THE IMPORTANCE OF CATCHING GREAT QUALITY Zzz’s
WHAT IS SLEEP HYGIENE?
Sleep hygiene refers to the personal, environmental and occupational factors that aid in improving our overall sleep quality and duration through healthy habits. Sleep hygiene requires a multifaceted approach to ensure that we optimise our performance to improve our overall physical and mental health.
WHAT ARE SIGNS OF POOR SLEEP?
Poor sleep can manifest and be observed as in a variety of ways and can include difficulty falling asleep, constantly waking up or feeling tired or exhausted upon waking up.
WHAT IS A CIRCADIAN RHYTHM?
Circadian rhythm refers to the natural, internal process that regulates sleep wakefulness, and other physiological processes based on environmental cues like light and darkness. Circadian rhythm plays a crucial role in maintaining physical and mental health, as it helps optimise sleep, hormone release, metabolism and overall well-being. Disruptions to the circadian rhythm, such as irregular sleep patterns or exposure to artificial light can negatively impact mood, cognitive function and long-term health.
BENEFITS OF SLEEP
Quality sleep is essential for improving physical, mental and social well-being. Quality sleep promotes:
enhanced cardiovascular health
mental wellbeing
intellectual functioning
memory consolidation
immunity
reproductive health and hormone regulation
FACTORS AFFECTING SLEEP QUALITY
There are a myriad of factors that can contribute to poor sleep quality. These can include both modifiable and non-modifiable factors. Modifiable factors are those that we can directly control and change (i.e., limiting caffeine consumption) and non-modifiable factors are those that we cannot control and change (i.e., biological age).
HOW MUCH SLEEP DO I NEED?
Infants (4 to 12 months), 12 to 16 hours (including naps)
Toddlers (1-2 years), 11 to 14 hours (including naps)
Pre-schoolers (3-5 years), 10 to 13 hours (including naps)
Primary Schoolers (6-12 years), 9 to 11 hours.
Teenagers (13-17 years), 8 to 10 hours
Young adults (18-25 years), 7 to 9 hours
Adults (26-64 years), 7 to 9 hours
However, this can be a simplistic approach and doesn’t account for the intricacies that can influence the overall amount of sleep needed. These intricacies are multifaceted but can include an individual’s medical condition, activity level, psychosocial factors (i.e., stress & anxiety), and work schedule to highlight a few.
In summation, two people of the same age can have drastically different sleep needs based on their unique chronotype and personal, environmental and occupational factors and influences.
SHOULD I SEEK ADDITIONAL SUPPORT?
As a general guideline, individuals should prioritise eating a nutritiously balanced diet, exercise regularly and aim to sleep within the recommended guidelines as indicated by the Sleep Health Foundation based on their age.
If those factors have been tried and unsuccessful, it would be beneficial to seek further support to get individualised recommendations based on your unique situation. This support can be provided by an Occupational Therapist.
FUN FACT
Lucid dreaming refers to the process of being aware that you are dreaming while in a dream state and subsequently can lead to controlling or manipulating the dream state. This process can be achieved for some people with deliberate and specialised practise.
References
Baranwal, N., Yu, P. K., Siegel, N.S., (2023). Sleep physiology, pathophysiology, and sleep hygiene, Prog Cardiovasc Dis, 59-69.
Gardner, M. A. (2012), Sleep duration across the lifespan: Implications for health, Sleep and medicine review, 16 (3), 199-201.
Schredle, M., and Erlacher, D. (2004), Lucid dreaming frequency and personality, Personality and Individual Differences, 37 (7), 1463-1473.
Walker, W.H., Walton, J.C., DeVries, A.C. et al. (2020), Circadian rhythm disruption and mental health, Translational Psychiatry, 10 (28) Click here
The Importance of Catching Great Quality Zzz’s