Passive aggressive emails may be a facet of office life – particularly if a shift towards at-home working causes comments to get lost in translation.
A restful night's sleep may help us stay on good terms with our colleagues, however.
Scientists from West Texas A&M University analysed 131 employees over two weeks. Perhaps unsurprisingly, insomnia was linked to fatigue the next day, which then triggered so-called "cyber incivility".
Irritability after a poor night's sleep may spill over into your work emails. (Posed by a model, Getty Images)
Unwinding with a relaxing book, warm bath or soothing music at the end of a stressful day may therefore keep things harmonious from 9 to 5.
Insomnia is thought to affect up to a third of British adults to some extent.
Over time, a lack of sleep has been linked to heart disease, cancer and even an early death. In the short-term, many feel irritable the next day.
To better understand how this poor mood affects our performance at work, the West Texas scientists had 131 full-time employees keep two daily diaries for a fortnight.
At 7am every day, the participants noted how they slept the night before.
Come 4pm, they recorded any fatigue or cyber incivility – "rudeness or impoliteness enabled by technology". This may have included ignoring a request to schedule a meeting or making "demeaning or derogatory remarks through email".
Results – published in the journal Sleep Health – suggest "employees have more self-regulatory fatigue and thus engage in higher levels of cyber incivility at work after a shorter night of sleep".
Being "agreeable" lessened this effect, however.
"Our findings build on previous research that suggests self-control is restored while people sleep, to the extent that after a poor night’s sleep, people lose their self-restraint and are more likely to engage in cyber incivility at work the next day", said lead author Dr Trevor Watkins.
Tips for a good night's sleep
People who struggle to sleep are advised to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
Winding down with gentle yoga or other relaxing activities can also help. Writing a to-do list for the next day may also calm a frazzled mind.
In addition, experts recommend people avoid screens – like their phone – for around an hour before bed.
Bedrooms should be "sleep friendly", with a comfortable mattress, pleasant temperature and black-out curtains, if necessary.
Keeping a sleep diary can help people link a poor night's shut eye to lifestyle habits, like drinking too much coffee or alcohol.
Waking up at night is normal and usually harmless, most just fall straight back to sleep, but if you’re struggling you may need to do something about it, writes Anahad O’Connor
It’s normal to wake up a few times during the night, as the brain cycles through various stages of deeper and lighter sleep. Older people also often have to get out of bed to use the bathroom one or two times during the night. Waking up at night is usually harmless. Most people have no trouble falling back asleep and may not even remember their night-time awakenings the next morning.
But if you frequently wake up in the middle of the night and find yourself struggling to fall back asleep, there could be an underlying problem. If this occurs at least three times a week over a period of at least three months, it could be chronic insomnia, says Dr Kannan Ramar, of the US Mayo Clinic and former president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Two of the primary drivers of insomnia are stress and anxiety. If you wake up and look at the clock and then start worrying about having to be rested for work the next day, paying your bills or other life stresses, it could activate your sympathetic nervous system, which controls what’s known as the fight-or-flight response. Levels of adrenaline, the so-called stress hormone, will rise, increasing your heart rate and leading to a state of heightened arousal, making it particularly difficult to ease back into sleep.
Ramar says: “You might ask yourself, ‘Is this the same time I woke up last night? Why does this always happen? Those thoughts are not helpful in terms of falling back asleep.”
If you find that you’ve been awake for 25 minutes or longer, experts advise you get out of bed and do a quiet activity that calms your mind – anything to quash the stressful thoughts that were keeping you awake. Gentle stretches or breathing exercises might help, as may meditation, which has been shown in studies to help combat chronic insomnia. You might sit on the couch and knit, or read a book or magazine in dim light. Experts recommend that you avoid reading on a device, since the blue light can suppress production of melatonin, the hormone that helps make us drowsy. You might, however, use a soothing app designed to help with sleep and meditation.
Eventually, when you start to feel tired, get back into bed and try to doze off. Then, the next day, implement the following sleep hygiene habits to increase your odds of sleeping soundly through the night:
1. Limit evening alcohol intake. In small amounts, alcohol can act as a sedative, causing you to fall asleep faster but it can also cause you to wake up in the middle of the night as your body is metabolising it. Studies show that consuming alcohol before bed can lead to poor-quality sleep.
2. Avoid caffeine after 2pm because it can linger in your system well into the evening. If you drink a cup of coffee at 3.30pm, about a quarter of the caffeine can still be in your system 12 hours later.
3. Avoid napping late in the day, as this can make it harder to fall and stay asleep at night. Taking late naps will reduce what scientists call your homeostatic sleep drive, which is essentially your body’s pressure to fall sleep in the evening. If you do want to nap during the day, make sure to do it in the morning or early afternoon and keep it short, no longer than 30 minutes. Dr Sabra Abbott of the US Northwestern University says: “The closer you are to bedtime or the longer the nap is, the more likely you are to run into trouble.”
4. Keep a strict sleep schedule. Waking up and going to bed at irregular times can throw off your body’s circadian rhythm, the innate 24-hour cycles that tell our bodies when to wake up and fall asleep, making it harder to sleep through the night. Try to get up at the same time each morning (aim to get at least 15 minutes of morning sunlight, which helps to shut down melatonin production) and get into bed at the same time in the evenings. Studies show that people who have irregular bedtime schedules are more likely to develop symptoms of insomnia.
5. If you frequently get up to use the bathroom, try to limit how much water or other fluids you drink in the evening two to four hours before bedtime.
There's one night in particular I remember most. It was my third night of zero sleep and the light was growing brighter in the living room — I had transitioned to the couch after tossing in bed for close to four hours. "Please," I pleaded aloud. "Please, just fall asleep." I was panicking, thinking I may never sleep again and that I'd end up in the hospital with delirium or drop dead from exhaustion on a city street. (Spoiler alert: neither happened.)
