Depression and anxiety are extremely difficult to live with, but living with both is actually more common than you may expect. Nearly one half of people who have been diagnosed with depression also suffer from an anxiety disorder.
Everyone has different experiences of depression and anxiety, but many people experience similar day-to-day struggles.
1. Worrying that cancelling plans will end friendships but still being too anxious to actually go
You hate the idea of letting your friends down because they mean so much to you, but sometimes you are just too overwhelmed to leave the house. The idea of socializing sounds like hell – but so does the idea of losing your wonderful friends.
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2. Feeling terrified about failing a test but being too worried to revise properly
All of your revision notes are in front of you, but you can barely stay focused because your mind keeps reminding you that you might fail. After an hour of revising you haven’t learnt anything, but you are super-stressed and near tears.
3. On some days you are too tired to get out of bed and on others you sleep for over 12 hours
On some nights you can’t get to sleep because you are too stressed or worried, and you lay wide awake in bed for hours. On other nights, you fall asleep at 10PM and wake up in the afternoon the next day. Even when you do finally wake up, you just want to curl up under the bed-sheets and hide.
4. When you can’t get out of bed you become stressed about the things you’re not doing
On the days when you can’t get out of bed, you rarely go back to sleep. Instead, you worry about work and the responsibilities that you are missing.
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5. You missed a few events and now it upsets you that no-one invites you anymore
You turned down plans with your friends because you couldn’t face leaving the house, and now they have stopped inviting you out. You understand why, but it upsets you to know they have stopped making an effort.
6. When your home is untidy but you don’t have the energy to clean up
You dislike living in a messy home and looking at the mess makes you feel stressed out, but you simply don’t have enough energy to tidy up.
7. Writing lots of to-do lists to help you to get out of a rut
You write lots of to-do lists with things that you need to do to lower your anxiety. Writing the lists actually helps you calm down and relax. While you rarely do everything on the list, it does help you to feel more in-control.
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8. Fearing being alone but disliking company
You fear being totally alone and your friends are very important to you, but you prefer your own company because there is less pressure.
9. Worrying that your loved ones are mad at you
You are always worried that you have upset someone that you care about. You want to check that they aren’t annoyed with you, but you worry that you will seem clingy and obsessive.
10. Wishing you could find a partner but fearing the dating scene
You’d love to find someone to spend your life with, but even the thought of dating makes you sweat. You’re not sure if you can handle spending a prolonged amount of time with a stranger.
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11. Worrying that your partner will leave you
You think your partner is amazing and even when things are going well, you are worried that they will leave you. You rationally know nothing bad has happened, but you hate the idea of losing someone you love.
12. You feel more tired the less you move
When you’re having a bad week you just want to hide in your bed. Sometimes, you’ll spend 5 days of sitting in your bed worrying you’re so tired that you can barely keep your eyes open.
If you are struggling with depression and anxiety, click here.
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Founder and CEO of Rype and The Growth List, frequent contributor at Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Fast Company, The Next Web, and host of #SKIMLive. Read full profile
It’s well past midnight and you’ve got to get up in less than six hours. You toss and turn all night. Before you know it, another hour passes by and you start panicking.
“If I don’t get to sleep in the next 30 minutes, I’m going to be exhausted tomorrow!”
One thing is for sure, you’re not alone. Over 70M+ Americans have stated that they don’t get the proper sleep they need at night.[1] So what could possibly be causing this insomnia epidemic?
Throughout my entrepreneurial journey of building my language learning company, I have experimented and researched dozens of best sleep practices. Some have flopped but a few have dramatically improved the quality of my life and work.
In this article, I’ll look into the reason why you’re sleep deprived and how to sleep through the night tonight.
The first step to improving anything is getting to the bottom of the root problem. Different studies have shown the reasons why most people cannot sleep well at night.[2] Here are the main ones that the average person faces:
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Stress
If you’ve ever stayed up at night worrying about something, know that it’s a major sleep inhibitor. When you’re feeling stress, your mind and body becomes more activated, making it incredibly difficult to fall asleep. Even when you do manage to sleep, it won’t be deep enough to help you feel rested the next day.
