Having trouble sleeping? We can help you fix that
The science behind why we’re having trouble drifting off right now – and how to fix it
Our daily lives have been turned upside down recently, and it’s had a massive impact on our sleep, too. It’s no secret that sleep is directly connected to our mental health. If we’ve been tossing and turning the night before, we’re more likely to morph into Gemma Collins on the rampage the next morning if anyone crosses us.
We spoke to sleep environment and behaviour expert James Wilson, the self-styled Sleep Geek, to find out why life under lockdown is playing havoc with our body clocks and how we can help ourselves to catch a few more zzzs. “The foundation your mental health and emotional resilience is built upon is sleep, as the stage of sleep that comes later in the night is where we work through emotions from the day before,” James explains. “If we’re not getting enough of that deep sleep, it impacts on your ability to deal with the day.”
BEDTIME BINGE WATCHING
The secret formula for dropping off is a decrease in temperature and a slowing of our heart rate. But if you’ve been having a super-scroll through Twitter or binging on news websites before bedtime, it’s likely your anxiety levels are high, meaning it’s almost impossible to reach that sweet spot of relaxation. James says, “We do need to try to be careful about what we are watching on TV before bedtime. Keep it nice and light and trashy, like Tiger King or Love Is Blind. Anything that makes you laugh is really good for sleep.”
DON’T FIGHT THE FEELING
Are you a natural morning person, or would you happily stay up until the small hours and hit the snooze button a few times the next day? James suggests that this is a great opportunity to tune in to your natural sleeping patterns and go with them. “Some of us are owls, some of us are larks and some of us are somewhere in the middle,” he says. “The owls, for example, may find themselves going to bed gradually later and later as we don’t have our normal routine. But rather than trying to stick to what your sleep pattern used to be, if you’re an owl, give yourself a bit of a later bedtime and a later wake-up time, but try to keep it consistent. See it as a chance to change your sleeping pattern and your working pattern to suit you and to help your mental health.”
BEWARE OF THE DANGER NAP
Hands up who’s had a sneaky snooze on the sofa mid-afternoon in the last few weeks? With many of us not governed by our usual routines, it’s very tempting to grab a few zzzs after Homes Under The Hammer, but James warns this has repercussions. “Our tiredness builds up like pressure throughout the day, so as the hours go by, you will get sleepier and sleepier,” he reveals. “If you have a nap, then you relieve that pressure a bit.
It might give us a bit of energy, but it can also damage our ability to fall asleep at night.”
SEE THE LIGHT
“Daylight is important to help us feel alert throughout the day, so if we’re confined in our homes and not getting enough natural light, it could affect our energy levels,” James explains. “Not having that regular rhythm of the day will have an impact. So, accept that has happened, try to create a new normal and get outside as regularly as you can.”
YOU BOOZE, YOU LOSE
Many of us are drinking more alcohol than we would normally to help deal with the rising stress levels. But while this might have us stumbling upstairs to snooze in the short term, it does affect the quality of our sleep. “It’s a sedative, so it will knock you out, but it won’t
allow you to have good-quality sleep,” James explains.
THE 3AM FREAK OUT
Even if you have managed to drop off , you could find yourself wide awake in the middle of the night, unable to switch off your brain. “If you’re awake for more than 30 minutes, then your cortisol levels have increased and you have to effectively start going to bed again,” James tells us. “When we’re stressed, we won’t produce melatonin, the hormone that helps us sleep. Listening to something is better than reading as it’s less engaging. You want something not so boring it will get you thinking again, and not so interesting that you’ll become engrossed. It might take a couple of nights, but your body will learn to drop your heart rate and go back to sleep again.” Try a sleep story or short podcast. ■