3 Common Reasons of Negativity

According to a study at a university, there are 4 elements that create negative thinking: Regret and Shame, Negative Expressions, Lack of Confidence, and Criticism Towards Others. If we sum it up, the following 3 reasons are the most common triggers for negative thinking.

Severe Long-Term Stress

Stress can be a direct cause of negativity. When we mess up at work/school or can’t perform well, negativity takes over our minds, making less room for positivity to grow. If we surround ourselves with negative people, sometimes we end up being heavily influenced by them too.

Past Traumatic Experiences

Past trauma can impact us in many ways. A person full of optimism and positivity can suddenly change negatively due to shocking incidents. Some people can fall into a negative trap where they can’t believe in anyone after experiencing betrayal from someone they used to trust.

Hormonal Imbalance Due To Poor Lifstyle Choices

A neurological chemical called serotonin has to do a lot with our emotional control and stability. A lack of serotonin not only makes us less energetic, but it can also make us negative too. For your body to properly produce serotonin, a stress-free lifestyle with exercise, a healthy diet, and sunlight becomes crucial. If we can shift our lifestyle with healthier lifestyle habits that promote serotonin, that can push our minds back towards positivity.

3 Reasons Sleep Heals Negativity

Typically, if the cause of our problems is clear, we’d have to fix that first. However, causes such as past trauma or long-term stress cannot be fixed overnight and that can feel like a struggle. Therefore, we advise that you start easy with getting plenty of sleep. In this section, we’ll explain how sleep can heal negativity within our minds.

It Heals the Physical Body and Brain

The brain can rest and condition the body’s hormonal balance when it goes to sleep. A well-balanced hormonal function can fight negativity and build stress resilience towards the incoming negativity we experience.

The body needs to feel energized enough before we start exercising towards a healthy serotonin function. Sleep also helps our whole body restore itself. Without fundamental sleep, it’s hard to make the change we desire.

Leads To Better Lifstyle Habits

A structured sleeping schedule, sunlight, and a healthy diet all contribute towards getting rid of our negativity. A good night’s rest promotes serotonin secretion which helps us back to positivity. Good sleep also helps us stay efficient during the day. Most of us have pulled all-nighters during the weekday only to try and catch up on sleep during the weekends. We can start working on positivity today, just by starting off a healthy sleeping schedule.

Stops The Negativity Loop

Once we fall into a negativity loop our problems seem infinitely larger than what they are. We need to reset our minds so that we can shift gears towards positivity. To easily do this, we recommend sleep.

When we sleep, our thoughts are forced to shut down and we can leave from thinking so much. This gives us the capability to look at things more objectively and calmly when we wake up.

If you have a hard time sleeping, an AI app can help you sort your thoughts through too. Try the SELF MIND app for a FREE trial!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Sleep Well for a Healthy Mind and Body

Good sleep nourishes our brain and body while it puts our negative thinking on hold. It’s a necessary step for proper serotonin secretion and the key to stopping the negativity. Next time you feel negative and down, stop what you’re doing and go to bed.

Reference：

Akutsu, Y., Odajima, H., & Miya, S. (2008). Changes of positive and negative affect by a stress task. The Annual Report of the Faculty of Education, Iwate University, 68, 1–8. https://iss.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-I000000001712-00

Konishi, M., & Yoshida, A. (2011). Life style and environment that influence serotonin secretion. Journal of Osaka Kawasaki Rehabilitation University, 5, 1–20. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/120006866960

Shiraishi, S., Soma, H., & Shimazu, N. (2016). Characteristics of Japanese automatic thoughts in negative situations. Utsunomiya University Repository, 66(1), 3–12. http://hdl.handle.net/10241/10240

The post How Sleep Heals Our Negative Thoughts appeared first on SELF MIND.

The Effects of Overthinking

Not everyone is decisive at crucial moments of decision-making. The time it takes someone to think through for a conclusive decision varies depending on the situation and personality. However, overthinking can have the following negative impact on our mental wellbeing:

Starts or Worsens Depression

People prone to overthinking tend to worry a lot as they deal with life. Thoughts about negative scenarios will eventually bring our mood down too. An increase in stressful thoughts decreases the production of serotonin (chemicals produced to maintain mental stability) in our brains, contributing to depressive states. A lack of serotonin is also known to cause various symptoms such as constant fatigue, insomnia, and irritation.

