Better Sleep for Better Mental Health

Better Sleep for Better Mental Health – Quick Tips

Better Sleep for Better Mental Health – Quick Tips – part of Paul Carter’s Quick Tips series we look at a variety of areas and consider three things that you can do to implement change straight away. Today we are looking at sleep.

We spend about a third of our lives asleep. Sleep is essential – It is as important to our bodies as eating, drinking and breathing, and is vital for maintaining good mental and physical health. Sleeping helps us to recover from mental as well as physical exertion.

Sleep and health are strongly related – poor sleep can increase the risk of having poor health, and poor health can make it harder to sleep.  Sleep disturbances can be one of the first signs of distress. Common mental health problems like anxiety and depression can often underpin sleep problems.

Below are a list of ideas that you can try to help you to sleep better, better sleep should have a positive impact on your overall mental and physical health.  Everyone is different and so the ideas below might not all work, but it might be interesting to try them out and see which ones do work for you.

  • Keep to a routine go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
  • Have a routine or ritual for going to bed where you wind down and do something relaxing, take a shower or a bath, read a book, do some relaxing yoga. Start this an hour before you go to bed.
  • Make sure that your bedroom is a nice place to be, that it is dark and quiet. Change your sheets regularly and make sure that you have a good mattress and pillow.
  • Exercise in the day
  • According to the NHS Website you shouldn’t smoke or drink alcohol, tea or coffee at least 6 hours before going to bed 
  • Don’t eat too late
  • Don’t watch television or use devices right before bed.
  • Try the 10,3,2,1,0 method
    • 10 hours before bed no caffeine
    • 3 hours before bed no food or alcohol
    • 2 hours before bed no work
    • 1 hour before bed no screens
    • 0 times hit the snooze button. If you do this, it is a habit you should break. If you get up when the alarm goes off you will feel better in the day.

For more information about this method please take a look at this website HIF Hub – What is the 10, 3,2,1,0 sleep rule.

  • Try a meditation before bed or a sleep cast created by Headspace a meditation app. They are audio content designed specifically to create the right conditions for healthy, restful sleep.You may not want to sign up for a headspace subscription but you can find them for free on youtube. This is my favourite one Rainday Antiques. I have found that I have fallen asleep more easily and slept better listening to it.

If you feel that you would like to speak to someone about difficulties you are having, you might find speaking to a therapist helpful. Paul offers Psychotherapy and counselling, EMDR and Clinical Supervision. If you are struggling with any issue and would like to make an appointment with Paul please call Paul on 07843 813 537 or fill in the form on the Contact Page, if he doesn’t answer he is probably in a session, please leave him a message and he will call you back as soon as he can. For more information about Paul please take a look at the About Paul PageFrequently Asked Questions Page and The Counselling Services Page.

Online Sleep Resources