Sleep.

It’s something we all must do, yet for many of us, it’s not as good as it should be. Most of us wish we could get more sleep – or have better quality sleep. It’s important!

10

the number of hours most teenagers need to sleep.

9

the number of hours the average American slept in 1910.

8

the number recommended for adults now (7-9 is the spread.)

less than 7

the number of hours many of us regularly get these days.

The problem is real – as can be seen in the statistics.

• 68% of Americans have weekly difficulties in getting enough sleep.
• Between 30 and 48% of older adults have problems with insomnia, with 10-30% of adults suffering with chronic insomnia.
• Women with premenstrual syndrome are more likely to experience insomnia before and after their periods.
• Around half of pregnant women also experience insomnia.
• Around 25% of young children have sleeping problems. More than half of middleschoolers and 97% of teenagers get less than the recommended amount of sleep.
• 37% of young adults and 40% of middle-aged adults report sleeping less than 7 hours per day.
• On average, women need 20 more minutes of sleep than men – yet are more likely to have six hours or less.
• 45% of the world’s population has difficulty obtaining enough sleep.
• About half of Americans report feeling daytime sleepiness three to seven times weekly.
• People over the age of 60 have less sleep efficiency.

Lack of good sleep has many repercussions on daily life.

Obviously, when we are tired, we don’t work as well as we should. We make mistakes, or become susceptible to illness and accidents.

Safety – Sleep deprivation causes a lot of preventable harm.

• In the US, 1,550 deaths and 40,000 nonfatal injuries are caused by drowsy driving every year.
  (Nearly 5% of people asked reported nodding off or falling asleep at the wheel at least once in the preceding month.)
• 411 BILLION dollars (2.92% of the GDP) is the annual economic impact of insufficient sleep in the US.
• Work-related accidents (around 274,000 per year) are much more likely with people with severe insomnia… costing the economy $31 billion annually.
• Sleep deprivation contributes significantly to the 100,000 deaths that occur annually due to medical errors in hospitals.

General health – Lack of good sleep can cause (and/or be caused by) many health problems.

• Those with fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night are more likely to be obese, physically inactive, or to smoke. They are also more likely to have decreased immunity, heart attack, coronary heart disease, stroke, asthma, COPD, cancer, arthritis, depression, chronic kidney disease or diabetes.
• Sleep deprivation increases the chance of getting sick, impairs social skills and affects memory.

Causes of Insomnia

Fundamentally, insomnia seems to be caused by a state of hyperarousal. This, in turn can have many causes.

Stress and overwork – a major cause of hyperarousal. This includes stress from work, school, social relationships, social isolation, PTSD; even the mere fact that you’re having trouble sleeping can stress you out – making it harder to sleep!

In particular, the senior population (who already have less sleep efficiency, due to age) are more likely to suffer from social isolation which is a stressor.

Teenagers tend to become night owls, but are then forced to get up early due to school start times. They are also more susceptible to stress from balancing school, work and their social lives. Additionally, they often have electronic devices in the bedroom, further contributing to insomnia and poor sleep quality.

• A quarter of college students have lowered academic performance due to sleep deprivation (which seems to afflict over half of all students.)

Interruptions – Changes to the circadian rhythm (your internal clock) can also cause insomnia. Jet lag definitely disturbs sleep due to the rapid change in time zone – thankfully, that is usually short lived and a side-effect of our modern methods of travel. Shift work, however, becomes a longer part of the life of one who must work through the night and sleep during the day. This can really mess with your circadian rhythm. Yet, there are other people whose circadian rhythms shift without clear cause, contributing to overall disturbance to their sleep habits and quality.

Lifestyle – Aside from work and jet lag, there are other choices which can make good sleep difficult.

Staying up late working, playing video games or using other electronic devices can keep the brain too stimulated to sleep well.

Late afternoon naps can throw off sleep timing.

Rather than making up for lost sleep, sleeping in can confuse your body clock.