Prevents Us From Being Proactive

When we act before we think, we are faster in taking action. When we think before we act, it prevents us from being proactive. It may not make a big difference in your personal life, but overthinking in business settings can lead to lost opportunities and networks.

Increases Difficulty in Tackling New Challenges

New challenges feel difficult when we overthink them. The more time we spend thinking, the more worrisome aspects of the challenge seem apparent. Of course, thinking through could keep us safe from possible risks, but it also prohibits us from taking the risks necessary to create change.

For example, the mental exhaustion from over-focusing on the problems will hold us back from taking courageous actions or risks necessary to create change. Avoidance of actions and risks may keep us in a perpetually hostile environment that potentially breaks us. There’s always a risk for depression and PTSD for people who feel like they have no escape.

5 Activities to Try When Overthinking

People who overthink tend to be perfectionists that want to seek answers until they can convince their own logic. The following activities are helpful when thinking becomes painful.

1. Try a Physically Active Hobby

Find a hobby that you enjoy. Indulgence in hobbies can change our focus and avoid perpetual negativity.

Any hobby is sufficient, but something physically active is ideal. This is because we want to balance out the activities in our left brain (logic, thinking, and mathematics) by activating the right brain (feelings, intuition, and creativity). Exercise helps activate our right brain as we focus on physical activity, and this helps us stay away from looping thoughts.

2. Write Out Your Thoughts

We overthink because we haven’t found a conclusion. Thus, writing out all of your thoughts on a piece of paper may be helpful in viewing ideas objectively. Verbalization of internal thoughts helps organize thoughts, calms the mind, and inspires solutions.
This is a great method for people who want to improve their mental health by finding solutions.

3. Sleep

Sleep is one way to help our brain recover from mental fatigue. If thinking through a matter isn’t helping, we can shut our thoughts down for a while by falling asleep.
For some, the mind can still continue to run wild even while trying to rest. In that case, we recommend the following activities:

• Soak in a hot tub
• Keep away from electronics (smartphones and tablets) before bed
• Surround yourself with pleasing scents using aroma oils or candles
• Read a familiar book that comforts you
• Don’t eat 2 hours before bed

4. Talk to Someone

Sometimes, we can move forward by talking to close friends and gaining new perspectives. It helps to proactively confide our feelings to someone close. Not just because of the solutions, we might gain, but the “comfort” we feel from it is as significant. The act to share our thoughts prevents isolation and makes us feel connected with society again.

5. Set a Routine Time Dedicated to Thinking

One of the reasons we keep overthinking is because we don’t know when to stop. Sometimes, stopping all thoughts can lead to better solutions.

Still, for people who overthink, letting go of their thoughts can sound like a challenge. If so, try to set dedicated routine times for thinking. It could be 30 mins before bed or the first 15 mins when you wake up. Set times dedicated to thinking each day will help prevent our minds from overrunning forever.

Find What Works for You

There’s nothing wrong with working through a thought. However, if you recognize that you’re overthinking, it’s healthy to take breaks. In this post, we introduced 5 specific activities that could combat depression and overthinking, but frankly, it can be any activity that calms your mind. The scale and depths of our issues are all different. We hope you find what works for you in facing your inner thoughts.

Looking to improve your mental health? Need someone to talk to? Try the SELF MIND app for a FREE trial!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Reference：

Matsumoto, M. (2005). How Overthinking Contributes to Continual Depression. Japan Society of Personality Psychology.

The post 5 Ways to Combat Depression from Overthinking appeared first on SELF MIND.

• Recognizes details more than others, which tires them out
• Excessively nervous about environmental changes
• Others compliment them as “rich with emotion”

The Psychological Characteristics of an HSP

How many of the following points apply to you?