Insomnia can be an insidious, strange affliction, in that the more you care about its effects, the worse it gets. Though insomnia can be caused by a variety of issues, including physical and psychological factors, for many people a few sleepless nights can snowball into what's referred to as sleep anxiety — wherein your worry about falling asleep feeds the cycle of diminished sleep. This cycle can feel impossible to break, especially for those of us who are already prone to other forms of anxiety and obsessive thinking. Sufferers usually grow more and more anxious as the night draws closer. Reigning in the anxiety usually means rejiggering how your mind thinks about sleep.
First, a few facts about types of insomnia. It can be acute (short-term) or chronic (usually defined as at least three times a week for at least three months), as well as onset- (have trouble falling asleep) or maintenance-based (have trouble staying asleep). It can be primary, in that it has no outside causes, or secondary, wherein it's linked to periods of intense stress, mental illness, physical pain, sleep apnoea, or a variety of other things. Speaking to a professional can be helpful in homing in on the root cause and can be especially important for those struggling with secondary insomnia caused by mental illness.
Arguably the most trusted and effective treatment for insomnia is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a type of therapy that focuses on challenging disruptive, anxious thinking through behavioural changes and a realigned thought process.
CBT for insomnia (CBT-I) includes therapies that can seem counterintuitive. After I started researching the technique and working with Josuha Tal, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist who specializes in sleep and health psychology and CBT-I, I was surprised to learn that much of what I was doing to increase my chances of sleep on any given night was actually prolonging my insomnia.
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A few counterintuitive tips:
STOP reading about the importance of sleep
Focusing too much on the importance of sleep is a big no-no. People with sleep anxiety know sleep is important — it's why we're anxious! All those studies and articles about the benefits of a full night's rest are meant for those who don't prioritize sleep, not those who are desperate for it and make time for it, but still aren't getting enough.
If you're in generally good physical and mental health, your body can handle bouts of sleeplessness, according to Tal. It may be a tad uncomfortable, but it's usually doable. Catastrophizing a sleepless night will only drag out the suffering.
Some experts suggest rewarding yourself, whether with a favourite food, a trip to the movies, whatever, the day after a bad night’s sleep. Disassociate a bad night’s sleep from having a bad day the next day. Don’t “lean in” to the tiredness. I was actually surprised at how well I was able to function after a poor night’s rest once I let go of how I was supposed to feel. Show your body and your brain that lost sleep is not as big a deal as you’d made it out to be.
In fact, a 2017 study found that believing yourself to be an insomniac (“insomnia identity”) was a better predictor of daytime impairment than actually sleeping poorly.
Think of sleep as a "flaky friend"
Tal introduced the metaphor of the "flaky friend" — they might come over if they're free tonight or they might not. And sure, you'll hang if they're in the neighbourhood, but you're not going to send them any pleading texts; it wouldn’t help anyway. Reframing sleep as something that "if it happens, great, if not, no biggie," helps to readjust our relationship to sleep. Sleep is a natural process; it doesn't get better with effort in the same way blinking or swallowing don't get better with effort.
This can be especially hard for those of us with obsessive tendencies and a need for control. (Um, hello, sensorimotor OCD!) How we think about this issue has a direct effect on the issue, which can feel like a perpetually losing game. It's like if someone says, "don't think of a white elephant," it'll be the first image that pops into your head.
One of my main issues was “hypnic awareness” — being too aware of the moment you’re falling asleep, which then led to a hyper-arousal state and feelings of, “I’ll notice this forever and never sleep again.” I tried to minimize my perception of it, which didn’t really work, and also meant I was still “trying” to do something. The best course of action, I found, was to notice it and then not care, because, really, our brains are weird and beautiful and highly evolved, and sometimes they get stuck on processes that should be automatic.
This framing is incredibly difficult but gets easier with time, especially when you count on a worst-case scenario—no sleep for 4, 5 nights or more in a row— and it doesn't materialize. Overcoming sleep anxiety can feel insurmountable, but is, at least in theory, deceptively simple. Trust in your body. Trust that it wants to — and will eventually — sleep.
Don't go to bed early after a bad night's sleep
"Going to be early after a bad night makes sense rationally. I lost sleep last night, I should get more sleep tonight to compensate," Tal says. "With sleep and insomnia, unfortunately, this usually backfires: increased time in bed leads to increased time awake in bed, and this process teaches the body to stay awake in bed rather than sleep." What to do instead? Go to bed at your regular time, do things you'd normally do, distract yourself, get tired!, then go to sleep. Equally as important: set an alarm for a normal wake time. Catching up on sleep is not as crucial as getting to a place where you're sleeping consistently every night.
Spend less time in bed
Sleep restriction is a critical component of CBT-I, according to Tal. "Instead of spending all that time in bed not sleeping, sleep restriction reduces the amount of time in bed to the amount of time you are actually sleeping. So for example, if you are sleeping only 6 hours but you are in bed for 9, sleep restriction would tell you to be in bed for only 6 hours," he says. Initially, this will increase anxiety around sleep, but according to Tal, by the 2nd or 3rd night most people pass out the minute their head hits the pillow. [Ed note: it took me until the 5th night.] You add on time in bed incrementally, as you begin to sleep more. The goal is two-fold: ramp up sleep drive ("our natured nature to sleep," per Tal) and decouple the bed from feelings of anxiety and restlessness.
That last bit is important because the more your body starts to associate the bed as the place where you DON'T sleep versus one where you do, the more entrenched your insomnia becomes. At one point, my own bed, which I'd loved for so long, began to feel like a cruel medieval torture chamber. Tal strongly recommends that insomnia sufferers not undertake sleep restriction on their own, especially if they have a psychological illness or other medical conditions. The good news is that CBT-I is a short-term treatment that offers results fairly quickly, often within 5-8 weeks, though it doesn’t work for everyone.