Reading, gaming or otherwise engaging your brain while in bed can encourage your body to consider bed a place of activity rather than sleep (and intimacy.)

Blue light from electronic devices (computers, tablets and cell phones) disrupt the circadian rhythm in the body.

• 83% of parents and 68% of children sleep with their devices in their bedrooms.

Dietary – Some foods and drinks can make good sleep difficult.
Due to it’s 5-hour half-life, caffeine is a major cause of sleep disruption, especially when consumed in the afternoon or evening. Nicotine can also impact sleep due to its stimulating properties. Alcohol is, indeed, a sedative, but it can cause fragmented, non-restorative sleep. Also, eating heavy meals and spicy foods later in the evening can make sleeping well difficult.

• Alcohol (more than two units for men and one unit for women) decreases sleep quality by nearly 40%.

Health issues – Here are some things that can make getting good sleep harder.

Pain is a major issue that causes difficulty sleeping – if you can’t get comfortable, how can you sleep?

Whether it’s ringing, rushing or any other sound, tinnitus is a major cause of sleep disturbance.

Frequent urination (and the subsequent need for hydration) disrupts sleep. This can be caused by prostate problems, insulin resistance, diabetes, and other blood sugar regulation problems. (Urination and hydration is the body’s way of detoxing sugar.)

Digestive disorders, such as indigestion, heartburn, reflux and GERD (also related to obesity and insulin resistance) also cause sleep disruptions.

Snoring can disturb sleep (for both you and your partner) – and this is frequently manifested as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Any illness which affects the respiratory or nervous system such as hay fever, asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis or Covid-19 can bring on insomnia either short term or chronically.

• Pain sufferers can lose 42 minutes of sleep per night.

Mental health issues – Serious sleeping problems can arise from mental issues such as anxiety, depression, PTSD (which can cause nightmares and overthinking), bipolar disorder. Worse, insomnia can make mood disorders worse including the risk of suicide.

• Three-quarters of adults with depression have insomnia.
• Some studies suggest that 40% of insomniacs have a mental disorder.

Neurological problems – Affecting mental health, there are many neurological problems which can cause trouble with sleeping well.

Dementia, Alzheimers and resulting nighttime confusion can all cause insomnia. ADHD can put people in a hyperaroused state, causing insomnia. The problem is also common in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) – a problem which may linger into adulthood, causing other problems along with it.

• Well over half of children with ADHD have sleep problems.

Sleep disorders – There are around 80 named sleep disorders.

Obstructive sleep apnea is very common, causing breathing lapses and sleep interruptions – causing daytime sleepiness. Snoring is a major symptom of OSA.

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) also disturbs sleep by constant movement.

Parasomnias are another category of sleep disturbances which include sleepwalking, nightmares and sleep paralysis.

• Around 70 million US adults have a sleep disorder
• 25 million US adults have obstructive sleep apnea
• Nearly 40% of children experience sleep terrors.

Medications – As if the health problems themselves weren’t enough, sometimes their prescribed (or over-the counter) medications don’t help with sleep either!

Medications include: blood pressure medications, asthma medications, anti-depressants… even sleep medications can cause future disturbances…. As can the withdrawal time of certain medications. (Talk to your doctor if you relate to this. Perhaps there is an alternative medication you can try.)

• Many adults who take sleep medications experience sleepiness (or oversleeping) the next day. Yet, nearly a tenth of adults report taking sleep meds at least four times in the past week.
• 9 million American adults use sleeping pills (which also increases the chances of developing cancer by 35%.)
• Melatonin supplements increased in sales about 500% from 2003 to 2014.

Solutions

Here are a number ideas of things that might help you sleep faster, longer and (most importantly) better.

Daylight – natural sunlight and bright light can help regulate your circadian rhythm, improving both daytime energy and nighttime sleep. It also reduces the time required to fall asleep. Sleep efficiency is improved significantly. If getting outside isn’t practical, full-spectrum light bulbs can help. (Early in the day is the most important time.)

