Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together.
-Thomas Dekker (British dramatist)

To sleep is the most natural thing. So why can it be so elusive?

In a CDC study more than a third of Americans reported that they regularly don’t get enough sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 45 percent of Americans report that poor or insufficient sleep affected their activities at least once in the past seven days.

Sleep is a basic human need—just like need to eat food and drink water. The loss of sleep can be painful and disorienting. Perhaps this is why sleep deprivation has been used as a tactic in “enhanced interrogations.”

If you’ve had a poor night or two of sleep, you may have noticed that it’s harder to pay attention in class, carry on conversations and deal with minor frustrations. You may also be more susceptible to colds and flus. You may become impatient and short-tempered with your loved ones and your friends.

As a lifelong student of dreams, I also believe that during sleep we often are working through inner conflicts and resolving existential dilemmas that all of us face. Deprived of this outlet for psychological problem solving our overall stress level may rise.

A variety of factors have been proposed as reasons we modern humans struggle with sleep. Our brain reacts to environmental signals that tell us it’s time to sleep or to wake up. One of the most important signals is light. While providing many benefits, such as greater safety on public streets and the ability to work into the evening, the invention of the electric light bulb has played havoc with our natural sleep rhythms. The blue light emitted by our phones, tablets and PCs, in particular, suppresses the production of melatonin—an important hormone in regulating our sleep-wake cycle. Moreover, our engagement with stimulating media tells our brain that it needs to stay awake and alert in case something happens.

Students have spoken to me about the fear of missing out. If roommates, dorm mates and friends stay active late into the evening, it can feel antisocial or boring to stick to a regular bedtime.

Disrupted sleep is also a primary symptom of anxiety and often attends depression as well. To fall asleep requires that we relax and allow the mind to naturally settle into a quiet rhythm. This can be a daunting task if you are highly stressed or experiencing significant anxiety or mood disturbance.

If you, like many of your fellow students, struggle with sleep issues, here are some tips that may be helpful:

• Be careful with caffeinated drinks, including coffee, soda and energy drinks. Their activating effects can linger long after you consume them.
• Try to stick to a regular bedtime. Your established bedtime will eventually signal your mind that it’s time to go to sleep. Plus, you won’t fall into the problem of sleeping in so late that your bedtime keeps getting pushed back into the wee hours of the morning.
• Exercise and physical labor can make us feel relaxed and produce the kind of exhaustion that naturally assists our sleep at the end of the day. (Recently, I had the best sleep I've had in years after shoveling snow for a couple hours.)
• Create a wind-down ritual of 30 minutes or so before you go to sleep. During this time don’t look at screens or do your homework. You are helping your mind transition to a more relaxed state, setting the stage for falling asleep.
• If you can’t sleep for some reason, don’t fight it. Try to maintain a positive attitude. Getting upset or worried will only aggravate the problem. Instead, do something relaxing until your mind and body are more ready to fall asleep, e.g., read a book for pleasure, listen to music, watch a relaxing show (on a non-blue light screen).
• Sometimes disrupted sleep is a sign of an emotional problem that needs compassionate attention. This could be a family difficulty or a friendship that needs mending (or grieving, if it’s over). Journaling and talking with others are two ways to identify what’s bothering you and find ways to move on.
• Should you take medication? This is an individual choice. Where sleep problems are chronic or particularly acute, medication can sometimes be helpful. Many of these medications are fairly benign. Speak to a medical professional about them.
• A powerful way to quiet your mind and coax it into a relaxed rhythm is to systematically relax your muscles. For instance, as you breathe out imagine relaxing your feet. On the next outbreath, relax your lower legs, then your upper legs, and so on. An even more powerful technique is to first tense these parts of your body, which will swing them like a pendulum into a more relaxed state. There are guided meditations on Youtube for this.
• Explore Apps that can assist you in falling and staying asleep. Two that I like are a White Noise: Sleep Sounds and Insight Timer—the latter is a free meditation app that has an entire section on sleep.

Getting good rest is essential to remaining healthy in mind and body. Try the strategies above. Consider attending the Stress and Anxiety Management Workshop at the Duck Nest. Seek out professional help, if you need to. If you are someone who struggle with sleep issues, don’t despair. There are a variety of strategies and tools that can help.

Mark Evans, Ph.D.
Senior Staff Psychologist