Another element of sleep restriction: if you're aren't able to fall asleep after about 20-30 minutes, get out of bed, do a relaxing, not-too-stimulating activity (for me, word search puzzles were the perfect balance of involved but not too tricky), and only get back in after you're feeling sleepy, not just after a specific amount of time has passed. (Ideally, you should be estimating the 20-30 minutes, as it’s best to keep any visible clocks out of the bedroom during treatment.)
This was the trickiest part of insomnia treatment for me. I found that if I wasn’t asleep within a few minutes, I would catastrophize and assume I wouldn’t sleep at all that night — a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I was awake but feeling sleepy, I stayed in bed and the sleep eventually came. I only got up if I was fully awake.
The first few nights of sleep restriction can be terrible; you likely won't sleep much (see opening paragraph). Tal refers to these nights as the "death rattle" of insomnia. "When you make a negative association and you try to break it, sometimes your body will increase the conditioned response as an attempt to get it to continue before it gets better," he says. It’s almost certain though, that eventually, you will sleep. Your body's eventual response to sleep restriction is two fold and strangely contradictory: you start to both naturally crave sleep as well as understand that a perfect night’s sleep is not as absolutely essential as you had thought.
Have a bedtime routine if you’d like, but don’t freak out if it’s different each night
A routine “establishes a positive conditioning for sleep,” says Tal. “When you start your routine, your body gets the "hint" and starts to initiate the mechanisms for sleep.”
It was important for me, however, to realize that I’m someone who might be unmoored by obsessing over the ritual of what I do each night. During treatment, I liked to take a shower, have a warm glass of milk with honey and do some type of relaxing activity. Early on I found that if I didn't do something exactly as I'd done it the night before, I would grow anxious over my ability to fall asleep that night. And then boom, no sleep. Instead, I now keep the overall framework of a night-time routine but have let go of the specifics. One night, I may watch 20 minutes of a TV show, another I might read 10 pages of a book. I've done this so my brain doesn't associate the particular ordering of activities with sleep. For me, the ritual was about relaxation, not rigidity.
Accept that this is your now (not your forever)
Acceptance therapy — a type of psychotherapy that allows you to sit with and process uncomfortable feelings — can be particularly useful for insomnia. "The more pressure you put on yourself to sleep, the more you won't sleep. So one strategy is to accept the sleeplessness and insomnia in order to reduce the anxiety to facilitate sleep," Tal says. "It is sort of ‘reverse psychology,’ the more you don't care, the more likely you will sleep."
For me, this sometimes meant repeating the following to myself when I was in bed and couldn't sleep: "This is my current reality. It won't always be this way, but this is how it is right now, and that's okay." Thank your brain for trying to keep you safe with its anxious thinking, Tal suggests. Don't treat those thoughts as a sign of any kind of "brokenness." My anger at my own brain was one of the hardest things to overcome.
"By ‘thanking your brain,’ it brings perspective to the anxiety and reduces the activation caused by it," Tal says. "It also externalizes the anxiety as caused by ‘my brain’ instead of ‘myself,’ making it less of something that will last forever."
Sometimes, though, the mantra I created became too effortful (see the “flaky friend” entry), so to speak, in that there was clearly an underlying agenda of “please sleep” attached. In those instances, it was best to just simply let go as best I could and do nothing.
Acceptance therapy extends to acceptance of relapses. In fact, Tal explicitly says that he wants each of his patients to experience a bad night after treatment starts working, to know that they can handle it. Getting over chronic insomnia and sleep anxiety can take time, and it’s reasonable to feel discouraged.
But it's not your indefinite reality, it's only your now, and you will surely sleep again.
Sleep restriction therapy is a common feature of virtually all types of cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBTi). It aims to address difficulty staying asleep through reverse logic. Limiting the amount of time spent in bed can actually help those struggling with sleeplessness to sleep better.
This sounds strange, right? Read on to learn about sleep restriction therapy, how to utilize this method, and how it helps treat insomnia.
What is Sleep Restriction Therapy?
It was developed by Dr. Arthur Spielman a neurologist and specialist in sleep medicine from New York. Since then, decades of sleep research have proven it to be the most effective technique for improving sleep. It is considered a reliable treatment method for those with insomnia, and for anyone who is simply trying to sleep better.
The name of this method may be confusing because the goal is not to restrict sleep, but rather to restrict time spent in bed awake. The main concept is that the more time insomniacs spend in bed, the less time they spend asleep. Sleep restriction is designed to correct this imbalance.
Sleep Restriction Therapy Steps
This CBTi method works to increase your sleep efficiency.
Record Your Sleep Patterns – Keep a sleep diary or use a sleep tracking app for at least two weeks. This will help you better identify your sleep habits and patterns.
Average the Hours of Sleep per Night – Using your sleep log, you will need to find the average number of hours of nightly sleep.
Set Your Bedtime – Start by going to bed in time to achieve only the average number of hours that you calculated. For example, if you usually only sleep 6 hours, and you need to wake up at 7:00 am, then your initial bedtime should be 1:00 am. It is recommended, however, that you do not restrict the sleep time less than 5.5 hours even if that is more than your average sleep time.
Maintain the Same Wake Time – Keep the same wake time every day of the week.
Stick to this Schedule for at Least Two Weeks – The time spent in bed should not vary according to the amount of sleep you got during the night either.
Increase the Time Spent in Bed – When you are sleeping relatively well through the night and starting to feel tired during the day, gradually increase the time spent in bed. Move back your bedtime by adding 15 minutes each week.
Find Your Ideal Bedtime – You will know that you have reached your ideal bedtime when you are sleeping better through the night and feeling rested during the day.
Does Sleep Restriction Therapy Work?
