Tools for Sound Sleep

Chances are that you have had difficulty sleeping at some point in your life. Over 100 types of sleep disorders exist, with insomnia being the most common and best-known sleep disorder. Insomnia is described as difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep — resulting in a negative impact during the day due to drowsiness, fatigue.

According to a recent survey designed by the National Sleep Foundation, about 49 percent of Americans report difficulty sleeping at some point in their lives. “Women are more likely to experience insomnia than men,” states Trudy D. Helge, Psy.D, Director of Health Psychology at Women’s Mental Health Associates. “Biological conditions unique to women like the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause can affect how well you sleep.”

Tools for a Good Nights Sleep

In many cases, intermittent sleep disturbances can be helped by improving bedtime habits, relieving stress, and implementing relaxation exercises. To get a restful night’s sleep, Helge recommends adding these behaviors into your nightly routine:

• Create a calm sleep environment (dark, quiet room) and a relaxing nighttime routine (reading, meditating) before bedtime.
• Avoid food and drinks high in sugar, caffeine, and alcohol before bedtime.
• Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
• Use the bed only for sleep and sex; a television or computer should not be in the bedroom.
• Exercise regularly, but finish at least three hours before bedtime.

Helge also recommends that you keep a daily journal or a sleep diary to record the quality of your sleep. This can help you recognize patterns and activities that may trigger sleeplessness. Documenting your sleep habits can aid health care providers in diagnosing a sleep disorder.

Signs of not getting enough sleep or sleeping poorly include consistently taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, awakening more than a few times or for long periods each night, feeling sleepy during the day, or having trouble concentrating at school or at work.

Keeping a daily sleep log, or diary, can help you track your sleep habits and identify what might be interfering with sleep. You may download a sleep diary. To download files from this site, you need to be registered as a site member to gain access. Once registered, simply login, and then download the files you’re interest in.

Links of interest

Have you had bouts of insomnia lasting two weeks or more? Do you walk around in a constant fog, feeling sleepy, fatigued, and as though you have no energy? Perhaps you “feel” older than you are, or maybe it’s all you can do to stay awake while driving. If any of that, or similar issues are familiar, or if you snore or have disrupted sleep, even if just a few simple, repeat trips to the bathroom during the night, check out these two online tests to help you get to the root of the issue. While they will not make a diagnosis for you, they will help you, your physician, or, more appropriately, a sleep specialist, find out what’s causing you the problem sleepiness.

• Epworth Sleepiness Scale
• World Class Snoring Quiz
• Sleep Diary

---

Some files on this page are saved in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Adobe Reader is required to view and print PDF files. PDF is the open de facto standard for electronic document distribution worldwide. PDF is a universal file format that preserves all the fonts, formatting, graphics, and color of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it. PDF files are compact and can be shared, viewed, navigated, and printed exactly as intended by anyone with free Adobe Reader software. Adobe Reader is free software that allows you view and print PDF files. If you don’t have it on your computer, it is available for free download at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. You will need at least Adobe Reader 7 or higher to open the file.

---

 Some sleep disorders are more serious than others and may need to be treated with medication. Other common sleep problems include sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome and narcolepsy.

Remember, improved sleep patterns have a dramatic positive impact on your body composition, performance and health.

Tell A Friend

1. Your Name(required)
2. Your Email(valid email required)
3. Your Friend’s Name(required)
4. Your Friend’s Email(valid email required)
5. Optional CommentAny comment you wish to add, such as a note as to why the person would be interested in the article.
6. Anti-SPAM Verification
7. Please verify you’re a human. (Case-sensitive)
8. SmartBot Challenge
9. What is the name of the season that follows Summer?
10. Terms of Use
11. By using Awake In America’s contact form, I certify I am not attempting to send SPAM to Awake In America; that I am not using this service to stalk, harass, violate any Orders of Protection, or other court-ordered restraints from abuse or harassment; that I am not attempting to create a denial-of-service, or any other malicious or unwanted events from the perspective of others. I understand Awake In America’s contact form is bound by this site’s Terms of Service, as well as other policies, published or non-published, and that any abuse may result in criminal or civil prosecution.
    
12. I agree to Awake In America’s Terms of Service for use of this contact form, as outlined in the statement (above).

 

cforms contact form by delicious:days

__________

Tagged as: bedtime habits, bedtime routine, bedtimer, daily journal, difficulty sleeping, drowsiness, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, exercise, fall asleep, fatigue, Insomnia, menstrual cycle, period cramping, sleep diary, sleep disorders, sleepless nights, sleeplessness, sound sleep, stay asleep, Trudy D. Helge Psy.D, wake same time every day, Women and Sleep, World Class Snoring Quiz