The Importance of Sleep Hygiene: Tips for a Better Night’s Rest

Do you find it difficult to get enough sleep? let’s look at the importance of sleep hygiene and explore some tips for a better night’s rest.

Not Getting Enough Sleep?

Mental health and sleep are intertwined. Think of it like playing Jenga; sleep is one of the bottom three blocks. Typically, they are the ones you don’t want to move if you want to make sure the Jenga blocks don’t come crashing down.

Many mental health concerns can be associated with having a night of poor sleep. Sleep and lack thereof can be influential in forming and maintaining mental health concerns.

When you don’t sleep well or not enough, it can harm both your mental and physical health.

Insomnia and difficulty falling or staying asleep are some of the most common sleep disturbances. Research has shown that individuals who get less than 7 hours of sleep each night are more likely to be obese, active smokers, have heart disease, asthma, depression, physically inactive and have other physical illnesses and mental health concerns.

Getting enough sleep is essential for both our physical and mental health. Research has shown that sleep can play a role in helping us cope with stress and improve our overall well-being (Ickes et al., 2015; Wickham et al., 2020).

Depression, anxiety, and interpersonal conflicts often arise in individuals who struggle with inadequate or excessive sleep. Less than 8 hours or more than 12 hours of sleep can negatively impact mental health. Interestingly, research suggests that those who get around 9.7 hours of sleep per night tend to experience lower depressive symptoms (Wickham et al., 2020). It’s important to remember that using sleep as an escape mechanism is not productive. Instead, focusing on regularly getting the right amount of sleep for your age can have a positive impact on your overall health and well-being.

How Much Sleep is Enough Sleep?

It’s widely recognized that getting a good night’s rest is crucial for our overall well-being. It plays a vital role in supporting our mental and physical health. However, it’s unfortunate that many people, including adults and young individuals, do not currently enjoy sufficient sleep. Let’s emphasize the importance of prioritizing adequate rest and promoting healthy sleep habits for optimal vitality and wellness.

The Sleep Foundation recommends that adults between the ages of 18-64 get 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. Children need 9-11 hours, while teens need 8-10 hours. Sufficient sleep is essential for both mental and physical well-being. Understanding the recommended sleep duration is important, but it’s also crucial to consider individual needs, such as activity level and overall health, and follow some of the healthy sleep tips for optimal sleep quality further down.

What Exactly is Sleep Hygiene?

Incredibly enough, maintaining good sleep hygiene is surprisingly straightforward. Just like a soothing bedtime ritual for youngsters and teens, sleep hygiene involves adopting healthy habits and creating a sleep-friendly environment. These simple yet effective strategies can lead to higher-quality sleep and contribute to overall well-being. The best part is, practicing sleep hygiene poses minimal risks and doesn’t require hefty investments, making it accessible and beneficial for many individuals.

Take some time to reflect: What is your sleep hygiene strategy? Is it working to make sure you’re getting a good night’s sleep?

Why is Sleep Hygiene Important?

Unsurprisingly, poor sleep hygiene can lead to poor sleep quality. How do you know that you’re struggling with sleep hygiene? It could be evident if you notice you are having trouble falling asleep at night or falling asleep at inappropriate times (While watching a movie, driving, or out with friends). It can also be evident if you wake up for long periods of time throughout the night or wake up after getting a full night’s sleep and still feel tired.

Here is something to reflect on: How tired are you during the week, around 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm in the afternoon? Do you need an afternoon coffee to keep yourself going?

Lacking in quality sleep can affect your mood, making you feel unhappy, anxious, and ‘crappy”. But lack of quality sleep doesn’t stop there. It can interfere with memory, affect concentration, and make you more impulsive. It can cause your brain to feel impaired and affect your judgment, like when you’re drunk. Poor sleep quality can even increase your blood pressure, lead to weight gain, increase your chances of depression, and cause you to get sick more often, affecting your immune system.

What Effects Getting a Better Night’s Rest?

Some factors that can affect the quality of sleep include nighttime activity, and conditions before bed, and during sleep. Schedule irregularities, intense exercise before sleep, consumption of caffeine, cannabis, tobacco and alcohol, as well as using the bedroom for activities such as working, eating, watching TV or streaming services, have been associated with poor sleep.

It’s important to take care of your sleep by incorporating certain practices into your daily routine, this helps to foster a better night’s rest. Engaging in intense exercises earlier in the day or opting for lighter exercises before bedtime can help create a better environment for sleep. Modifying light exposure, making certain lifestyle adjustments such as limiting alcohol or cannabis use, and reducing factors that can heighten arousal like managing stress and cutting back on caffeine, can all contribute to a more restful night’s sleep. Additionally, incorporating relaxation techniques such as meditation, muscle relaxation, and mental imagery can be beneficial in managing stress.

How to Create a Better Night’s Rest

Sleep hygiene aims to put you in a position to get a better night’s rest. Creating a sleep schedule which includes a pre-bedtime routine and daily routine, helps make getting the needed quality and quantity of sleep feel more automatic. Below are a few tips from the National Sleep Foundation and the Crisis and Trauma Resource Institute that can help you create a routine and start to get a better night’s rest.

