Sleep

During this difficult time, you may not feel like you can sleep. However, it is important that you rest to recharge your body, and ensure that you are in the best possible position to deal with the experience at hand. There are a number of things you can do to help yourself drift off to sleep, get good quality sleep, and to return to sleep if you wake up.

Things you can do:

• Avoid teas, coffees, soft drinks, and anything else that contains caffeine in the 6 hours before bed.

• Avoid drinking alcohol before you go to sleep. While falling asleep may seem easier after a glass of wine or a beer, the sleep you will get will not be of a good enough quality to ensure you feel rested and recharged.

• Avoid using mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices before bed.

• Try to maintain a routine. Going to bed and getting of bed at a similar time every day will encourage your body to recognise that time in between as the time to sleep.

• Try to settle yourself into bed time. This can be things like a warm bath, reading a book, meditation, relaxing music or a hot milk. This will help to relax you in time for bed, but will also encourage your body to recognise this as a cue for bed time over time.

• Once you have gone to bed, if you are struggling to sleep, get out of bed and return to your bedtime rituals (see above point). You are unlikely to drop off to sleep if you are wide awake, and checking the time can become stressful and frustrating.

• Try to exercise, even if it is just a short walk around the block.

• Try to eat a balanced diet, as too much sugar, eating too close to bed time, or going to bed hungry, can all play a part in disrupting sleep.

• Try not to nap during the day, but if you need to rest, try to have a short nap (60 minutes or less), before mid-afternoon.

When to see a professional:

If you have been having trouble sleeping for one month or more, then it would be a good idea to see your GP or a Psychologist. Similarly, if you find that you cannot sleep without some sort of aid (e.g. sleeping tablets or an alcoholic drink), then seeing you’re a health professional is important to come up with a better long-term solution.

Psychologists can help improve sleep through avenues that do not involve medication, such as mindfulness and relaxation strategies. Psychologists can be accessed privately, or can be accessed through a referral from your GP under a mental health care plan.