Sleep restriction works for most people with chronic insomnia. Though you may not reach the mythical 9 hours of sleep that is recommended, it can help you find the right amount of sleep for you. A few extra hours of quality sleep each night can make a world of difference to anyone feeling constantly tired and unrested.
Like all CBTi techniques, sleep restriction therapy is drug-free. It works by increasing sleep efficiency – the amount of time spent awake in bed versus sleeping – and eliminating prolonged awakenings in the middle of the night. Sleep restriction can also help you to look forward to bedtime and can provide a long-term solution for better, less fitful sleep patterns.
How Long Does It Take?
Sleep restriction therapy works for a lot of people with sleep disturbances, but it takes time. It generally takes several weeks of diligence. For this method to work well, it is important to stick to the schedule and the very gradual time extensions.
Sleep Restriction Therapy Tips
Here are some quick tips for success in overcoming insomnia.
Plan a strong start to your day. When the alarm goes off at your set wake-up time, go through your normal routine while adding some habits that signal to your body that it is morning. This could include opening the shades, turning on bright lights, taking a shower, or going out for a walk.
Resist the urge to take naps. Sleeping during the day will make sleep restriction less effective. It is better to avoid naps to ensure that you will be tired and looking forward to bed at the right time. Exercise and spending time outside can help shake off the drowsiness.
Continue using your sleep diary or app throughout the therapy process. This will help you and your doctor to adjust your schedule as needed.
A new artificial intelligence could be the secret to a better night’s sleep using a phone app to monitor snoring and sleep disorders.
Scientists have developed an AI enabling people to monitor their breathing while asleep and help discover the causes and solutions to sleep problems using their smartphones.
Sleep disorders are usually diagnosed in specialist sleep clinics, but these can be uncomfortable and inconvenient for patients – even more so during the pandemic.
Devised by Professor Guy Brown and Dr Ning Ma from the University of Sheffield’s Speech and Hearing Research Group, the state-of-the-art AI can monitor snoring levels and identify sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea.
Proof of who snores the loudest and advice on how to stop it may finally be coming to families across the country thanks to the artificial intelligence developed by researchers at the University of Sheffield, the experts said.
The technology is being commercialised through a new app – SoundSleep – available on iOS devices and soon to be available on Android, the researchers said.
Currently the app uses the Sheffield AI to enable people to monitor the sounds they make while sleeping through their smartphone. The app records and tracks snoring levels and provides nightly reports to help people discover the causes, factors and solutions. But the team have now developed the AI to be able to diagnose sleep apnoea caused by sleep disorders.
A phone app has been created using AI to monitor sleep disorders (Getty)
Dr Ning Ma, research fellow in the University of Sheffield’s Department of Computer Science, said: ‘Getting a good night’s sleep is a problem that affects lots of people across the country – whether that be because of a partner who snores loudly, an underlying health problem or due to a factor in a person’s lifestyle or night time routine that is affecting how much sleep they get every night.
‘We understand that finding that secret to a good night’s sleep can seem stressful and confusing, so what we are trying to do with our research is use the latest, state-of-the-art artificial intelligence to help people get to the bottom of what is preventing them from getting a good night’s sleep as easily as possible.’
Sleep disorders affect people across the world, with roughly 2.5 million people in the UK suffering from sleep disorder conditions, including obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
Sleep apnoea causes a person’s breathing to stop and start while they sleep and they may also make gasping, snorting or choking noises, wake up a lot and snore loudly.
Is technology the cause of, or solution to, our sleep problems? (iStockphoto)
Without treatment the condition can lead to high blood pressure, a higher chance of having a stroke, depression, mood swings, difficulty concentrating at school or work and an increased risk of having a serious accident due to tiredness.
Sleep disorders such as sleep apnoea are usually diagnosed in specialist sleep clinics, but these can be expensive and also disruptive for patients as they usually have to wear a range of devices that can feel uncomfortable or invasive.
Travelling to sleep clinics has also become more difficult for some patients due to Covid restrictions.
Many sufferers of sleep disorders are not identified until other medical problems become apparent, meaning that they are less likely to make lifestyle changes that could improve their condition without the need for treatment.
As a result, the University of Sheffield researchers launched a project to enhance the AI they had already developed for SoundSleep so it can identify sleep disorders from the sounds people make while sleeping.
This more sophisticated AI will soon be added to the app so that people can monitor their sleep and identify sleep disorders using their smartphone in their own home.
The app could also help them make changes to their lifestyle or bedtime routine to help them get a better night’s sleep, the scientists said.
Iain Spray, project manager at Passion For Life Healthcare, the company that manufactured the app, added: ‘This technology enabled us to develop an app that stands out in the market in terms of innovation and performance; an app that could, unlike any other snoring management apps, be CE marked as a medical device.’
Future research in Sheffield’s Speech and Hearing Research Group is set to look for ways to use AI together with smartphones and low-cost sensors that can be placed unobtrusively on the body to further improve how sleep disorders can be diagnosed and treated remotely, in the patient’s own home.
Struggling for quality shuteye? Try these tips, culled from scientific studies
While children and teens have different sleep recommendations, everyone over the age of 18 has sleep recommendations that are largely identical. In short, whether you're 25 or 65, you should be getting at least seven hours of sleep per night. Of course, that's easier said than done for many people—especially older adults.
According to research published in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology, upwards of 50% of all adults over the age of 60 struggle with persistent sleep disturbances and insomnia. Moreover, a survey put together by the University of Michigan reports that one in three Americans over the age of 65 take something to help them sleep (with one in 12 taking a prescription sleep med). Let's face it: That's not good news.
"Although sleep problems can happen at any age and for many reasons, they can't be cured by taking a pill, either prescription, over-the-counter or herbal, no matter what the ads on TV say," explains poll director Preeti Malani, M.D., a physician at the University of Michigan trained in geriatric medicine. "Some of these medications can create big concerns for older adults, from falls and memory issues to confusion and constipation."