• Having a predictable and constant schedule. No matter the day, it is good to have and wake up and go to bed consistently every day. Constantly fluctuating makes it more challenging to get into a constant sleep routine.
• Sleep only when tired, and try to limit naps. While they can be helpful to regain energy during the day, they can make it difficult to sleep at night. If a nap is needed, try to take a short nap earlier or in the afternoon.
• 90 minutes before bed lowers the amount of light/daylight you get. While getting some sunlight throughout the day can help your circadian rhythm, which encourages quality sleep, having too much light when trying to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.
• Use the bedroom for bedroom activities only (this means no watching tv, eating or having meetings in the bedroom etc.) This helps your mind link that being in bed means it’s time to sleep.
• Avoid eating right before bed unless it’s a light snack and limit alcohol and cannabis use before bed. While alcohol and cannabis might help you to fall asleep, the effects wear off and can disrupt your sleep later in the night. It can also affect the quality of sleep you are getting.
• Limit caffeine and Smoking. Both of these are stimulants. They can keep you wired when you want to rest, and smoking can disrupt your sleep and has been linked to many sleep concerns.

These are not rigid requirements; you can adapt them to fit your needs and create your own sleep hygiene routine to get the best sleep possible. If you want more tips on developing a good sleep hygiene routine, check out the Sleep Foundation’s website.

Tips for a Better Night’s Rest

Exposure to Sunlight

1. Just like plants, humans need sun and water to flourish.
   • Try to get a minimum of 15 mins of yellow spectrum lights daily (sunlight). This will improve our sleep and help with our body clock, also known as the circadian rhythm.
   • The sunset provides yellow spectrum light. This helps our body realize it’s time to get ready for bed. Setting a light filter on your phones and computers is a good idea. The blue lights they emit help to keep us awake. It’s best to attempt to put tech away 1-1.5 hours before bed if possible.

Deep Breathing

• Deep breathing helps to signal the brain that “I am calm, I am relaxed and ready to sleep.”
• • Deep breathing: Deep breath through the nose for 5 seconds – Hold for 5 seconds, then exhale through the mouth for 5 seconds. Try this at least five times.
  • 4-7-8 Breathing: in through the nose for 4 seconds – Hold for 7 -exhale through the mouth for 8 seconds a few minutes before bed. Increase as you get more comfortable.

Negativity

• What you tell yourself throughout the day is what you will get back at night.
  • Try to be kind to yourself during the day.
  • Try to think about positive/happy things before bed.

Cycling Thoughts

If something didn’t bother you during the day, it isn’t worth troubling yourself over at night. By letting go of negative thoughts, you pave the way for peaceful and restful sleep. Instead of spiralling, focus on fostering positivity and tranquillity within yourself. This will help you optimize your sleep and wake up refreshed for a brand-new day.

• Try these exercises if you struggle to let go of your negative thoughts.
  • To help combat spiralling or anxious thoughts, try journaling or writing those thoughts down.
  • The Alphabet game. This game helps keep your mind from focusing on ruminations or negative thoughts. Pick a category, for example, animals and try to come up with an animal for every letter of the alphabet,. A-aardvark, B-baboon, C-Cat D-Dog…
  • Focusing on relaxation techniques.
    • Breathing exercises like the ones listed above can help you to relax by using your body’s natural relaxation response.
    • Visualization exercises like a body scan are another way to enlist your body’s natural relaxation response. It uses mental imagery to care for a sense of well-being within the body and helps reduce stress, making it easier to fall asleep.

Take care of yourself and prioritize your rest.

References

Brick, C. A., Seely, D. L., & Palermo, T. M. (2010). Association Between Sleep Hygiene and Sleep Quality in Medical Students. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 8(2), 113–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/15402001003622925

Cherry, K. (2020). What Impact Does Sleep Have on Mental Health? Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/how-sleep-affects-mental-health-4783067

Dow, G. [Georgia Dow]. (2021, February 18). 5 Tips for YOU to Get Better Sleep! [Video]. YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYoqKONHnCs&list=PL3I0HsOf9M_Q9Qfqu5RgBYJlyABce-yLS

Hirshkowitz, M., Whiton, K., Albert, S. M., Alessi, C., Bruni, O., DonCarlos, L., Hazen, N., Herman, J., Katz, E. S., Kheirandish-Gozal, L., Neubauer, D. N., O’Donnell, A. E., Ohayon, M., Peever, J., Rawding, R., Sachdeva, R. C., Setters, B., Vitiello, M. V., Ware, J. C., & Adams Hillard, P. J. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health, 1(1), 40–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2014.12.010

Ickes, M. J., Brown, J., Reeves, B., & Zephyr, P. M. D. (2015). Differences between Undergraduate and Graduate Students in Stress and Coping Strategies. Californian Journal of Health Promotion, 13(1), 13–25. https://doi.org/10.32398/cjhp.v13i1.1810

Jerath, R., Beveridge, C., & Barnes, V. A. (2019). Self-Regulation of Breathing as an Adjunctive Treatment of Insomnia. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00780

Koop Harder, J. (2022). Depression Practical Intervention Strategies [Slides]. Crisis and Trauma Resource Institute (CTRI). https://ca.ctrinstitute.com/product/depression-practical-intervention-strategies-webinar/

Krob, A. (2011). Fix Your Sleep Hygiene: 14 tips for getting better sleep. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/prefrontal-nudity/201112/fix-your-sleep-hygiene

Sleep Foundation. (2022, July 13). Sleep Foundation | Better Sleep for a Better You. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/

Wickham, S. R., Amarasekara, N. A., Bartonicek, A., & Conner, T. S. (2020). The Big Three Health Behaviors and Mental Health and Well-Being Among Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional Investigation of Sleep, Exercise, and Diet. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.579205