• I overthink over the small things
• I feel easily emotionally connected to characters in movies or stories
• I’m surprised by big sounds more than average
• I need space if there are too many people around me
• I tend to rush through when I’m given too many tasks at once
• My heart rushes when I see people expressing anger onto others
• I haven’t felt better in a while

The more points that apply to you, the higher the chance you have HSP traits. If you have a tendency to take a long time to think or are emotionally rich, those are big traits of an HSP.

The Traits of an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person)

If you have HSP traits, high sensitivity can make you susceptible to mental pain. There are many traits if we go into detail, but here, we will introduce 3 traits that are the most common.

1. Easily Hurt

Some people can stay optimistic after failure at school, sports, or work, but there are also many that keep dragging their failures with them. People with HSP traits tend to fall into the latter type where they feel easily hurt.

An HSP’s sensitive thinking puts them in a headspace where they keep internalizing and blaming themselves rather than expressing their negative feelings outwards. The lack of confidence leads to pessimism and difficulty in communication, which then accumulates more mental instability.

2. Easily Tired

People with HSP traits tend to imagine a lot from very little information because they are sensitive. Their awareness in constant small details wears them down mentally. Additionally, because they are so sensitive to their surroundings, they are easily emotionally impacted by others. When they are around negative people, they tend to turn negative too.

3. Empathetic Tendencies

An HSP is extremely empathetic. They empathize through conversations with their close ones and tend to cater their opinion to others. They also strongly relate to the emotions of characters in movies and books.

5 Ways to Live with HSP Traits

First and foremost, we need to understand that HSP is not a mental illness. It’s just a unique trait of being richer in emotions, so there’s no need to feel inferior about it.

With that in mind, we introduce the 5 methods to live with HSP traits. The common thread in these methods is to create a relaxed environment.

Method 1 : Read

Reading a book allows us to step away from the stressful reality to immerse ourselves in another world. In fact, a university study shows that reading curbs extreme emotional ups and downs. Fiction novels are great, but non-fiction self-help books can also educate how to better deal with HSP-related stress.

It can be difficult to allocate time for reading if you have a busy schedule but try to dedicate at least 30 minutes a day for reading. This can be while you take public transportation, wait for an appointment, or right before bed.

Method 2: Listen to Music

Similar to reading, listening to music has a relaxing effect.

For a person with HSP traits, mental control in gaining calmness is key to reduce stress. Mindfulness meditation is helpful for this. It’s a method where you close your eyes, relax, and meditate while you pay attention to your breath. Music is said to be helpful in assisting mindfulness practices.

The music can be anything relaxing. If you’re not sure of where to start, we recommend searching a playlist using the keywords; healing music, jazz, or nature sounds. You’ll surely find something calming within those categories.

Method 3: Get Enough Sleep

How many hours of sleep do you get per day?

Some data results suggest that the average sleep hours are about 7 hours 40 minutes if you are above 10 years old. Adults require significant amounts of time with work and parental responsibilities, so it won’t be surprising if the average sleep hours turn out to be less than 7 hours.

A university study indicates that if a person continued 2 weeks with less than 7 hours of sleep, their brain function abilities decrease as if they had pulled an all-nighter for 1-2 days. We can assume from this that lack of sleep not only negatively influences our body, but the brain, and mental as well.

For those who do not have the capacity to increase their sleeping hours, we recommend just waking up at the same hour every day. Excessive sleeping on days off messes with our internal clock, which then messes with our overall circadian rhythm. If you’re the type that tends to excessively sleep on days off, start by keeping a 7-hour sleep schedule every day. This will help relieve stress symptoms from HSP traits.

Method 4: Practice Positive Thinking

The tendency to overthink pushes people into believing negative ideas that they are the bad ones or of the fear of possible criticism.

To overcome this, we must nurture positive thinking. A good way to do this is by trying a method called “The Three Good Things.” You write down 3 positive things about your day in a diary. It’s very simple, give it a try!

Method 5: Consult with Someone

If you feel like your HSP traits are too overwhelming to deal with on your own, you can always seek professional help. There are professionals that specialize in HSP that can help you gain better perspectives and resolutions for your own HSP traits.

