help to improve mental health.
Research by Scott et al. (2021) suggests therapeutic intervention (such as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, CBTi) and relaxation techniques (such as meditation, yoga and acupuncture) are good sleep hygiene activities.
Doing one or more of these activities improves sleep quality and reduces anxiety, depression, Stress and psychosis in those with diagnosed mental health disorders.
Benefits of Good Sleep Hygiene
Some benefits of good sleep hygiene and getting a restful night's sleep include:
- Being less tired/irritable
- Feeling refreshed
- Having more energy
- Improved mental health
- Increased productivity
- Better memory
- Stronger immune system
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Sleep Hygiene - Key takeaways
- Sleep hygiene is the effect that the environment and daily routines can have on sleep quality.
- Unhealthy sleep hygiene examples include sleeping and waking at different times every day, eating a lot before trying to sleep (especially products containing caffeine and stimulants), and using technology in bed.
- Good sleep hygiene activities include having a consistent sleep schedule, a comfortable and quiet sleep environment, and using relaxation techniques to reduce worrying.
- Sleep quality can worsen mental health problems, creating more anxiety, stress and difficulty with daily life. Having good sleep hygiene can improve sleep quality and mental health.
- The benefits of good sleep hygiene include being physically and mentally healthier, as well as being more energetic and productive.
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