(Nutricise) — According to experts,
not getting an adequate number of hours of sleep leaves you feeling lethargic
and unfocused -- making it even more difficult to deal with your everyday life.
"If people don't get enough sleep at night, they begin feeling fatigued
and sleepy during the daytime," explains psychologist Michael Stevenson,
Ph.D., clinical director of the North Valley Sleep Disorders Center in Mission
Hills, California. However, for many people the obvious solution is a nice
little catnap when you feel tired during the day -- but this is actually the
most detrimental action you can take. People who already have difficulty
sleeping at night may make matters worse by napping during the daytime, which
takes the edge off their tiredness at bedtime. And being tired, as opposed to
simply being horizontal, is what allows you to (finally)fall asleep.
If you don't feel alert and vital in
the daytime, and you have trouble getting an adequate amount of shut-eye at
night, you might want to try each of these four techniques, which Stevenson
recommends to his patients:
1) Try to get your rest on a fairly
regular schedule. The need to sleep is controlled by your body's internal
clock. If you rise at 6 a.m. during the week but sleep until 10 a.m. on
weekends, you're throwing that clock off.
2) Make your bedroom a sleep-only
sanctuary. "People frequently misuse the bedroom," observes
Stevenson. So don't make your sleeping place a setting for exercise, watching
television or toiling over income tax returns; those activities are bound to
get you keyed up.
3) If you can't fall asleep within
10-15 minutes, don't stay in bed fretting about the rest you're not getting.
Instead, get up and go relax somewhere else. Reading a soothing book (that is,
not a thriller) is fine, but Stevenson actually recommends "sitting and
doing nothing in a darkened room." Or try simple diaphragmatic breathing.
He also notes that a little reverse psychology will work wonders on your
eyelids—focusing on staying awake is more likely to trigger slumber than is
trying to will yourself to sleep.
4) Be a detective and try to clue in
to any internal and/or external disturbances that could be disrupting your
sleep routine. Are you worried about anything? Are you on any medications that
list insomnia as a possible side effect? Are you drinking too many caffeinated
beverages? Are you drinking too much alcohol (which can keep you awake as it
wears off)? Is your partner snoring? Do you have noisy neighbors? Is your
bedroom too light, too cluttered, too hot or cold? Are you getting up
frequently to use the bathroom? (Stevenson notes that nighttime bathroom trips
increase with age. To make the experience less disruptive, try to pretend
you're sleepwalking: Keep your eyes half shut, if you can, and use a nightlight
in the bathroom so that you won't be stimulated by the glare of bright light.)
The sooner you identify potential problems, the sooner you can make changes and
improve your sleep.
There's no universal magic number of
hours of sleep that everyone should be getting, but you'll know when you're
getting what's right for you, says Stevenson. Whether it's six hours or nine, a
full night should leave you refreshed and free of fatigue during the day. Until
you experience that, the most important thing to remember, says Stevenson, is
that "you can't make it happen, you can only set up the ideal
circumstances for sleep to occur."
Source: www.nutricise.com/servlet/article/28568.html