Common sleep disturbances and how to relieve them

Sleep is so incredibly important. In fact, it is probably the most important thing you will do with your day. If you are doing it right, you need around eight hours of sleep in a twenty-four hour period, which means you should be asleep for a third of your life.

That’s because sleep is paramount to your health. People who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to die early and to suffer with mental health issues.

If you have a sleep disturbance, it is really important you sort it out as soon as you possibly can. Long-term sleep disturbances can become much bigger issues. A few nights of disturbed sleep is enough. Once it starts, do everything you can to stop it.

Here are some of the most common sleep disturbances and how you can stop them.

Insomnia

Everyone has had nights when they could not fall asleep, but if this happens to you often, you might have an actual sleep disorder in the form of insomnia.

Sufferers of insomnia find it difficult to fall asleep and stay there once they do.

There are two separate classifications; acute and chronic.

Acute insomnia is short-term and can be caused by things like jet lag or trauma. Chronic insomnia lasts more than a month and could be caused by a number of things, both mental and physical. It is much more difficult to solve.

Insomnia could be caused by medication, excessive consumption of alcohol, nicotine use, stress, mental health issues and unpleasant sleeping environments.

Some of these are easy enough to fix. If you have an unpleasant sleeping environment, you need to do your best to fix this. Tidy your room, redecorate if you can, and consider changing your mattress to something more suitable.

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If you think your insomnia is caused by medication, addiction or mental health issues, it is important you contact your doctor.

Sleep paralysis

Sleep paralysis is often a terrifying experience. It’s where your mind wakes up and your body, to protect you from acting out your dreams, remains temporarily paralysed. Many people who struggle with this sleep paralysis see or experience terrifying things while they are paralysed, which experts think might be an attempt by your brain to shock yourself into movement.

The internet is full of suggestions on how you can stop sleep paralysis, the most common of which is to stay calm and accept what is happening, and wait for movement to return.

There is some suggestion that drinking alcohol, being overtired and background noise are common causes of sleep paralysis, so if you sleep whilst being influenced by any of the above, try changing your behaviour to remove them.

Stress can disrupt your sleep

You might be really surprised by the impact stress can have on your sleep. Overstimulation can keep you awake, even if you feel exhausted.

Common causes of this include erratic schedules and too much working, which can mean any sleep you do is not restorative, as your anxiety might mean you dream about work you have been doing or other stressful situations you are in.

A good way to solve this is to incorporate a sleep schedule into your routine. This involves giving your body and brain an indication that sleep is coming soon by completing the same rituals a couple of hours before you go to bed. This might mean turning off technology or having a bath.

You should also try turning your lights down as low as possible half an hour before bed, as blue light can interfere with your circadian rhythm and keep you awake. Meditating regularly, even if it isn’t right before bed, can also help when it comes to snooze-time.

Self-sabotage

We lead such busy lives these days that we often find ourselves staying up late because it is the only time we can get to ourselves.

You need to reframe the way you feel about sleep.

Remember, sleep is very important to your overall health and wellbeing, so you must make sure you are doing it, even if it means you lose time to do other things, like watching TV or reading a book.

Try setting a regular bedtime and, if possible, a strict time to stop whatever you’re doing, whether it be work or chores, and relax. Restructure your day so that you aren’t left with a choice between sleep or conscious relaxation.

Remember that you do not live to work, you work to live. In worst case scenarios, you might need to speak to your boss about overworking, or talk to your partner about sharing unpaid work in your home so that you have more free time.

And go easy on yourself. Nobody is perfect, and there definitely are not enough hours in the day for modern life, so take care of your china spinning plates and let the plastic ones fall if it’s between handling them and getting a good night of sleep.