How To Improve Sleep Quality – Sleep is one of the most underrated elements of a healthy mind and body. Getting a good night’s sleep will help set you up for success in your day, as your cognitive functions, energy levels, emotional regulation and mental clarity are all impacted by a night spent tossing and turning. Even more problems result when individuals suffer from conditions and issues that regularly affect their quality of sleep, leaving them chronically sleep deprived and irritable. Fortunately, there are ways to help those who are suffering from problems sleeping and speaking with one of the expert counsellors at Horizon Plymouth can help you begin to improve your mental health and cognition as a result of improved sleep quality.
Common issues resulting in poor sleep quality
Issues sleeping is a widespread problem that can look different for every individual and can be the result of a myriad of different underlying issues and causes. Some of the reasons why an individual might be experiencing interrupted sleep or poor sleep quality include:
- Demeanour or disposition: Naturally light sleepers may find it difficult to stay asleep in environments with noise or light, and those who have previously worked shift work might have trouble adjusting to new schedules after years of night shifts.
- Mental health conditions: Many mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder result in sleep disturbances that can further exacerbate symptoms and decrease quality of life.
- Physical conditions: Those who are experiencing physical or neurological pain often have an incredibly difficult time falling asleep and maintaining good quality sleep due to the pain that they are struggling to manage.
- Traumatic experiences: Those who are struggling with the effects—whether ongoing or in the past—of trauma that they either experienced or witnessed often find quality sleep to be difficult to obtain. This could be due to a number of reasons, from persistent rumination preventing the relaxation necessary for sleep to the fear of chronic nightmares.
How to improve sleep quality
Sleep hygiene is the process of streamlining your sleeping routine to better increase the amount of sleep that you are able to get each night. This can include only getting in your bed when you’re tired and ready to sleep, turning off all lights and devices before bed to give yourself time to wind down, and keeping a regular sleep routine where you go to bed at the same time each night. Many aspects of our modern-day routines, such as late-night screen time and excessive caffeine intake, are not conducive to good quality sleep. Figuring out ways to manage these things and regain control of the aspects of your life affected by sleep issues is an important step for overall wellbeing.
However, if you are struggling with quality sleep as a result of mental health conditions or traumatic experiences, seeking out the help of one of the professionals at Horizon Plymouth can allow you to gain mental peace and clarity to begin to experience quality rest once more.
How can counselling help
Counsellors can help you to understand the feelings that are keeping you up at night and discover ways to better manage mental health symptoms in order to regain feelings of control and improve your relationship with sleep. If you have undergone traumatic experiences, sleep issues might be an indicator that you need a counsellor’s help to process your trauma and encourage peace of mind. Additionally, if you are not sleeping well as a result of poor sleep hygiene, a counsellor can help you take an objective look at what factors could be contributing to your unrest.
If you or someone you know is struggling with sleep issues and isn’t sure where to begin combating them or even what could be causing them, reach out to the experts at Horizon Plymouth to schedule your initial consultation today.