So, what are some healthier ways to promote better sleep in old age? Read on to learn about some secret ways to get better sleep after 60. And for more helpful sleep science, don't miss What Sleeping with the TV on Does to Your Body, Says Science.
1
Embrace the Sun First Thing in the AM
Fact: Taking some time to soak in the sun first thing in the morning—and periodically throughout the day—can help older adults reset their internal body clocks and recalibrate their melatonin levels. You may not notice a difference overnight, but eventually making a habit of getting some sun will make it easier to fall asleep in the evening.
One study published in the journal Holistic Nursing Practice asked a group of older adults (aged 65+) to spend two hours each morning "directly exposed to the sun." After just five consecutive mornings, participants reported a significant improvement in sleep quality.
Similarly, another research project published in the Iranian Journal of Public Health concluded that exposing a group of elderly nursing home patients to just one hour of sunlight in the morning and another hour in the evening (5-6 PM) for a period of six weeks resulted in marked improvements in both insomnia and anxiety symptoms/complaints. Participants' sleep cycles showed big improvements, as well, with subjects becoming sleepy at night and staying alert during the day. And for more great sleep advice, don't miss why It's Worse to Sleep on This Side of Your Body, Says Science.
2
Follow a Sleep Hygiene Checklist
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Practicing strong sleep hygiene is a good idea at any age, but it can be particularly effective for older adults. The term "sleep hygiene" may leave you drawing a blank, but it's just a fancy term for sleep habits. The Sleep Foundation tells us that "strong sleep hygiene means having both a bedroom environment and daily routines that promote consistent, uninterrupted sleep."
So, what can you do to improve your sleep hygiene? "Avoiding daytime naps, maintaining a regular sleep schedule, limiting substances such as caffeinated beverages, nicotine, and alcohol that adversely affect sleep, and exercising at least 6 hours before bedtime can help tremendously," explains Rashmi Byakodi, MD, editor of Best for Nutrition.
Neglecting sleep hygiene may not result in all that much sleep loss during early and mid-adulthood, but what works at 35 isn't going to work at 65 for many. Stephen Light, a Certified Sleep Science Coach and co-owner of Nolah Mattress, even goes so far as to call poor sleep habits the #1 most common cause of irregular sleeping among older adults. He believes it is essential for older adults to set a steady and relaxing pre-bed ritual. "The pre-bedtime routine tells the body that it will sleep soon, triggering drowsiness and grogginess after doing the said activity. In this scenario, sleep becomes more accessible when the mind and body are ready for sleeping," he comments.
3
Listen to Music
Recent research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests some relaxing tunes may be all it takes to induce improved sleep for older adults. Researchers analysed five prior studies including over 280 older adults (ages 60+) dealing with sleep problems. Sure enough, those who listened to music 30 minutes to one hour before bedtime enjoyed "significantly better" sleep than those who did not. Calming music appears to be more beneficial for sleep than rhythmic tunes. For reference, calming music was defined as having a slow tempo of 60 to 80 beats per minute and a smooth melody.
Interestingly, listening to music before bed for longer than four consecutive weeks resulted in even greater sleep improvements than stopping the habit after a week or two. So it's a good idea to stick with this approach for at least a full month before judging its effectiveness.
"Music therapy might be the first line of therapy to recommend in older adults with sleep disturbances, which would reduce the need for dependence on sedatives and sleeping medication," the study reads. And for more great ways to sleep better starting now, see here for The One Secret Sleep Trick That Can Change Your Life.
4
Yes, Do More Aerobic Exercise
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Plenty of research points to aerobic exercise as a panacea for sleep problems in old age. Research released in the scientific journal Sleep Medicine found that just 40 minutes of aerobic exercise per week for a total of 16 weeks helped a group of older women with sleep issues improve their self-reported sleep quality and reduce daytime drowsiness.
Another study published in The Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology refines those initial findings by concluding that moderate aerobic exercise in the evening may actually be more helpful for sleep than morning exercise. A group of 30 older adults participated in a low-intensity aerobic exercise program in the evening every day for eight weeks, while another group of older adults engaged in the same workout regimen in the morning. Those assigned to the nighttime exercise group reported being able to fall asleep faster and greater overall sleep satisfaction than the morning cohort.
5
Embrace Meditation
Shutterstock/fizkes
There are plenty of potential causes of insomnia, but anxiety actually ranks among the most common for those over 60. It's estimated that 90% of older adults living with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) experience frequent sleep disruptions. Consequently, mindfulness meditation may be a great avenue toward better sleep.
The link between meditation and improved sleep is supported by a study published in Contemporary Clinical Trials. Study authors report that a six-week meditation course helped a group of older adults (average age: 66 years-old) dealing with persistent sleep troubles achieve more regular shuteye than a traditional sleep education course. "Formalized mindfulness-based interventions have clinical importance by possibly serving to remediate sleep problems among older adults in the short term, and this effect appears to carry over into reducing sleep-related daytime impairment that has implications for quality of life," the study concludes. And for more sleep news, see here for the One Secret Side Effect of Having Weird Dreams, Says Study.
As fun as the Euros may be, they’re not the best for our poor old sleeping routines.
As we approach the final (is it coming home? We reckon so), we’ll only continue to feel the negative effects football has had on our health these past few weeks.
It’s not just about the pints – although those do play a part.
All the tension, the pre-match anxiety, the late nights, and the big screens can have a seriously detrimental impact on our wellbeing.
Alex Dimitriu, a sleep expert and MD of Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine who’s working with Otty, breaks down all the effects of the Euro final ahead, along with some tips on how on earth we’re supposed to cope.
