Guidelines for combating insomnia
"I can't sleep." You've probably suffered from insomnia at some point in your life. In fact, it's one of the most common sleep disorders, affecting one in five adults.
Insomnia refers to difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep throughout the night. It is a disorder that can affect a person's ability to stay alert the next day and can impair their work capacity or school performance, especially in children and adolescents.
Tips to reduce mobile phone use
It's a complex issue, given that it doesn't have a single cause, and it can appear when we face a difficult situation in life, when we're worried about something, when we have to do something important the next day, or when we find ourselves in an uncertain situation. In other words, in a multitude of personal situations.
In general, an increase in insomnia problems has been observed in recent months due to a collective concern: COVID-19. The pandemic is, precisely, a sudden and unknown situation in our society that has caused uncertainty, emotional distress, and therefore can lead to significant sleep disturbances.
Tips to combat insomnia caused by anxiety
- Maintain a regular schedule: wake up and go to sleep at the same time every day, with a margin of no more than sixty minutes on weekends.
- Make sure your bedroom has a comfortable environment for sleeping, with low levels of light and noise and a suitable temperature.
- Avoid naps.
- Establish a bedtime routine according to your preferences, such as reading, meditating, laying out your clothes for the next day, etc. For children, this could mean brushing their teeth and reading a story or doing a relaxing activity.
- Limit stimulating activities that may interfere with sleep.
- Do not use mobile devices or screens between 30 minutes and 1 hour before going to sleep.
- Avoid heavy meals before bed. Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same time every day.
- Do not consume stimulating drinks such as chocolate, coffee, tea, fizzy drinks or drinks containing caffeine during the 3-4 hours before going to sleep.
- If you find you can't fall asleep within about 20 minutes, get up, go to another room, and do something relaxing. Don't go back to bed until you feel sleepy.
Remember: worrying but not sleeping is more tiring than simply staying awake.
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