Light therapy can help – adding 2-3 hours of light might help you stay awake a little later and shift your circadian rhythm that little bit.

Dim the lights after dark, at home – use lamps, a dimmer switch or candles to make the transition to night.

Avoid blue light near bedtime – While great during the day, it’s not helpful at night. Using your electronic devices at night makes your brain act like it’s still daytime, making it hard to wind down and get good sleep. Ways to fix this include:

• limiting light exposure (bright light and blue light) 2 hours before bed
• installing apps that block blue light on your devices
• wearing glasses that block blue light

Exercise regularly – as long as you’re not doing it just before bed, it’s one of the best ways to improve sleep (and health, in general) generally halving the time needed to fall asleep and increasing total sleep time by almost a fifth.

Limit daytime naps – up to 30 minutes can improve daytime brain function, but longer than that can disrupt nighttime sleep.

Schedule your sleep consistently – try not to make a habit of staying up late and sleeping in on days off. Rather, keep your sleep and rising times similar on a day-to-day basis and you might find you don’t even need your alarm.

Avoid stimulants late in the day – including caffeine and nicotine. Best to quit the coffee (or switch to decaf) by 3 to 4 pm if you plan to sleep around 9 or 10pm.

Avoid alcohol close to bed. It can cause or increase snoring, sleep apnea and disrupted sleep patterns. Melatonin production can be disrupted and natural nighttime elevations of human growth hormone (HGH) can be decreased, causing further disruption to the circadian rhythm.

Don’t drink liquids within 1-2 hours of going to bed. This reduces the chance of needing to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Similarly, don’t eat too close to bedtime – within 2 hours of sleeping.

A hot bath or shower 90 minutes before bed can improve sleep quality and obtain more deep sleep. Simply getting your feet in hot water can be enough to help.

Add relaxation techniques to your bedtime routine – massage, listening to relaxing music, reading, taking a hot bath or shower, meditating, deep breathing and visualization are just some of the things you can try.

Sleep music videos are a great way to either relax, help you fall asleep or simply drown out the tinnitus. There are many on YouTube including my own channel called Freya's Moods. There, I use free videos (from Pexels and Pixabay) and sound clips – and (increasingly) some of my own footage – to create relaxing 5 or 10-hour videos (some with a black screen to keep light to a minimum) to help you sleep through the night. I have embedded one of my favorite videos so far – with loons. If you’ve never heard the Common Loon’s cry before, I recommend this one to you.

Write it out… - If your mind is spending a lot of time agonizing and worrying, sometimes writing it down can be the best way to encourage your mind to “let it go” - if only for the night. Plan to do something more calming/soothing after this – even 10 minutes will help.

Make your bedroom your sleep oasis.

• Keep activities to sleep and romance.
• Declutter the bedroom.
• Keep the temperature lower and noise/light to a minimum.
• Have a comfortable mattress, such as memory foam, latex or an organic mattress to improve sleep quality and quantity.
• Have comfortable, fresh-smelling sheets.
• Keep artificial lights to a minimum – including alarm clocks.
• Consider furniture arrangement and keep colors soothing and calming, not exciting.
• Tuck a pillow between or under your knees to help better align your hips and lower back stress and pain.
• Use a pillow that supports the curve of your neck – trying to keep your neck aligned with the rest of your body. (And don’t sleep on your stomach as it makes you keep your neck twisted.)
• try some feng shui to organize your bedroom.

Time for a new mattress or new bedding? - A new mattress can reduce back and shoulder pain and even bedding can make sleep more beneficial.

• If you are allergic to dust mites, it might be good to seal your mattress, box springs and pillows.
• Old bedding is also prone to mold, dust and other allergy triggers.

Supplements and herbs – Rather than medications, try enhancing your diet with these… This article won’t go into huge detail on these alternatives, but in the future, I’m likely to cover these in separate articles.

