Change your thoughts, change your sleep?

Anybody who has cared for a baby, worked a night shift or clock-watched at 1am knows what a night (or more) without sleep can feel like. Feeling like we are not getting enough sleep can cause anxiety, frustration which might cause a hyper focus on these struggles and dread at bedtime. I know this from past personal experience.

Sleep is affected most strongly by our circadian rhythm and the buildup of fatigue and a need for sleep as we are active throughout the day. It is helpful to use basic seep hygiene techniques such as keeping your room cool, dark, and quiet at night, reducing caffeine and alcohol consumption and time spent in front of screens in the evenings, but that is just the start.

Over time, however, I have learned that the larger part of sleep challenges and insomnia are related to the thoughts we think and the beliefs we hold about ourselves and sleep. Enter a new article from the BBC with research and information that challenges myths, unrealistic expectations and unhelpful beliefs about sleep. The link is below.

Insomnia is a medical condition which needs to be taken seriously. Medical issues and physical pain can also make it difficult to sleep and may require time and medical support to resolve.

Additionally, talking to a counsellor can help you understand worry, stress or unhelpful thoughts and beliefs which make it hard to sleep. In counselling you can learn to calm your nervous system through the day and night, have more realistic expectations about sleep, be kind to yourself, change what you can and accept what you can’t.

Check out the link for more information.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241014-need-a-good-nights-sleep-trying-changing-how-you-think-about-it