Snooze-inducing alternatives to sheep-counting and milk-drinking.
At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious, not sleeping properly totally blows. A whooping 80-90 per cent of us have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or wake up tired at some point in our lives.
Poor sleep can increase your chances of heart disease and lower immunity, which are two pretty good reasons to try and sort out your sleeping habits. If that doesn't do it for you, lack of concentration or becoming known as the office grouch may be bigger incentives to finally get some decent shut-eye.
Luckily, CLEO is here to help. We asked Dr David Cunnington from the Melbourne Sleep Disorders Centre to lull us into the land of dreams (warm milk not included).
Diagnosis: bad sleep
If you've only had a couple of nights of poor sleep, it's probably acute insomnia. "It has a short duration and is often triggered by stress. It will usually settle once you've dealt with the trigger and you should find yourself sleeping properly again within one to two weeks," Dr Cunnington explains.
Chronic insomnia is a little more serious. "The real red flag is the individual's thoughts around sleep. If they are constantly assessing their mood in relation to sleep — 'I don't feel great, I know if I slept better I wouldn't feel like this' — the issue of sleep becomes very emotionally charged. It usually results in behaviours, like putting too much pressure on sleep, that perpetuate bigger issues."
Sweet dreams are made of this
So what can we do about it? "We need to respect sleep by allowing it the opportunity to happen and by creating the right environment for good sleep."
And if we wake up during the night? "Get out of bed and do something non-stimulating like reading or listening to a podcast. Go back to bed when you feel sleepy, but if you lie there not sleeping, get up again. You will feel more tired initially, but it will induce some sleep deprivation which should help sleep come after a few days."
Tips for a good night
• Avoid caffeinated and energy drinks, particularly late in the afternoon.
• Create a peaceful sleeping environment by keeping your room clean and tidy and ensuring that it's not too hot or too bright.
• Start winding down about an hour before you plan to go to bed: have a shower, put your pyjamas on and avoid loud environments.
• Ignore your phone at night, no matter how hard that may be!
• Get up at roughly the same time, even on weekends. It helps your body clock recognise when it's time to sleep.
• If you wake up and can't get back to sleep quickly, get up!
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