For those who are too busy to go consult a professional, we recommend trying counseling services through smartphone apps. SELF MIND is an AI chatbot app that can cater to each user’s needs on the go. 94.2% of the users find the AI’s counseling function helpful so far, and it can surely nudge you in the right direction for your needs.
→ Check SELF MIND in app store

Deal With HSP Traits at Your Own Pace

An HSP tends to feel easily stressed, so finding a way to relax becomes essential. HSP traits are also misunderstood as being negative, but people with these traits are very good at compassionately helping others and observing things in detail. Therefore, it is important that we understand HSP as a unique trait to embrace.

Let’s take it nice and slow. This is an opportunity to face your inner self at your own pace.

References：

HIRANO, M. (2012). Buffer Effects of Resilience on Psychological Sensitivity : The Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology, 60(4), 343–354. https://doi.org/10.5926/jjep.60.343

Minai, H. (2010). The Effects of Morning Reading – Analytics, Discussion, and Explanation. The Japan Association of Lifelong Education, 31, 23–32. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/120003103893

The post HSP Traits: How To Combat High Sensitivity Stress appeared first on SELF MIND.

The Basics of Insomnia

Generally, insomnia is defined by a lack of proper sleep for over a month with symptoms of fatigue, decreased motivation, decreased concentration, and loss of appetite. The cause of insomnia varies, including but not limited to day-to-day stress, psychological illnesses, or side effects of medication.

The hours of sleep required for a healthy lifestyle varies from person to person. Some people will feel sleepy during the day even after 8 hours of sleep and some people will function perfectly fine on just 3 hours of sleep. It’s also known that our necessary sleep time for health changes with age. It’s natural to require less sleep as we age, so sleeping difficulties are less of a concern when we age. These natural changes are not indicative of insomnia.

Check out the article below for more details on the basics of insomnia.

When we experience continuous sleepless nights, many of us try to spend more time in bed to maximize rest. However, this may lead our brain to signal our “place of sleep” (a.k.a the bed) as a place of activity or wakefulness, leading to further sleeplessness.

“Sleep scheduling,” allows the brain to understand the bed as a place reserved only for sleeping. The following points become important to achieve this:
・Spend time outside of bed until you actually feel sleepy
・Do not try and go to bed until you actually feel sleepy
・If you are struggling to sleep, get out of bed

What is Sleep Scheduling?

Sleep scheduling is an effective approach for people who experience daytime discomforts due to long term insomnia. If you are not currently experiencing any symptoms of insomnia, be careful as this may disrupt your sleep cycle.

1. Understand Sleep Efficiency

Before we implement a sleep schedule, we must first understand our sleep habits. It’s important to know how long it actually takes to fall asleep once we get into bed and how long the sleep felt when we wake up the next morning. A good way to do this is by keeping a “sleep journal” to record our everyday sleep habits. Once there’s a good understanding of our sleep habits, we can calculate sleep efficiency (the ratio of our actual sleep over time spent in bed). Use the equation below to calculate your sleep efficiency.

For example, if you got in bed at 10:00 PM and woke up at 8:00 AM the next morning, you will have spent 10 hours in bed. Within that time, let’s say you felt like you actually got 6 hours of sleep. In this case, your sleep efficiency would be 60%. The goal is to achieve an average of 85% or more for adequate weekly sleep efficiency.

2. Go To Bed Later to Improve Sleep Efficiency

Once we grasp a good idea of sleep efficiency, adjust bedtime to 15 – 30 minutes before the actual sleep time in order to get closer to the 85% average sleep efficiency. If, as in the example above, you sleep for 6 hours and wake up at 8:00 AM, you should adjust bedtime to be at 1:30 – 1:45 AM. Until then, spend time outside of the bedroom to condition your body and brain to believe that the bed is strictly for sleeping only.