Up all night worrying whether Grealish will get benched? (Picture: Getty)
Alcohol’s effect on sleep
Shocker: downing pints really isn’t good for your health.
And even a few beers can spell disaster for your sleep.
Alex says: ‘Sleep on alcohol is both fragmented with numerous awakenings (when the alcohol wears off), and overall lacking in deep sleep and REM sleep, both essential to the brain feeling recharged the next day.’
The best way to prevent feeling rubbish after the Euro 2020 final is, of course, to just not drink too much. That way you’ll be more able to get high quality sleep and feel loads better on Monday.
But if that doesn’t sound particularly appealing, at least follow Alex’s advice to drink plenty of water alongside your other beverages.
Follow every pint with a glass water, or glug some down before bed to help flush out alcohol.
The power of match anxiety
You’re probably pretty emotionally invested in the outcome of the Euro final.
This can lead to anxiety, especially the night before an important game.
‘Match anxiety is like most other forms of anticipatory anxiety – like before a big test, interview, or presentation at work,’ Alex explained. ‘Insomnia can certainly be a part of this, but the next day is often much more enjoyable if you can get some sleep.
‘Exercising the day prior to a game can help, as well as shutting off all forms of work and media about three or four hours before bedtime to cool off.
‘Also, reading books when you cannot sleep, rather than reading from your mobile phone, has been hugely helpful to many people.
‘Try drinking some chamomile tea or spraying lavender in your room before heading to bed. This will help soothe anxious thoughts and help you drift off.’
Screens and sleep
It doesn’t matter if you watch it on a big screen at the pub, on your laptop, or on your phone. All those bright lights and excess screentime isn’t good news for your sleep.
Alex said: ‘TV, smartphones, and blue screens of any sort, in general, produce a bluish light that confuses the body’s circadian system into thinking this is the blue of the sky on a sunny day.
‘The body interprets blue light by lowering melatonin production, which is intended to help us fall asleep at night.
‘So, blue light from any screen equals less melatonin, contributing to insomnia and worse quality sleep all night long.
‘Another issue with any interactive device – such as an iPad – is that the interaction process is quite mentally stimulating and gets the brain going when it should be winding down. This can cause insomnia as well as diminished sleep quality for the entire night.’
Alex’s tip to tackle this is taking regular breaks in between football matches, to give yourself a break from the screen.
It’s also worth doing a wind-down routine between the end of a match and trying to go to sleep – without a pause in between, all the excitement will make it nigh on impossible to drift off.
Ramped up celebrations
All that cheering, jumping around, singing – that’s all very stimulating, and not conducive to sticking to a bedtime. If you can, make sure you have some downtime after the match, rather than continuing the celebrations all the way home.
‘The key is to give your mind and eyes the necessary break needed before going to sleep,’ say the SleepSeeker experts. ‘The drama and excitement could disrupt your sleep, so it is important to have a little bit of time to relax and unwind before going to bed.’
‘You could try reading a book or some breathing exercises to help you unwind.
‘It doesn’t have to be long, 20/30 minutes should be enough to help you sleep.’
Sleep therapy solution SleepCogni is closing on its crowdfunding goal after celebrating ‘extraordinary’ clinical trial results.
The trials at Sheffield Hallam University, conducted with a group of 80 people suffering from chronic insomnia, significantly reduced the insomnia after just seven days.
The device is now primed to be launched on to the global $80 billion sleep aid market. Meanwhile, the startup has achieved 92% of its goal on Crowdcube with almost a month to go.
SleepCogni is an easy-to-use hand-held sleeping aid which helps insomnia sufferers break cognitive cycles that prevent sleep.
Co-founded by Sheffield-based entrepreneur Richard Mills, who has personally suffered from sleeping disorders, and Dutch chronobiologist and sleep expert, Dr Maan van de Werken, the device enables users to self-manage their insomnia, a condition which affects one in three people across the world.
During its clinical trial the device was found to significantly reduce participants’ clinical level of insomnia to non-clinical levels in just seven days, with a substantially faster reduction achieved on the Insomnia Severity Index than typically seen with other forms of treatment.
Many of those who took part reported how SleepCogni helped them control their thoughts at bedtime and fall asleep more easily with some claiming they experienced their ‘best sleep in years’ when using the device. There was also strong feedback from trial participants that it addressed their condition better than any other remedy they’d previously tried.
“The success of the clinical trials marks another important step forward in SleepCogni’s progress,” said Mills.
“These outstanding results, combined with FDA registration give us positive momentum as we seek to develop our brand across global markets, including the US.”
The successful trials follow the device’s registration with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), announced earlier this month, opening up immediate access to an estimated 70m sleep sufferers living in the US.
The new investment round will help build its brand in the US and across other global markets.
The company’s team of advisers is comprised of some of the most highly respected figures from the global healthcare sector. This includes SleepCogni’s chairman Richard di Benedetto, President of Aetna International health insurance.
Dr Maan van de Werken, SleepCogni’s co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer said: “We’re hugely encouraged by the results from our largest trial to date, with 80 participants suffering from chronic insomnia taking part. The user feedback was outstanding and the reduction of insomnia complaints recorded in the patients that used our device was substantial. It is especially noteworthy that we saw these benefits on such a short timescale, within a week of using our self-administered device.”
The clinical trials were led by Dr Antonia Ypsilanti, Associate Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Dr Lambros Lazuras, Associate Professor in Social Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University.
Dr Ypsilanti said: “The SleepCogni trials produced extraordinary results, reducing clinical insomnia to subthreshold insomnia in just seven days for those using the device.
“It’s ground-breaking to see such a drastic improvement on insomnia severity, and unsurprising to hear participants commenting how the device helped them relax and gain control of their sleep with many claiming it was better than any other sleep improvement approaches they’d used in the past.”
