With all the things that are currently happening: the increasing deaths and coronavirus cases, the fall of a lot of businesses and closure of jobs, the economic downfall of a lot of countries, and plagues and other illnesses the world is facing like the Ebola Virus Disease, more and more people are experiencing depression and anxiety. Due to this, a lot of people nowadays are suffering from sleep disruption or difficulty in sleeping, which could eventually cause more problems in the long run.
Some of the fruits of having difficulty sleeping or sleep disruption are somatic pain, mood disorder, and deficits in memory and performance. It can also lead to serious health problems such as heart attack, heart disease, heart failure, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, diabetes, and stroke, as revealed by WebMD.
Given all these, it is indeed no doubt how important it is to have a good night's sleep, especially in times like these. But how can one do that?
BE IN SYNC WITH YOUR BODY'S CIRCADIAN RHYTHM
It is difficult to sleep especially if you are not in sync with your body's natural sleep-wake cycle. So it is necessary to finally be in tune with it once again.
You can do that by sleeping every day at the same time. The same goes for waking up. Sleep in a time that you usually get tired. Once you have enough sleep, you will surely wake up without the need of an alarm. Do that with consistency.
CONTROL THE TIME YOU ALLOT FOR NAPPING
Napping is healthy especially to your brain after a long stressing day. But know that if you are already having problems with sleeping during the night, napping for a longer time will only make it worse. So make sure to limit the time you spend on it. A maximum of 20 minutes is already enough.
SLEEP WITH A MINIMUM EXPOSURE TO LIGHT
Melatonin, a hormone in the body produced by your brain's pineal gland when it's dark, is a hormone that could help make you feel sleepy, as revealed by Help Guide. The darker the room, the more melatonin produced by the body.
Furthermore, this hormone is also a powerful antioxidant. It could provide you a lot of health benefits such as improved eye health, treatment of heartburn and stomach ulcers, and increased growth hormones. With all these, why not start sleeping with the light's off tonight?