• CBD oil – (article coming soon!)
• chamomile tea
• cherry extract
• ginkgo biloba
• glycine
• hops
• L-theanine
• lavender
• lemon balm (melissa officinalis)
• magnesium
• melatonin
• passionflower
• valerian root
• vitamin D3
• Vitex agnus castus (chaste tree)

Acupuncture or acupressure – another option that might help.

Aromatherapy – There are a number of herbs where simply smelling them will help get you to nod off.
Check any of the ones in the “herb” section above. Apparently, hop harvesters were often found asleep in the fields! Some additional ideas include:

• a lavender sachet under the pillow or a couple of drops of essential oil on a handkerchief.
• 5 drops of lavender oil to a warm bath (which also helps to lower body temperature in preparation for sleep.
• patchouli, chamomile and ylang-ylang might also help.
• incense of any of the above flavors (do try to choose a natural herb/resin blend rather than manufactured scents)

Homeopathic remedies to compare – There is a lot to learn in this area. The best remedy for you will match other modalities as to how you feel or behave – so, please consult an online materia medica such as this one at ABC Homeopathy.
Most common

• coffea cruda
• nux vomica
• silicea/silica
• sulphur
• staphysagria
  Others
• aconitum apellus
• arnica montana
• arsenicum album
• calcarea phosphorica
• cocculus
• ignatia
• kali phosphoricum
• lycopodium
• zincum metallicum

Crystals – Either wear them, place them under your mattress, gridded around the bedroom – or use in a hot bath. (Note that some stones are not appropriate/safe for use in water – so double check! For example, selenite will dissolve in water.)

• amethyst – calming for tension headaches or digestive difficulties due to anxiety
• black tourmaline – protection against nightmares
• blue calcite – helps with snoring
• blue kyanite – help clear, balance and expand the throat and sinus for energy flow (snoring)
• celestite – the stone of angels, brings calm and tranquility
• citrine – empowerment, overcoming challenges of recurring dreams.
• epidote – enhance dreaming, tap into your intuitive nature, against nightmares
• fluorite – calming soothing
• garnet – for sleepwalking, to protect
• green calcite – calming/soothing
• howlite – decreases overly critical thinking – relieves anxiety, tension and intense emotions, racing thoughts
• jasper – gives renewal and vitality
• lapis lazuli – harmonizes and balances, allows our spirit to get busy while allowing our physical bodies to rest and renew.
• malachite – for sleepwalking – an energy shield to protect
• moonstone – insomnia, overthinking
• opal – insomnia, overthinking
• quartz – helps keep energy flowing through the body (helping with sleep apnea)
• red tiger’s eye – easing whole body anxiety
• rhodochrosite – easing anxiety, esp with tight sensation in the chest
• rose quartz – self-love, encouraging
• ruby – insomnia
• sapphire – brings an energy of deep peace
• selenite – helps clear and balance for energy flow
• shungite – for sleepwalking
• sugilite – fosters meditative zen
  Do not use turquoise or moldavite or any overstimulating crystal in the bedroom.

Article sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Healthline (sleep solutions and crystals for sleep)
Kaiser Permanente (homeopathy)
MedAlertHelp
National Sleep Foundation
Sleep Association
Sleep Foundation
Verywell Health (sleep solutions)
WebMD (sleep solutions)
The Good Body – (including the infographic – code below)

Please include attribution to TheGoodBody.com with this graphic.

Images from CDD20 and Sammy-Sander at Pixabay

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Crossposted on my Wordpress Blog. Contains affiliate marketing links.
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Freya Domestica is my new brand - on Wordpress and RedBubble - addressing the needs of the modern (aspiring) domestic goddess. Please come for a visit. Also visit Freya's Moods on YouTube for help with relaxation and sleep! Help me have time for writing again!

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Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
(Buy my work at RedBubble, TeePublic, PicFair and DeviantArt.)
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(Buy my books at Books2Read and at LBRY)
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