Sleep Well and Feel Better

So today I'm hoping to talk to you a bit about sleep and why it's so important. I work for the Veterans Affairs and have had the opportunity to work with many veterans in research and clinical settings, and one thing that I know from that work as well as some of the research that exists are that Veterans experience many of the same sleep problems that non veterans experience. It is true however that veterans are more at risk for sleep problems, and one of those reasons could be due to some of the aspects of their military service. Good sleep is really important to everything that we do. So of course the most obvious thing is that if you get a bad night's sleep or many you're going to have less energy to be able to do the things that you need to do every day, get up for work, take your kids on a walk whatever it may be in your personal life.

But it's also true that poor sleep can impact things like our concentration and our ability to have strong attention, and it's also true that sleep really impacts our emotions. So if we don't get good sleep it can make us feel more irritable. It could also contribute to feeling sad or down or more anxious. So because you're not getting sleep your brain is not doing what it needs to do. Perhaps at night that can really impact your emotions the next day or for many days following. There are many types of sleep problems. One of the most common is insomnia, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. And so of course as you think about that, all of us experienced that at some point in our life especially if we have a big change in our life or a different sleeping environment.

What's distinct about insomnia is that these problems persist for quite some time; so we're talking about at least three months several nights a week that you're experiencing some of those problems. Another common sleep problem is nightmares that then makes it really hard to fall back asleep because of those distressing dreams. So sleep problems like insomnia are often co-morbid with, which means they are often present along with things like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder.

It's also a symptom that people experience that have had traumatic brain injuries and it also increases risk for a suicide. So having thoughts of suicide and part of that is because when we experience sleep problems for a long time it can really impact things like hopelessness so that we may feel as though things will never get better. But what's true is that things can get better.

First, there are things that you can try on your own. So things like sleep hygiene. Making sure you're going to bed only when you're tired, that you're not watching TV, or you're not on your cell phone right before you're trying to fall asleep. Let's say you search sleep hygiene tips. You try those out at home and they're not working, We also have many different types of interventions. We also have many different types of interventions that are evidence based and also work to help you sleep better. So you can ask your doctor about them So many people know about medications that exist for insomnia which is one route; but it's also true that there are psychological interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia to help really get people's sleep back on track and kind of get you back into your life. There's also another evidence based treatment called imagery rehearsal therapy that shows some great evidence for reducing nightmares.

The good news is that if you're having trouble sleeping for whatever reason, you're not alone and there are many things out there that can help you feel better and start sleeping better as well. .

As found on Youtube