3. Gradually Lengthen Sleep Hours

Once the average weekly sleep efficiency exceeds 85%, gradually increase sleep time by either going to bed 15 minutes earlier or waking up 15 minutes later. Aim for a sleep duration that will not negatively impact daytime activities. These adjustments to our sleeping habits may temporarily make us go to bed later and wake up earlier. However, concentrated sleep hours can improve our subjective satisfaction towards sleep quality

Sleep scheduling can be an effective way to improve insomnia, but the root cause of it still needs to be addressed. If insomnia is caused by illness or side effects of medication, we should make improvements based on the guidance of a professional doctor. Make sure to carefully determine the cause of sleeplessness, before taking appropriate measures for improvement.

Better Sleep Habits Lead to More Fulfillment

Sleep is a vital behavior to our health that sustains life. Sleep also occupies one-third of our lives. Good sleep habits help us maintain good physical and mental health. It contributes to our ability to reach full potential and further grow.

It’s not easy to change the lifestyle we already have to adjust for better sleep. Although, with its benefits of creating a healthier and more fulfilling life, it will be well worth the effort.

→ Looking to improve your mental health? Try the SELF MIND app FREE for 1 week!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Image: Unsplash
References:
Munezawa, T., & Mishima, K. (2009). Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia. Journal of Mental Health, 55, 71-78.

National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry. Support Manual for Sleep Disorders and Sleep Problems. Retrieved from: https://www.ncnp.go.jp/nimh/behavior/phn/sleep_manual.pdf

The post Sleep Scheduling: Say Goodbye To Sleepless Nights appeared first on SELF MIND.

The Different Insomnia Types

Generally, insomnia is defined by a lack of proper sleep for over a month. Symptoms include fatigue, decreased motivation, decreased concentration, and loss of appetite during waking hours. The cause of insomnia varies, including but not limited to day-to-day stress, psychological illnesses, or side effects of medication. In fact, the duration of sleep is not very important in the definition of insomnia. What matters is whether or not you feel unwell during the day. Many experts agree that even if the actual duration of sleep is short, it is not a problem as long as there are no negative symptoms during the day.

Following this, there are several insomnia types.

・Sleep Onset Insomnia: Struggling to fall asleep, no matter how hard you try, even though it’s night time and you’re in bed.
・Sleep Maintenance Insomnia: Waking up multiple times throughout the night.
・Sleep Offset Insomnia: Waking up too early in the morning or earlier than intended, and struggling to fall back asleep.
・Nonrestorative Sleep: Lack of feeling rested even though you should have gotten enough sleep.

If these symptoms persist, you may eventually develop a dislike towards the act of going to sleep or sleep itself. This can lead to a vicious cycle of tension when falling asleep and a strong sense of commitment to sleep. Consequently, this worsens the symptoms of each of the insomnia types.

Don’t Worry if You Can’t Sleep

All of us have, at least once, experienced the feeling of being unable to sleep even though you want to. Moreover, it is possible for anyone to experience these symptoms for a few days in a row. However, this alone does not mean you have insomnia. Even if you had trouble sleeping for 2 to 3 days, as long as you feel OK during the day, it shouldn’t be too much to worry about. In fact, worrying about “what if I have insomnia?” might actually lead to tension before sleep, potentially leading yourself into a chronic pattern of insomnia.

To avoid falling into any of the insomnia types, try not to stress about it, even if you can’t sleep. The key to maintaining a healthy sleep is to think positively, relax your body, and tell yourself, “maybe I’m having trouble sleeping today, but tomorrow will be just fine.”

How Much Should We Sleep, Anyway?

The hours of sleep required for a healthy lifestyle varies from person to person. Some people will feel sleepy during the day even though they got 7 hours the night before. Conversely, some people will function perfectly fine on just 3 hours of solid sleep. Many people who have trouble sleeping believe that they need to get more than 6 hours for it to be healthy sleep. In this way, they end up raising the bar for themselves regarding the duration and quality of their sleep. However, the hours required for a healthy sleep varies from person to person. Therefore, there is no need to apply generalizations to your own sleep and stress about the exact hours of sleep you are getting.

It is also important to remember that the amount of sleep you need to maintain good health changes with age. This is due to changes in the body’s internal clock caused by aging. The typical nighttime sleep duration is 8 to 9 hours up to age 10, about 8 hours at age 15, about 7 hours at age 25, about 6.5 hours at age 45, and about 6 hours at age 65. In other words, it is quite natural for us to need less sleep as we age. Therefore, there is no need for much concern if you find it harder to sleep than when you were younger.

