When I’m working with patients about 90% of them report that their sleep is erratic. Whether this accounts for too much sleep, broken sleep, not enough, etc something is off.
Personally, I have struggled with sleep my entire life and I have had to force myself to regulate my sleep patterns. I’ve worked full time since I was in high school, throughout college, grad school, and I’ve had periods where I’ve worked two jobs. It’s easy to fall into the “just until” trap such as “I just need to get through this exam”, “I need to get through grad school then things will be better”. But the more dysregulated my sleep was, the more dysregulated I became. I see it more and more with my patients also.
When it comes to mental health, sleep is vital and isn’t optional. In children and adolescents their brains are developing when they are sleeping. Our bodies heal, clean out the toxins, and build new neurons when we sleep.
Sleep and Mental Health
Poor sleep is both a symptom and a contributor to mental illness. Sleep problems may contribute to the development or prolongation of mental illness by making it more difficult to cope with mental problems. Sleep disorders often coexists with anxiety and panic disorders, depression, ADHD, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. Problematically, the sleep issues associated with these mental health disorders make it more challenging to manage symptoms and experience the benefits of treatment.
Together, mental illness and insomnia exacerbate the effects of each other, creating a classic negative feedback loop, and once they get started, push the patient in a downward spiral. This makes treatment of both conditions difficult. Left untreated, the sleep problems associated with mental health disorders can be particularly dangerous. A University of Michigan study found a strong correlation between insomnia and suicide.
Overall,
Lack of sleep leads to inability to cope, physical health ailments, and this all spirals to more depressive/anxiety symptoms including tension, irritability, overwhelm, over/undereating, nervousness, restlessness, feelings of doom etc.
Steps to Create A Healthy Sleep Pattern
Create the Right Environment
Make sure your mattress is comfortable and you have a safe haven of sheets and pillows. Leave the electronics out of the bedroom and only be in bed when it’s time to sleep. Don’t watch TV in bed or scroll on your phone as this light triggers your brain to think it’s time to stay awake. If you need white noise, play white noise on a machine or on your phone (that should be across the room). Get black out curtains and make sure to declutter to allow yourself to only focus on relaxation.
This one was the hardest for me. My bed is where I am when I get stressed so only being in it when I wanted to sleep was hard. But now my brain is wired that when I’m in my bed, it’s time to sleep.
Eat the Right Foods
Foods that reduce inflammation, help increase the happy hormones in our brains, and can help regulate melatonin production should be eaten before bed. Almonds, turkey, walnuts, kiwi, bananas, oatmeal can be extremely helpful to help induce sleep and help stay asleep.
Foods to avoid before bed are red meat, chocolate, and refined sugars. It’s important to stay away from things that are too acidic and could cause heartburn or regurgitation when laying down such as tomato sauce.
Stay away from fibrous foods right before bed could cause your body to put too much effort into digestion when it should be relaxing and sleeping. Alcohol may help you fall asleep but it’s very disruptive to your sleep cycle so reconsider the wine before bed. Try not to consume caffeine after 2pm during the day to let your body fully metabolize it before bedtime.
Keep Your Gut Healthy
Gut health and mental health are closely linked, and the way you sleep affects it all. When your microbiome is out of balance, you may be at a higher risk for a mental health or mood disorder, which can affect your emotions, ability to cope with stress, and ability to fight of symptoms of depression.
Eat well, consider a pre and/or probiotic after talking to your nutritionist/doctor.
Work Out for Sleep Pattern
During the day working out can help you fall asleep. Exercise is a known mood booster and can help relieve tension and anxiety. This can help you transition to bed later in the day. Don’t work out too vigorously right before bed as this can keep you awake but doing some upper-body stretches and some simple bedtime yoga can help with falling asleep.
Mental Health Concerns
Due to the strong link between sleep and mental health it’s important to treat any underlying psychiatric conditions to help treat difficulty sleeping. Having a therapist and a practitioner as needed can help mitigate a lot of unnecessary struggling while trying to regulate your sleep patterns.
Bed Time Routine
As humans, we are creatures of habit. Secretly, habits make us feel like we have control and that can help create a sense of calm.
An hour before bed put phones, tablets, TV’s away because the blue light that is emitted can hinder melatonin’s ability to work. Make a quick to-do list to get out the anxiety about the next day because when you write it down it allows you to set those tasks aside, decreasing overthinking.
Connect with loved ones, relax, cuddle, and just “be”. This can be your dog, cat, or partner. Human connection has shown time and time again to be a powerful relaxing agent. Read a book (like an actual paper book), light some candles, take a bath, whatever fits who you are.
Do this EVERY night.
Don’t Think About Sleep
We have a funny ability to psych ourselves out about sleep. Watching the clock and getting frustrated with yourself for not sleeping can be counterintuitive.
It’s vital to stay relaxed. If you’re laying there and after 30 minutes don’t fall asleep, get up, go downstairs, read a book under dim lighting or do some simple stretches. Try again about 15-30 minutes later. Learning to control your thoughts can be difficult, so be patient and allow yourself to change the environment if you feel like you’re stressing about sleep.
In Conclusion
Sleep is vital for proper functioning, good moods, memory, and to live a healthy happy life. Regulating sleep is necessary and if you’re still struggling after these tips talk to your practitioner. There may be something else going on and it’s important to get a good understanding of things that could be impeding your sleep.
Good sleep can increase your performance, ability to cope and heal, reduce inflammation, and helps your immune system.
Here are some other ways to take care of your mental health!
Talk soon!
References:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-foods-to-help-you-sleep#section11
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/34/46/15490.full.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5145013/
https://gutpathogens.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1757-4749-5-3
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18778837
