How to sleep better?

1. Set up a routine involving regular and adequate sleeping times (most adults need about seven or eight hours sleep every night). Allocate a time for sleeping, for example, 11pm to 7am, and don’t use this time for anything else. Avoid daytime naps, or make them short and regular. If you have a bad night, avoid sleeping late, as this makes it more difficult to fall asleep the following night.

2. Have a relaxing bedtime routine that enables you to wind down before bedtime. This may involve breathing exercises, meditation or reading a book, listening to music, or watching TV. Avoid showering too close to bedtime as the temperature change wakes your body up.

3. Enjoy a hot, non-caffeinated drink such as herbal tea or warm milk. In time, your hot drink could become a sleeping cue.

4. Sleep in a familiar, dark, and quiet room that is adequately ventilated and neither too hot nor too cold. Try to use this room for sleeping only, so that you come to associate it with sleep. .

5. If sleep doesn’t come, try not to become anxious or annoyed and try to force yourself to sleep. The more aggravated you become, the less likely you are to fall asleep. Instead, try to clear your mind and relax. For example, get up and do something relaxing and enjoyable for about half an hour before giving it another go.

6. Exercise regularly. This will also help you with your low mood. However, don’t workout too close to bedtime as the short-term alerting effects of exercise may make it harder to fall asleep.

7. Reduce your stress. At the same time, try to do something productive or enjoyable each day.

8. Eat a wholesome evening meal with a good balance of protein and complex carbohydrates. Eating too much can make it difficult to fall asleep; eating too little can disturb your sleep and decrease its quality.

9. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco, particularly in the evening. Alcohol may make you fall asleep more readily, but it decreases the overall length and quality of your sleep.

10. If insomnia persists despite these measures, speak to your doctor. In some cases, insomnia has a very specific cause such as a physical problem or an adverse effect of your medication hat requires your doctor’s attention.

Other interventions

Behavioural interventions such as sleep restriction therapy or Cognitive-behavioural therapy can be helpful in some cases and are preferable to sleeping tablets in the long-term.

Sleeping tablets can be effective in the short-term, but are best avoided in the longer term because of their adverse effects and high potential for tolerance (needing more and more to produce the same effect) and dependence.

Over-the-counter sleeping remedies often contain an antihistamine that can leave you feeling drowsy the following morning. If you decide to use such remedies, be sure not to drive or operate heavy machinery the next day.

Herbal alternatives are usually based on chamomile, passion fruit or Valerian. If you are considering a herbal remedy, do speak to your doctor.

(adapted from https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/hide-and-seek/201203/better-sleep-in-10-simple-steps )

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