By Kyla King, B.A. Graduate Intern
Sleep hygiene according to the Center for Disease control (CDC) and prevention can include:
- Be consistent. Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning, including on the weekends
- Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, relaxing, and at a comfortable temperature
- Remove electronic devices, such as TVs, computers, and smart phones, from the bedroom
- Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol before bedtime
- Get some exercise. Being physically active during the day can help you fall asleep more easily at night.
I find it very interesting that with all of the things that the CDC has to address these days they take time to talk about something as basic as sleep. I find this interesting, but not surprising, because like anyone who has lost a night of sleep I know how hard things become when I can’t sleep well. Specifically, Harvard scholars speaks about the implications of a lack of sleep which include weight gain, increased cortisol (yes, the stress hormone), difficulty processing glucose and eventually increased risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, increased irritability, increased depression, increased anxiety, decreased immune functioning, and decreased life expectancy. This is just the start of the list and doesn’t include how a lack of sleep could impact our communities and families through things like impaired driving, and decreased cognitive functioning.
With all of this considered, it seems obvious that we would all dedicate some energy toward sleep hygiene. But it is hard, so try thinking about the rewards with this handy dandy weeklong chart:
Sleep Hygiene Challenge
| Sun | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat | Weekly Reward | |
| Put electronics away before bed | Decreased risk of weight gain! | |||||||
| Went to bed before __o’clock | Decreased stress hormones! | |||||||
| Got 7-9 hours of sleep
|
Decreased worry and anxiety! | |||||||
| Got some exercise
|
Decreased irritability! | |||||||
| No caffeine, alcohol, or food right before bed | Increased life expectancy! | |||||||
| Your sleep goal here
|
Your reward here. You’ve earned it!! |
If you decide to take the sleep hygiene challenge you can take the rewards listed and maybe give yourself a reward of your choosing as well! Send us an email and let us know how many boxes you were able to get in a week and what reward you gave yourself for your hard work! king@ohanabehavioralhealth.com
https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/sleep_hygiene.html
http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/consequences/sleep-and-disease-risk
