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Abstract
"How is your sleep?" This is a question that I often ask in my intake interview or questionnaire in my counseling practice. Notably, most of my clients have sleep issues! However, my military clients often experience "sleep complications." Before we go any further, though, let's lay out some basic information. Chronic insufficient sleep can be associated with any of the following: increased morbidity, mortality, and health issues. Health issues, such as sleep deprivation, can be significant. Sleep deprivation has been linked with various mental health disorders, such as depression and increased anxiety. Experts from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine propose that adults aged 26-64 require greater than-or equal to- 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night in order to achieve optimum physical and mental health. Interestingly, though older adults may have different sleep requirements depending upon co-morbidities and related medications but they were found to also require 7 to 9 hours of sleep daily too.
Given that opening information, how much sleep do you need to perform your best? Well, let's do the math-
Follow these simple steps:
1. Set aside a week or two so that you can focus on your sleep and not allow disruptions or changes to your sleep schedule.
2. Select a typical bedtime and stick with it, night after night.
3. Allow yourself to "sleep in" as long as you want, awakening without an alarm clock in the morning.
4. After a few days you will have paid off your sleep debt, and you will begin to approach the average amount of sleep that you need.
5. Once you determine your need, try to set your bedtime at an hour that will allow you the sleep you need, while still waking up in time to start your day.
6. Once you determine the number of hours of sleep for yourself calculate the time you need to wake up (for work or duties) and subtract the hours from that time to determine what time you need to go to sleep. For example, you need 8 hours of sleep for optimal sleep. You need to wake up at 7:00 am to get ready for work. You will need to be asleep by 11 o'clock PM to get your...