An epidemic
Insomnia has become an epidemic across the United States. Short sleep duration in a given night, according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) is defined as any amount of sleep less than 7 hours. Additionally, according to the CDC about 30% of adults in the United States are sleep deprived.
There are many reasons why people have trouble sleeping including; mental health difficulties, shift work, and other sleep disorders like sleep apnea that tends to go undiagnosed in many people.
A few tips for trouble sleeping
Here are a few tips for individuals to follow if you find yourself having trouble sleeping.
Create a 30-45 minute buffer, before you are going to sleep where you are engaging in activities that will help you get to sleep including; mindfulness, taking a warm shower, reducing screen time, and reading. It is important to have marked periods of time so that our bodies knows the difference between daytime and when it is time to get to sleep.
If you tend to worry at night in bed, work at setting a time for yourself about two hours before bedtime to worry. Journaling or creating pro/con lists can be helpful ways of managing worries. Often times what happens for many individuals is that people spend too much time in bed worrying and start to associate bed time with worrying and not sleep.
The last helpful tip to help yourself to sleep is to go to sleep when you are feeling sleepy and not tired. Many people spend too much time lying in bed, tossing and turning before they fall a sleep. It should not take effort to fall a sleep. Consider going to sleep a little bit later than you normally would. It is better to get a solid seven to eight hours of consecutive sleep than eight to ten hours of sleep filled with tossing and turning.
If you struggle with getting to sleep or Depression or Anxiety, please reach out to Brightland Health to get the help you deserve.