Sleep Well: Beat Stress and Anxiety

Sleep is an essential part of our daily routine. This is the time when we restore our physical and psychological system. When a person is a victim of stress and anxiety, it is important for him to sleep well. An uninterrupted and peaceful sleep of at least seven hours at night is very important as it helps the body to re-coup the energy lost during the day.

Normally, what happens when we do not sleep enough? According to Rosekind, PhD, an expert on fatigue and performance issues,

• Day time sleepiness
• Effects our mood and behavior
• It makes our work performance worse
• Increases the risk of injuries
• Makes it difficult to get along with others
• We find it difficult to concentrate
• We make mistakes in taking important decisions or following an instruction
• We become lethargic and impatient
• Memory, attention and reaction capacity is reduced
• Loss of sleep affects the alertness of the next day

So, how can we understand the signals of inadequate sleep? The below given symptoms which will let us know that we are not sleeping enough;

• Dozing off while you need more concentration or alertness, such as reading, watching TV, sitting in meetings or sitting in traffic
• Slow down in your thinking and reacting capacity
• You find it difficult to listen or understand directions
• You find it difficult to remember or retain information
• You commit errors or mistakes frequently
• Because of narrowed down attention, you miss important changes in a situation
• You suffer from depression or negative mood
• You become impatience or angry very quickly
• You blink, find difficulty in focusing eyes, or heavy eyelids

The above pointers make it clear as to how loss of sleep can affect our normal life. And inevitably, these adverse affects of not sleeping would further contribute to stress and anxiety. It is important to know how we can improve our sleep. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) offers a few tips for helping people maximize the sleep during the times of high stress and anxiety:

During the day:

At Night:

Get ready for sleep

When you are hearing or watching disturbing news, take your time and stop listening to news programs at least one hour before going to bed…let go the worry.

Relax

Engage in a relaxing activity like, reading something light or listening to soft music accompanied by a warm bath or hot bubble bath. But, make sure to avoid activities that are mentally or physically stimulating.

Limit your food& alcohol intake

Remember, if you are sleep deprived, alcohol is not going to help you. Alcohol is not a sleep aid. And also avoid eating or drinking too much before bedtime.

Get into bed only when you are tired

The thumb rule is to go to bed when you’re tired. Go to bed and wait for 15 minutes, if you do not fall asleep, get out of bed. Now go to another room start reading a book or involve yourself in any type of relaxing activity. Come back to your bed room when you’re sleepy.

Sleepy Ambiance

Create an ambiance which will help you fall asleep…a bed which is soft, clean and comfortable, a room which is quiet, dark and cool.

Important Notes:

• Share your problem with others; you will realize that your problems are not unique. In this way, you will be able to learn how others cope with their sleeping problems.
• When you see that you are unable to solve your problem with sleep, you must seek professional help. There are medications available for helping people with insomnia. Only a doctor can prescribe you those medicines. People do benefit a lot from professional help.

Remember: sleeplessness associated with an acute stressful situation or anxiety disorder usually improves with the improvement in your psychological condition. So, first of all, address issues to control your stress and unnecessary worries.