Better Sleep for Better Mental Health
Sleep is indisputably a cornerstone of good mental health. When we get good sleep and enough sleep, we benefit from increased attention, better memory, less stress, less emotional reactivity, better long-term brain health, and more.
Some guidance on how to get a good night’s sleep may be familiar. If you’ve ever worked to prioritize sleep or consistently struggled to get a good night’s rest, you may have heard these before:
For most adults, 7-9 hours of sleep each night is recommended
Limit caffeine in the afternoon and alcohol before bedtime, as caffeine will make it hard to unwind, and — although alcohol may initially make you sleepy — it lowers the quality of all-important deep sleep later in the sleep cycle
Regularly engage in calming activities before bed as part of a wind-down routine
Make sure your sleeping room is cool enough (65 degrees or colder) and dark enough (use blackout shades and/or an eyemask if needed)
These are all true, and great advice! But if you have these aspects of sleep hygiene all dialed in and you’re still struggling to fall asleep, there are a few more things you can try. What follows are three of my favorite “sleep secrets'“; however, I’m not claiming these are Da Vinci Code-level secret knowledge, nor are they a cure-all. They’re just one step beyond the obvious and have the potential to resolve some lesser-known obstacles to sleeping well.
1) Try to go to bed and wake up at similar times every day
Your brain loves a routine. Having a consistent sleep and wake schedule will help prepare your brain and make it easier to fall asleep, sleep well, and wake up on time. Even shifting by an hour or so from night to night can be hard on your circadian rhythms; think of the adjustment to Daylight Saving Time, for example. Also, “catching up” on sleep as a regular strategy (for example, on the weekends) doesn’t work and the cumulative load of sleep debt can quickly become problematic.
2) Sleep only in bed, and only sleep in bed
Wait, what?
This is actually two separate but important recommendations.
Sleep only in bed: Try to avoid falling asleep on the couch, in a chair, or anywhere except your bed. Training the brain to associate your bed with sleep will help you fall asleep faster and get a more restful night of sleep.
Only sleep in bed: Limit your activities in bed to sleep and intimacy. Scrolling your phone, watching tv, working, or doing homework in bed will train the brain to associate stimulating or stressful activities with that location, and thus make it harder to relax and fall asleep. For quality sleep, we want our brains to solely anticipate sleeping (or a sexy good time) in bed.
3) Don’t toss and turn
If we’re frequently struggling to fall asleep, we can inadvertently teach our brain to expect sleeplessness at night and thereby become anxious about bedtime. So, if you haven’t fallen asleep after about 20 minutes, get out of bed and do something else for a little while. (Ideally something low-key in low light, like reading, folding laundry, or a crossword puzzle.) When you’re feeling sleepy, return to bed and try again to fall asleep.
When to get some help: If you’ve been taking good care of your sleep hygiene and you’re still struggling to fall asleep and/or stay asleep, consider talking to your doctor about possible insomnia, anxiety, or other complex sleep issues. Sleeping too much can be a problem too. It may be a sign of depression or another health concern. If you’re sleeping plenty and still significantly fatigued, please reach out to your doctor.
Good night, and sleep tight!