EVERYONE knows that cranky feeling you get when you don't get enough sleep at night. You feel irritable, tired and are constantly thinking about stretching out in your bed, warmly tucked away in dreamland.
However, not everyone gets the required eight hours of sleep experts recommend to function effectively. Unfortunately, for many people, lifestyle and environmental factors have contributed to difficulties in getting a good night's rest. What can you do if you're consistently missing out on your eight hours?
Here are five foods you could try to help regulate your sleep pattern.
Fatty fish
Fatty fish, such as Atlantic mackerel, yellow tuna and European anchovy, may improve sleep patterns as they are rich in vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids. These are two nutrients that help regulate serotonin, which is largely responsible for establishing a fixed sleeping and waking cycle.
Almonds
This nut contains high doses of melatonin, a hormone that helps to regulate sleeping and waking cycles. Also, a one-ounce serving of whole almonds contains 77 milligrams of magnesium and 76 milligrams of calcium, two minerals that help promote muscle relaxation and sleep.
Warm milk
Warm milk is considered a common home remedy for sleeplessness. It contains four sleep-promoting compounds, which are tryptophan, calcium, vitamin D and melatonin.
Chamomile tea
Chamomile is a herb that is used in parts of the world traditionally to cure insomnia. Some researchers think that a flavonoid compound called apidenin is responsible for chamomile's sleep-inducing properties.
Lettuce
Lettuce and lettuce seed oil may help in promoting a good night's sleep. Some researchers believe that lettuce's sedative effects are due to the plant's n-butanol fraction, especially in a compound called lactucin.
If someone is getting less than three to four hours of sleep each night, they may be suffering from insomnia, a sleep disorder which results in them having difficulty falling or staying asleep. While the condition can be short term or long term, which is referred to as acute or chronic insomnia respectively, doctors advise that they should seek help nonetheless, as sleep is very vital to our health.
At first everything goes well: you go to bed, fall asleep … And suddenly you wake up in the middle of the night. Does this story sound familiar? Here is what you need to know about night awakenings, and what to do.
There are a variety of external and internal factors that might cause a person to wake up unexpectedly in the middle of the night. Street noise, your partner snoring, too much light in the bedroom, an improper temperature (too warm or too cold), pets settling in your bed, an uncomfortable mattress, or a newborn who wakes up and enters your room are all common external reasons.
The internal reasons for awakening are just as varied and depend on many parameters. If this happens too often, it is worth seeing a doctor: it may be real insomnia. If these are single cases, listen to our advice.
Here are some causes of sudden night awakenings due to internal triggers.
Gender and age
The older a person becomes, the more likely they have sleep interruptions at night. Older people often have a nap during the day and wake up in the middle of the night.
Young women have night-time awakenings due to their menstrual cycle: just before menstruation begins.
Pregnant women wake up at night for a variety of reasons: swollen legs, back pain, frequent urge to urinate, heartburn and baby movements. Night-time awakenings can bother women at the onset of menopause because of fever, heart palpitations, sweating, stress, and anxiety.
Diseases and medications
Consult your doctor if you have sleep apnoea (breathing stops), especially if you snore or wake up unrested in the morning.
A common reason of nightly awakenings is chronic pain, such as arthritis or fibromyalgia. Taking medications such as beta-blockers and diuretics has a bad effect on sleep.
Mental reasons
Stress, depression and anxiety disorder are often accompanied by insomnia and sudden night awakenings.
When to go to a doctor for help
It’s essential to speak with your doctor if you wake up around 3 a.m. and have problems falling asleep. Your doctor may suggest you try a sleep study to learn more about sleep cycles.
Insomnia can be treated with lifestyle changes, sleep and wakefulness schedule adjustments, or therapy. You can also see a doctor if these awakenings cause you problems throughout the day.
A content writer Veronica Blunsh from Write Any Papers described the following issues that can arise from a lack of consistent sleep:
Problems with remembering things.
Feeling very sleepy during the day.
Inability to function at its normal level.
Now let’s look at how we can prevent night-time awakenings without the help of doctors.
1. Allow yourself a couple of hours before bedtime to be free of electronic devices
Closer to night, the body actively begins to produce melatonin, which provides a mechanism for falling asleep. Too bright light, as well as the blue radiation of a cell phone, tablet, laptop can disrupt the natural process. That’s why it’s better to avoid social networking before going to bed and during sudden awakenings.
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
2. Don’t look at the clock
It seems like the most natural thing to do when you wake up in the middle of the night. However, it is of no practical use. You’re just beginning to worry that there’s too much/not enough time left before the alarm clock rings, that you won’t be able to sleep anymore… And if you watch the time on your smartphone, the harmful blue light comes back on. It is not worth traumatizing your already sleepy psyche.
3. Do not panic if you suffer from night awakenings
Lie down and can’t persuade yourself to fall asleep again and just get annoyed more and more? Do not force the body – find yourself a soothing activity: read a book, meditate, do the crossword puzzle. Get up, take a walk around the room, and do something quiet and relaxing with dim lighting (don’t use your phone or computer). You’ll be distracted from your obsessive thoughts and you’ll probably have no trouble falling asleep.
Go back to bed only when you feel sleepy.
4. Breathe
Excessive muscle tension may be the cause of an unscheduled awakening. Breathing exercises will help to cope with this. Try a few simple exercises.
Concentrate on taking calm, deep breaths.
Sit with your back straight in a comfortable position. Close the right nostril, inhale through the left nostril and hold your breath, exhale through the right. Repeat, switching nostrils each time.
Rhythmically inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
5. Relax
Try relaxation exercises before you go to bed. For example, do some meditation. A few hours before bedtime, avoid stressful talks and situations.
Think of something pleasant. Where would you like to spend your holiday if you could? How would your ideal day go? What book or movie makes you smile? The most important thing is to concentrate on the details: noises, smells, and colours. If you indulge in imaginations, you will not notice how quickly you fall asleep again.
