If you’ve tried some of these suggestions and you still aren’t sleeping well, talk to your GP, a counsellor, psychologist or sleep specialist about other options. Breaking the frustrating loop of not sleeping can help you reset and feel drowsy. Turn on a dim light and read (from a book, no electronics!), do some light stretching, or walk around the house for a few minutes. Give yourself an imaginary task, such as building your dream house or exploring a new city, and walk yourself through it in your mind. This disruption can trick your brain into resetting itself.
Still tossing and turning in your bed at night? There are some other things you can try. This video is literally eight full hours of super relaxing water sounds. Self-hypnosis, in which a practitioner teaches you to relax when you hear a phrase or get a nonspoken cue.
A good sleeping routine will help you get the hours you need on a regular basis. (Research suggests that the body produces fewer infection-fighting antibodies when sleep deprived.) Studies have shown that individuals are more likely to catch a cold virus when you’re sleep deprived and that vaccines can be less effective after a poor night of sleep.Research shows that adolescents and young adults need at least seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Sleep also plays an integral role in regulating the body’s immune system, which is responsible for fighting off all sorts of problems from the common cold to more serious chronic problems like cancer. Sleep is also when our muscles repair damage (and regular wear and tear) from throughout the day.
There’s an increase in the release of growth hormones during sleep (this is when kids get taller, our skin cells regenerate, and our hair gets longer), as well as the hormones that regulate appetite.
Our heart rate and body temperatures drop, our breathing rate slightly decreases and becomes very regular (at least during most stages of sleep), and kidney function slows down (which is why you typically don’t feel the urge to pee as frequently during sleep as when you’re awake).Īnd at the same time, other systems in the body ramp way up during sleep. It’s during this time that the body is busy regenerating cells and tissues. NREM is the workhorse of sleep, accounting for 75 percent of the total time you spend sleeping. Outside of the brain, there’s a lot changing throughout the rest of the body during sleep, too. During sleep, your brain is either in a period of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) or rapid eye movement (REM). Not getting sleep can literally make you sick Another study found that after a week of getting just four-and-a-half hours of sleep per night, individuals reported worse moods (in terms of feeling stressed, angry, sad or mentally exhausted). Chronic insomnia has also been linked to increased risk of developing a mood disorder, including anxiety or depression.