Improving Sleep for Better Mental Health: Tips for a Restful Night
Do you often find yourself lying awake at night?
Or do you dread going to sleep knowing that you will not sleep well?
Getting a good sleep is one of the most critical factors to maintaining good mental health.
Without sleep, we cannot make good decisions, use our coping strategies or learn effectively.
Research suggests that the ideal amount of sleep is 8 hours per night for men and 9 hours for women.
So how do we make sure that sleep happens?
There are some strategies that can help with creating the best space for good sleep.
Create a Good Atmosphere
First, create an atmosphere that promotes sleep. Keep your bedroom cool and ark. Minimize light by installing blackout blinds, using thick curtain or wearing a sleep mask. For climate control, open a window or turn down the heat at night. This allows the body to rest well. The optimal sleep temperature is between 64-66°F (18°C). This can be challenging in a home lacking air conditioning mid-summer. Consider a taking cool shower before bed or using a damp cloth and a fan.
Some people think they can sleep through any disturbance. However, noise and light still disrupt your sleep even if it does wake you. Make your bedroom a restful sanctuary. Ensure your bedroom is used primarily for sleeping. Work, projects, studying, eating, arguing, and watching TV need to be done elsewhere. Your mind creates association with the space that you are in. If we do things besides sleep in our beds, we are mixing up signals.
Develop A Nightly Pattern
Aim to follow the same steps every night as you prepare for bed. A consistent bedtime routine helps signal your brain that it’s time for sleep, which can trigger the release of melatonin. This chemical helps your brain switch gears into sleeping brain waves. Begin to unwind long before it is time to sleep. However, avoid activities counter-productive to sleep. Avoid screen time for at least 30 minutes before bed, as the blue light emitted from phones, tablets, and computers signals to your brain that it’s time to stay awake. Create a pattern of getting ready for bed and maintain it no matter where you are sleeping. Besides the basics of brushing teeth, washing your face and plugging in your device, add a nightly prayer/meditation habit. It further helps your brain and body recognize it is time for sleep.
Create A Sleep Rhythm
Our bodies naturally tend toward rhythm.
Use this tendency to your benefit by creating a rhythm around waking and sleeping. Wake up and go to bed at the same time every day. Our bodies do not naturally recognize weekends. To maximize best sleep practices, create a routine that is realistic for good sleep. Getting up at the same time every morning sets your internal clock, which further regulates your sleep-wake cycle. Our bodies respond well to routines. This is why time changes is so challenging. Our bodies need to know when to sleep and when to wake up. If you sleep-in, you will reset your internal clock which will start a negative pattern. Determine a time that is realistic to go to bed EVERY night and wake up at the same time every day. When you try to go to sleep, if you cannot sleep within 20 minutes, get up! Go do something else (besides screens) and then return to bed when you are sleepy. Continuing to lay in bed when you are not sleepy undermines goal number one – creating a good atmosphere. You are training your mind that the bed is not meant for sleep.
By making small adjustments in your sleep environment, routine, and schedule, you can gradually improve both the quality and quantity of your sleep. Be patient and consistent, and you’ll likely see results in just a couple of weeks.