World Sleep Day is on March 13th this year. It’s an annual international campaign to raise awareness of healthy sleep and its essential role in maintaining high quality health and wellbeing. Over the past 16 years, since its launch in 2008, the campaign has grown from a small group of advocates to hundreds of volunteer organisations across 70 countries, delivering 100s of activities each year.
It’s hard to think of anything that affects our wellbeing as much as sleep. But there are a quite a few things that we can all do to build a healthier relationship with sleep.
Here’s three important things to remember if you’re struggling with your own sleep:
- You’re not alone. Bouts of insomnia are pretty much a universal human experience, and we all have sleepless nights. They often come and go naturally, it’s just part of the human condition. Sometimes we have times in our lives when we sleep well, and at other time we don’t. So try not to expect your sleep to be perfect all the time, no one’s is.
- Everyone is different. The factors keeping you awake will not necessarily be the same as someone else’s. Some people can have a strong coffee late at night and sleep well, some of us struggle to sleep if we have a coffee after midday. It’s helpful to work out what makes the most difference to your sleep.
- There are lots of things you can do to stack the odds in your favour for getting a better night’s sleep. These do not guarantee a better night’s sleep tonight, but over time, practicing good sleep habits really increases your chances of getting better quality sleep.
Further resources
- There are a wide range of Self Help Guides available including a detailed guide on Sleeping Problems.
- Sleep problems: Every mind matters: NHS information and signposting if poor sleep is affecting your daily life.
- Unmind: a mental health platform that empowers staff to proactively improve their mental wellbeing. They have now extended their free offer and are offering free access to NHS staff.
- Headspace: a science-backed app in mindfulness and meditation, providing unique tools and resources to help reduce stress, build resilience, and aid better sleep.
- Sleepstation: free NHS access to online personalised support and help with sleep.
- The Sleep Charity: national sleep helpline, run by a team of specialist trained sleep advisors (calls are charged at local rates)