Unlocking the Power of Sleep Hygiene for Overall Health
Daily habits and self-care are powerful integrative strategies for your overall health. Implementing healthy sleep habits could be the missing link to feeling mentally and physically healthy and managing stress well.
Many people have experienced the immediate negative impacts of missing a night’s sleep or being jetlagged. You might notice feeling tired, unfocused, anxious or even short tempered. Furthermore, your body may respond with feelings or fatigue, increased hunger, or even increase pain. Now, consider the impact of chronically poor sleep on your physical and mental wellness. Maybe you don’t sleep horribly every night, but maybe you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep or don’t totally feel rested. Poor sleep habits can cause or exacerbate physical and mental health issues.
The Marvels of Sleep on the Mind and Body:
Let’s understand why we should be investing in good sleep habits. Sleep is like a magical reset button for your body and mind. While you slumber, a series of amazing processes unfold that rejuvenate you from head to toe, helping you feel and perform your best.
For example, sleep helps give you memory and cognitive boosts. As you sleep, your brain is hard at work consolidating memories. It's like a librarian organizing and filing away all the information you've gathered during that day. This process helps you remember things more clearly and access them when you need them. Memory consolidation is also a vital process needed for therapies like EMDR to work effectively. Quality sleep also actually helps you solve problems due to this memory and resource integration and helps with maintaining focus.
Sleep also plays a vital role in managing your emotions and overall emotional balance. When you're well-rested, you're better equipped to handle life's challenges. In fact, lack of sleep narrows your window of tolerance to stressors. Lack of sleep can make you more irritable, prone to mood swings and overall more vulnerable to negative emotions. Good sleep is more likely to promote feelings of enthusiasm, calmness and happiness.
While you're sleeping, your body is busy repairing itself and performing overall physical restoration. It mends tissues, strengthens your immune system, and even releases growth hormones that help with cell regeneration and muscle development. Furthermore, sleep regulates the production of hormones that control appetite, stress, and growth. This balance keeps you physically and mentally healthy. Without adequate sleep, there can be imbalances in the hormones and your body can be affected by not being able to perform it’s necessary clean-up for good health.
Sleep and Mental Health:
Overall, disruptions in sleep, contribute to a dysregulated body and mind and have a bi-directional impact. Meaning, many mental health symptoms cause disruption in sleep and disruptions in sleep can exacerbate mental health symptoms. Consistently getting good sleep positive impacts the treatment of all mental health disorders.
For example, sleep and depression are deeply intertwined. Actually, insomnia is a common symptom of depression and the lack of quality sleep can worsen depressive symptoms, making it harder to find relief. On the flip side, improving sleep through therapy or medication often leads to improvements in mood for those with depression.
Anxiety and sleep can share a complex relationship too. Anxiety can cause racing thoughts that make it difficult to sleep, while poor sleep can increase feelings of stress and anxiety. Sleep plays a critical role in regulating the brain's fear response, so sleep issues can heighten anxiety levels. Furthermore, quality sleep can help widen a person’s “widow of tolerance” making them more adaptable to stressors.
Quality sleep is a foundational support needed for trauma work. As previously mentioned, quality sleep is necessary for memory consolidation and resource consolidation, which is the focus of therapies like EMDR. Trauma survivors often experience nightmares and flashbacks, which can disrupt sleep. Poor sleep can exacerbate trauma-related symptoms, making it challenging to process and heal from traumatic experiences.
A quality sleep routine is also absolutely vital to people with bipolar disorder. In fact, disrupted sleep can trigger manic or depressive episodes. Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule and managing sleep disturbances are key components to the management of bi-polar disorder and can increase the efficacy of other interventions.
Other mental health condition including schizophrenia and ADHD can also be influenced by sleep. Poor sleep can exacerbate symptoms and affect treatment outcomes. Therefore, addressing sleep as part of a holistic treatment approach is crucial to making progress.
The Power of Sleep Hygiene:
Now that we've explored how important sleep is for many aspects of your health, let's talk about building an optimal sleep plan. Sleep hygiene is like creating the perfect environment and routine for your sleep to thrive.
There are many aspects of a sleep routine to help you regulate your sleep. Remember you don’t have to aim for perfection, just start with a few areas of need at a time. Improving your sleep hygiene and building a bedtime routine may take time. Be gentle with yourself, and don't be discouraged if you don't see immediate results. Over time, these practices can significantly enhance the quality of your sleep and your overall well-being.
