June Newsletter 2010

Therapy Tips: Sleeping Girl

Have you heard of "Sleep Hygiene"? Sleep Hygiene is the term used to describe the practices or habits that a sleep specialist recommends for a person who suffers from difficulty initiating and/or maintaining sleep. All of us have trouble sleeping occasionally. However, if you experience chronic insomnia it is especially important to develop habits that promote good sleep. And in general, good sleep hygiene means better quality sleep for all of us.

The following information will aid you in improving your sleep. We divide your day into two segments, waking time and sleeping time. For the best quality sleep, waking activities should only be performed during wake time and sleeping activities should be reserved only for sleep time.

1. The most important time of your sleep/wake cycle is the time you get up for the day. This time establishes your circadian rhythm and should be as fixed as possible depending upon your social and work schedule.

2. To establish your circadian rhythm more strongly, expose yourself to bright light upon arising at your fixed "out of bed" time. Consistently get out of bed at a fixed time: choose a fixed "out of bed" time that meets your needs for family time, work and pleasure activities.

3. Do not mix sleep hours with waking hours. Avoid naps during waking hours since it robs from the night's sleep time. Avoid waking activities such as watching TV, using a computer, etc. during sleep hours.

4. During waking hours it is acceptable to use caffeine. However, avoid caffeine after midday. If sleep onset remains a problem, move your caffeine intake to an earlier time in your waking hours.

5. Avoid large meals late in the day.

6. Recognize and establish a pre-sleep ritual. Your pre-sleep ritual is the series of events that you do just before going to bed for sleep. It consists of 3 parts and may take only a few minutes to an hour or longer.

a. Prepare for the next day's activites: appointments, clothing, etc.; write a list of worries about business, personal, family, activities

b. Prepare your residence for that night's sleep

c. Do your personal hygiene, preparing yourself for bed and sleep onset.

7. Avoid stimulating activities before bedtime and close to the pre-sleep ritual time.

8. Once in bed, limit activities to sleep time activities. Acceptable sleep time activities include: attempting to sleep, sleeping, and reading selected materials (see #9 below). Do not watch TV, listen to the radio or recorded music, or use a computer. Keep lighting to a minimum: Night light or very low watt lights are permitted.

9. When sleepy, turn off the light and attempt to go to sleep.

10. If unable to sleep during sleep time hours and fully awake, get out of bed and move to a separate chair to read until sleepy. Read boring, non-fictional material during sleep time with very low light. Return to bed when sleepy. Repeat this activity until able to fall asleep. Still get out of bed at your fixed "out of bed" time.