How well do you sleep?

Friday 15th March is World Sleep Day. The aim is to bring people together to discuss sleep problems, help to find solutions and prevent sleep problems for those who don’t yet have them. World Sleep Day has been held every year, since 2008, on the Friday before the March Equinox, which marks when day and night are roughly the same length. After the equinox, the day will be longer than the night.

The theme this year is Sleep Equity for Global Health. Sleep is essential to health but measurable differences in sleep health persist across populations across the world, creating additional burdens and reinforcing health inequities.

World Sleep Day is useful for educating people all over the world about the importance of sleep, as well as changing the way people view and experience sleep by giving them valuable resources to help them in their daily lives.

How long should you be sleeping per night?

It is recommended that adults up to the age of 64, need 7-9 hours of sleep per night. However, almost 1 in 5 people in the UK aren’t getting enough sleep!

Signs and symptoms of sleep problems:

• Finding it difficult to fall asleep.
• Lying awake for long periods at night.
• Waking up several times during the night.
• Waking up early and being unable to get back to sleep.
• Feeling down or having a lower mood.
• Having difficulty concentrating.
• Being more irritable than usual.

Longer term sleep problems can have many negative affects such as on our relationships and social life, and it can have us feeling tired all the time, eating more and not being able to do daily tasks.

Humans spend 1/3 of their life sleeping so how can you improve your sleep?

• Go to sleep and wake up at similar times every day.
• Sleep in a calm and restful environment such as a cool, dark and quiet room.
• Avoid drinking caffeine and alcohol before bed.
• Regularly exercise every day.
• If you worry a lot about life before falling asleep, write your worries down.
• Try not to watch TV or use electronic devices before sleeping.

Sleep is so important to all aspects of our lives which is why it is vital to have good sleep health.

Do you have any sleep tips? Let us know!