Adequate sleep is integral to our well being, serving to replenish energy, resilience and consolidation of new learnings. Sleep can be disrupted by various medical conditions, medications, insomnia and for mental health reasons. Poor sleep can disrupt our daily function, routine and impact our psychosocial function. It is important to see a medical provider to know whether your sleep concerns are related to a medical condition. There are many interventions within our control that can help to promote good sleep. Have a look at the following video:
How Does Sleep Work and Why Do We Need It?
There are many ways we can help ourselves today to improve sleep while working towards understanding the source of our sleep disturbance:
- Set consistent sleep and wake times
- Avoid stimulating activities prior to bedtime including the use of electronics
- Avoid the use of any substances such as alcohol and cannabis for sleep
- Write down some of your thoughts and worries before bed
Please look at the sleep hygiene PDF for adults below:
For more detailed information on self-management strategies for sleep, please look at the information below:
If your sleep concern is related to insomnia, there are programs online that use evidenced based therapy such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy to address the core symptoms of insomnia. Please refer to the following sites:
- Sleep Well has free resources to address sleep using a cognitive behavior approach
- https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself/Sleep
There are several apps that you can download to track and offer mindfulness activities to help with sleep. Here are a few examples but there are many more:
Wondering if you should start or continue to use a medication or substance to help with sleep? Have a look at this decision balance document from Sleepwell: CBTI vs Sleeping Pills