Improving your sleep to benefit your mental health

When it comes to mental health and maintenance, the importance of sleep cannot be overstated. Prioritizing your sleep and giving your body the rest it needs can be a great place to start if you’re looking for ways to begin to improve your state of being without overhauling your entire life. Sleep is when our body processes the things we’ve experienced recently and sheds the things we no longer need with us moving forward. Serious problems can arise if we don’t give our body the rest it needs - high blood pressure, cardiac concerns, obesity, depression, lower libido, and lower immune response have been associated with chronic sleep deficits.

What can you do to help yourself improve your sleep? First and foremost - commit to a change. Make a plan and remind yourself why this is something important to you and how your life will benefit if you increase your sleep. Next - Practice sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene includes behaviors such as: 

• Get some physical activity in - a short 20-30 active period during the day can give our body the activity it needs for rest to be fully beneficial 

• Consistency in routine

  • Go to bed at the same time as often as possible (even on weekends!)

  • Wake up at the same time as often as possible

• Ensure your bedroom is beneficial for sleep

  • Make sure your room is dark enough for sleep

  • Make sure your room is comfortable, including the right temperature - try adding a fan for air movement and white noise

  • Make sure the room is free of distracting noises - sleep sound machines or white noise can be beneficial, but avoid TVs or Radios that might accidentally introduce sharp and abrasive noises

  • Avoid electronics in the bedroom as much as possible - Blue light from phones, tablets, or TVs has been shown to keep our brains active and be non-conducive to winding down and getting quality sleep. There is nothing wrong with these devices but do what you can to avoid them within an hour of sleeping. Consider getting a blue light eliminating screen protector for your phone if possible. 

• Avoid eating or drinking before bed

  • Avoid large meals within an hour of bed time - your body does A LOT of work to digest food, it can be difficult for our bodies to put that much work into digesting and getting quality rest

  • Avoid caffeine after your final meal of the day - caffeine is a stimulant and made to keep us awake, plan to avoid caffeinated beverages into the evening/night. 

  • Avoid alcohol (or other substance) use - these substances may appear to aid in falling asleep, but disrupt the sleep cycle and your body’s ability to benefit from the time spent sleeping. 

Attempt to document or journal your sleeping habits, such as the time you went to sleep and woke up, if you woke at all during the night, and how rested you feel in the morning. If you practice these sleep hygiene habits but continue to experience poor sleep or not feel rested, consider contacting your primary care provider in order to explore further options. Sleep is the most important thing that we can do with respect to management of our mental health and change can begin when we decide to emphasize and prioritize the importance of our sleep.