Science has shown that the following strategies are effective because they align with the natural sleep-wake cycle and create an environment supportive of restful sleep:
Consistent Schedule: Keeping a regular sleep schedule helps regulate your body's circadian rhythms, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up at the right times. Aim to go to sleep and wake up within an hour of the same time every day, when possible. This helps your body get used to releasing the right chemicals at the right times to promote sleepiness and wakefulness.
Bedtime Routine: Engaging in calming activities before bed signals to your brain that it's time to wind down, making it easier to transition into sleep. Being ready for sleep is an important step for your body to be ready for restorative, deep sleep. Calming activities before bed might include stretching, yoga, drinking tea, skin care, self-massage, baths, showers, breathing exercises or anything else that helps you wind down.
Optimal Sleep Environment: A comfortable, quiet, and dark sleep environment minimizes disturbances that can interfere your sleep. If possible, avoid visible workstations or other stressors from your bed. Only use your bed for sleep and intimacy so your brain associates it with sleep. Your room should be dark enough that you cannot see your hand in front of you with your arm extended. This means, covering up any lights and potentially getting blackout curtains if there is any light pollution coming in from a window. Using a sound machine or fan can also help drown out any noise disturbances. Also consider setting your phone or any other electronics to “do not disturb” to further promote a good sleep environment.
Light exposure and screen time: Light exposure can be really supportive of a healthy circadian rhythms. Getting bright light in the morning can help signal healthy stress responses in your body including feelings of wakefulness. Exposure to blue light and screens, on the other hand delays your body’s natural melatonin production by at least 30 minutes. While blue light filters and blue like blocking glasses are great resources, limiting your exposure to screens is best. Overall, screens are stimulating and may not be the best thing before bed. It’s actually recommended you limit your screen exposure for up to two hours before bed. Two hours can be a lot for some, so I suggest starting with 30 minutes and working your way up as needed until you feel the effect you need.
Dietary Choices: Avoiding heavy meals close to bedtime can prevent digestive discomfort and sleep-disrupting effects. Consuming sugary or imbalanced snacks can cause sleep disturbance due to blood sugar imbalances. Consider adding fats, protein or fiber to snacks or meals to support healthy blood sugar regulation, especially if you find yourself waking up around the same time in the middle of the night. Alcohol consumption close to bedtime can be another factor that impacts sleep and should be monitored closely to see if it’s impacting your sleep.
Physical Activity: Regular exercise enhances sleep quality and can help you fall asleep more easily. It’s also a great stress reliever, which is supportive of sleep. Be careful to avoid exercises that are too stimulating too late in the day or evening as it may be too stimulating.
Stress Management: Relaxation techniques and mindfulness practices calm your nervous system, making it easier to relax and get ready for sleep. This looks different for everyone but could include journaling, breathing exercises, or guided meditation.
Limiting Naps: Keeping daytime naps short and earlier in the day prevents them from interfering with nighttime sleep. Naps ideally should be 20-30 minutes in length during the day.
Avoiding Clock Watching: Even though it can be hard not to, clock watching is a wakeful, potentially stressful activity. If you’re finding it hard to fall asleep or you wake up in the middle of the night, try not to look at the clock because it might induce stress and anxiety. If possible, remove any visible clocks from your sleep space.
Sleep is not a luxury; it's a fundamental component of a healthy and fulfilling life. It affects every aspect of your well-being, from your cognitive function and emotional balance to your physical health and resilience in the face of challenges.
Incorporating these strategies into your life can lead to significant improvements in sleep quality, which, in turn, can positively impact your physical and mental health. If you are still struggling with sleep after implementing the strategies above, consider talking with an integrative mental health therapist for further support.
DISCLAIMER: This blog and website it to be used for information only and to not intended to diagnose, treat or prevent any illness or condition. Individuals who read this content must take responsibility for their own health and wellness.
References:
National Institute of Mental Health. (2021). Sleep and Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/sleep-disorders/index.shtml
Harvard Health Publishing. (2020). Sleep and Mental Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/sleep-and-mental-health
American Psychological Association. (2019). Sleep and Stress: How to Make Stress Work for You. https://www.apa.org/topics/sleep/why
National Sleep Foundation. (2021). Sleep Hygiene. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene
American Academy of Sleep Medicine. (2021). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. https://aasm.org/resources/factsheets/cbt-insomnia.html