How to Escape Those Sleepless Nights

In order to improve your sleeping habits, it is most important to get your body into a “sleep-friendly” state before going to bed. To achieve this, it is necessary to relax your body and mind and create an environment suitable for sleep. It is also important to eliminate any elements that may interfere with sleep as much as possible.

Here are some ways to improve your sleep that you can try right away.

Wake up at the same time and bathe in sunlight

The human brain switches from “sleep mode” to “waking mode” when exposed to sunlight after waking up. It is also believed that people generally begin to feel sleepy 14 to 16 hours after waking up. In other words, by waking up at the same time every morning and exposing yourself to sunlight, your body can become accustomed to your lifestyle rhythm, becoming sleepy at the same time every night. The important thing is to keep your waking time the same even if your bedtime is later. This way, even if you stay up late, your body clock will not be disturbed and you will be able to maintain your daily rhythm.

Only get in bed once you are sleepy

It’s hard to fall asleep when your body and brain aren’t ready for it. Thinking that you have to sleep immediately creates tension in your body and mind, making it even harder to sleep. Firstly, try to relax both your body and mind, and only get in bed when you naturally feel like sleeping. Moreover, avoid spending time in bed unless you are going to sleep. If you spend time on your bed when you don’t intend to sleep, your brain will begin to recognize it as a place of activity. Consequently, it will be difficult to switch your brain to “sleep mode” when you are actually ready to sleep.

Relax your mind and body

For a good night’s sleep, it is of utmost importance to relax both your body and mind. Try to relax by doing some light stretching before bedtime or lighting candles with relaxing scents. Another tip is taking a bath 1 to 2 hours before bedtime. This will help lower your body temperature and make it easier to fall asleep.

Things to avoid before sleep

Refrain as much as possible from activities that may interfere with falling asleep. It is said that the blue light emitted by TV and smartphone screens have the effect of waking up the brain. Refrain from watching TV or using using your phone before going to bed. Moreover, nicotine in cigarettes and caffeine in coffee and other beverages also have the effect of waking the brain, so it is best to avoid these before bedtime. Intense exercise also causes the body to release adrenaline, a stimulant that makes it difficult for the brain to sleep. When exercising to relax, try to keep it to light stretching.

In order to get rid of any of these insomnia types, it is important to face your own sleeping habits with the correct understanding and to practice habits for better sleep. However, there are various causes of insomnia that plague many people today. Depending on the cause, it may not be possible to solve the problem by one’s own efforts alone. If your insomnia is the byproduct of mental or physical illness, or a side effect of medication, you may need to improve it under the guidance of a professional doctor.

Say Goodbye to Sleeplessness!

Sleep is a health behavior that is essential for humans to sustain life. It also occupies so much time in our lives that most people spend one-third of their lives sleeping. Having a good sleep habit will help you maintain good physical and mental health throughout your life. Subsequently, it will contribute to your ability to reach your full potential and achieve further growth.

It may not be easy to change the lifestyle habits that are already ingrained in your body and develop better sleeping habits. But if you think that it will make your life healthier and more fulfilling, it will be well worth the effort.

→ Looking to improve your mental health? Try the SELF MIND app FREE for 1 week!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Image:Unsplash
References:
Munezawa, T., & Mishima, K. (2009). Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia. Journal of Mental Health, 55, 71-78.

Uchiyama, M. (2010). Clinical Managements of Insomnia and Hypersomnia. Journal of Nihon University Medical Association 69(1), 11-16. doi: 10.4264/numa.69.11

The post Insomnia Types and How to Deal with Them appeared first on SELF MIND.