Conclusion
To avoid night awakenings, prepare the appropriate sleeping environment ahead of time. Check that nothing will make you wake up in the middle of the night. If noise may bother you, buy earplugs or find a source of quiet, monotonous noise. If the light gets in the way, good blackout curtains or a blindfold will help.
Make sure the room is well aired and that dark curtains are in place. Take a bath and listen to relaxing music.
After years of sleepless nights and weary days, Louise Mumford thought she could manage on caffeine and sugar. A car accident proved her wrong.
People often laugh about the stupidest thing they’ve done when tired. “Oh, I put my keys in the fridge!” they say, or “I put salt in my coffee by mistake!”.
The stupidest thing I’ve done when tired?
I nearly killed people.
Insomnia has been my constant companion since I was a child. When I was young, I didn’t really see the point of sleep. Why would people do that and miss out on all the marvellous things that could happen whilst they were dozing? I couldn’t understand it. A few years later and I would be the one at house parties who would still be awake at 4 a.m. tidying up the kitchen and flicking through the books in an unfamiliar bookcase to keep myself entertained whilst everyone else slept. Now that I’m much older I watch the way my husband drifts off to sleep within minutes of putting his head on the pillow and, to me, it is a magic trick I will never learn.
I know all about the darkness. In those early hours of the morning I have tried breathing techniques and calming music, crafts and audiobooks, I have cried and railed and paced and lain there convincing myself that, yes, I was just about to fall asleep.
There is no deep-seated trauma fuelling my inability to sleep, by the way. I have no demons on my shoulder, no long repressed memory that keeps me awake. The only anxiety I ever really experience is a direct cause of the fact I’ve usually only had three or four hours sleep and I don’t know how I will get through the day. I am a night owl – if left to my own devices my body clock will naturally let me fall asleep around two or three in the morning and wake up later. Modern society doesn’t really allow for night owls. It is designed around those early birds out catching their worms.
Sleeplessness is cruel in an especially vindictive way. It gives you time: in those hours awake you could write that book, finish that tax return, learn that language, master that skill. But the time it gives you is a broken thing, it is filled with anxiety and fear and rage, it is a sludge of hours, a sticky mess you cannot escape. And worse – it ruins the daytime too.
Louise Mumford’s new book “Sleepless” is inspired by her insomnia (Photo: Nigel Brown)
Days are things to be endured; the shadow of night staining its bright colours. I know all the tips and tricks to help get a person through a day after a sleepless night: the make-up to wear, the timing of caffeine, the things to focus on, and what to let slide. I let a lot slide.
The moment when I knew it all had to change came at the end of my first day back in the new term as a teacher: a job I’d been doing for around 10 years or so, a job I loved and that I was good at, despite my exhaustion. In the car I’d been congratulating myself about how well I’d coped, despite the lack of sleep. This time, my school year would be different: I would wake up early and refreshed, I would not rely on sugar and caffeine to get through the day and then crash from the adrenaline by 6 p.m. ready for my body to wake itself up just in time for bed. I was smug.
That was when I realised the car in front of me on the dual carriageway slip road had stopped. I smashed into it. Another car smashed into me. A pupil who had been in the school bus not far ahead said the whole thing looked “epic” with a new gleam of admiration in his eyes. Miraculously, nobody was badly injured.
My first instinct, once the car had come to a stop, was to put the handbrake on (like that would do any good now) and step out of the driver door, straight into what would have been oncoming traffic if the cars around me had everything not already come to a standstill. My own car was a crumpled thing and smoke wreathed around the twisted metal like a bad Eighties pop video. I remember sitting in the ambulance listening to the radio announcer talk about the major tailbacks caused by me by me but it wasn’t until the other motorists had left that I began to shake.
The realisation that I could have killed someone slithered coldly into the pit of my stomach. I promised myself I would never get in a car again and I would never allow myself to be in the position where I could endanger someone else’s life because of my own exhaustion. However, the responsibilities of life made those promises impossible: I had a job to get to and a mortgage to pay and I couldn’t rely on lifts from colleagues forever. Eventually I had to get back behind the wheel, heart thumping, wincing at every car that drove past me, second-guessing every decision. I still hate driving to this day. I had to find a way of properly living with my insomnia, not despite it.
So that is what I did. I left my teaching job in my fantastic English department and set off on a whole new career as a writer. Was that defeat? I prefer to think of it as impetus. Was it hard to do? Incredibly. But my new routine allowed me to be gentler with myself, to no longer ride a wave of adrenaline each day until I crashed, to get up a bit later but also work much later too. I am writing this at eight in the evening.
I often wonder what kind of person I would have been without those sleepless nights. Would I have achieved more, been kinder, more patient? I don’t know – possibly. I only know what it has taught me. It has taught me determination and a dogged stoicism that doesn’t give up no matter how exhausted I may feel.
I wish I could end by giving you the magic formula of sleep – I wish I could say that I have now completely solved it, this sleep issue of mine, that lavender, or meditation, or yoga or Cognitive Behaviour Therapy has finally worked. None of it has.
But I know this: when I am awake at 4 a.m. I now know that the next day will never be as bad as I imagine. That I will cope. Mentally, I take the pressure away from that tomorrow – it won’t be brilliant, but it will be fine. This is what works for me and, though I still get the odd bad run of nights, my insomnia is now rarer than it used to be. Sometimes I still cancel things the next day if I don’t feel up to it due to tiredness, or feel that I can’t drive but that is not the end of the world – things can be rescheduled, I can adapt. I am kinder on myself.
For years, I battled insomnia, but by doing that I was battling myself, and that isn’t a healthy way to live. Those early birds apparently catch the worm, but, well, who wants a worm, anyway?