Beware if You’re Sleeping Less than 6 Hours

Many epidemiological studies and psychophysiological experiments have been conducted on sleep and health. According to these studies, poor sleep habits can impact daytime functioning and physical or mental health on a significant level. Specifically, repeated sleep deprivation (sleep debt) and poor physical or mental conditions caused by the mismatch between one’s biological clock and social hours (social jet lag), both have negative effects on quality of life. One famous experiment that examined the effects of sleep debt on daytime functioning is a study conducted by the Sleep and Time Biology Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. According to the study, when people’s nightly sleep habits are consistently 4 to 6 hours for at least two weeks, their brain functioning is the same as if they had stayed up all night for a day or two.

For many working people, 4 to 6 hours of sleep may be a regular occurrence. You convince yourself that while you’re a little sleepy, you’re not up all night. Subsequently, since you’re technically getting a decent amount of sleep, it shouldn’t affect your daily functioning. The truth, however, is that you are in a state of chronic sleep deprivation. As a result, your performance and health may be deteriorating without you even realizing it.

3 Ways to Get Good Quality Sleep

Have you ever wanted to resolve the problems with your sleep habits? Maybe you struggle to fall asleep every night even though you want to sleep. Maybe you “stock up” on sleep on the weekends, even though you know that’s unhealthy. In fact, there are 3 keys to obtaining good quality sleep and improving your sleep habits.

1. Get an Additional 20-30min of Sleep on Weekdays

Are you someone who struggles to get up on weekends, sleeping in 2 to 3 hours longer than a weekday? If so, it’s good to divide that extra sleep across the weekdays at about 20 to 30 minutes per day. Instead of trying to catch up on your sleep all on the weekend, avoid sleep debt and social jet lag through getting as much sleep as you can on a daily basis.

2. Wake Up at the Same Time Everyday

If you sleep more on the weekend compared to the weekdays, it may end up upsetting your internal clock. Instead of making up for lost sleep on the weekends, experts recommend that you wake up at the same time every morning, get some sunlight, and eat breakfast. Then, if you’re still groggy, take a short nap once you have already started your daily activities. This helps to adjust your internal clock, preventing social jet lag. Although, try to limit your naps to a length that won’t affect your nighttime sleep!

3. Spend More Time Outside

Most people today live under constant artificial lighting. This means that we are not receiving enough light during the day, but are receiving too much light at night.

According to a research group at the University of Colorado, the subjects were asked to go camping. During this, researchers measured the amount of light they received while camping, their sleep, and melatonin secretion. The results showed that compared to their usual life, there was a greater discrepancy between the amount of light received during the daytime and nighttime while camping. In addition, melatonin secretion in the brain started and ended earlier than usual, which moved up their sleep hours.

Natural light has the effect of reducing stress and fatigue by preventing social jet lag, thereby improving our sleep habits. Night owls can also greatly benefit from the effects that camping has on one’s internal clock. Therefore, camping can be highly effective for people who tend to stay up late before their day off and sleep in late the next day.

Healthy Sleep Habits for a Healthy Mind

A study of 1,000 adults in New Zealand found that the group with the greatest social jet lag had an increased BMI, as well as higher rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome. In addition, consistently poor sleep habits also have a connection to infertility and poor mental health.

Sleep has the important role of resting the body and mind, as well as regulating the functions of the brain and body. Women, in particular, have a more delicate biological structure than men due to constant changes caused by their menstrual cycle and biorhythms, so their sleep habits can be easily affected by slight changes in their routines or lifestyles.

Regardless of gender, it is obvious that sleep habits and sleep disorders have a negative impact on physical and mental health. It is essential to get a good night’s sleep to live a healthy life. If you are reading this and think you may not be getting enough sleep lately, take a moment to review your lifestyle habits. A small change in your consciousness is sure to protect your health in the long term.

→ Looking to improve your mental health? Try the SELF MIND app FREE for 1 week!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Image: Unsplash
References:
Komada, Y. (2020). Women’s Sleep and Mental Health. Journal of Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, 24(3), 275-278. doi: 10.18977/jspog.24.3_275

Mishima, K. (2016). Social Jet-lag and Related Health Risk. Nihon Naika Gakkai Zasshi 105(9), 1675-1681. doi: 10.2169/naika.105.1675

The post Sleep Habits Determine Your Daytime Functioning appeared first on SELF MIND.