Exposure to blue light before sleep time
We’re exposed to harmful blue light on a daily basis through the use of our digital screens. If you’ve never heard of blue light, it’s part of the visible light spectrum that suppresses melatonin, our sleep hormones. Other harmful effects include digital eye strains and macular cellular damage.
While daytime exposure to blue light is not very harmful, night time exposure tricks our brain into thinking it’s daytime. By keeping your brain alert and suppressing melatonin, your mind is unable to shut down and relax before bedtime.
Eating close to bedtime
Eating too late can actually be an issue for many people, especially those who are older than 40. The reason is, eating before laying down increases the chances of Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), in which stomach acid backflows into the esophagus.
Another reason not to eat too late is sleep quality. Even if you manage to sleep right after eating, it’s likely that you’ll wake up tired. Instead of letting your body rest during sleep, it has to digest the food that was entered before bedtime.
Rule of thumb: eat 3-4 hours before bedtime.
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Medical conditions
In some cases, it could be medical conditions that cause your sleep problems. If you can’t relate yourself to the above reasons or any of these common sleep problem causes, you should visit the doctor.
The vicious sleep cycle
The biggest danger to repeating the bad habits mentioned above is the negative cycle that it can take you through. A bad night’s sleep can affect not only your energy but your willpower and decision making skills.
Here’s an example of a bad sleep pattern:
You get a bad night’s sleep –> You feel tired and stressful throughout the day. –> You compensate it with unhealthy habits (for example junk food, skipping exercises, watching Netflix etc.) –> You can’t sleep well (again) the next night.
You can imagine what could happen if this cycle repeats over a longer period of time.
To help you break the vicious cycle and stop waking up in the middle of the night, I’ll explain to you a list of actionable steps to solve your trouble staying asleep.
1. Take control over the last 90 minutes of your night
What you do (or don’t do) before bedtime have significant impact on the quality of your sleep. Many times, it can be the difference between staying up until 4am and sleeping like a baby.
Here are a few suggestions:
Go from light to dark – Darkness stimulates production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Turn off unused light around the house, and think about investing into warm light that you can use in the bedroom before bedtime.
Avoid screens (or wear blue light blocking glasses) – Keep the bedroom a technology-free zone as the light from electronic devices can disturb your sleep. If you need to work, wear blue light blocking glasses (also known as computer glasses) throughout or before you sleep to prevent sleep disruption.
Find an activity that helps you to wind down –This could be anything that calms you down, and reduces thinking (especially unnecessary stress). Fir example, listening to soothing/good feel music, taking a hot bath, reading or meditating.
Keep any electronics you have on the other side of the room or outside the room – One of the most harmful things that can disrupt your sleep is the notifications you get from your smartphones. The simplest way to avoid this is to keep it away from you.
Create a bedtime routine – A night routine is a couple of things you do prior to going to bed. By doing these things every night, you’ll have a more restful and high-quality sleep. Learn how to pick up a night routine here: The Ultimate Night Routine Guide to Sleep Better and Wake Up Productive
2. Eat the right nutrients (and avoid the wrong ones)
What you eat (not just when we eat) plays a critical role in your sleep quality. If you’re ever in doubt of what to eat to improve your sleep, take the following into consideration:
Kiwi – This green fruit may be the ultimate pre-bed snack. When volunteers ate two kiwis an hour before hitting the hay, they slept almost a full extra hour. Kiwis are full of vitamins C and E, serotonin and folate—all of which may help you snooze.
Soy foods – Foods made with soy such as tofu, miso and edamame, are rich in isoflavones. These compounds increase the production of serotonin, a brain chemical that influences the body’s sleep-wake cycle.
Fiber-rich foods – Eating more fiber could be key for better sleep. Eating fiber was associated with more restorative slow-wave sleep—the more you eat, the better you sleep—per a study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. Fiber prevents blood sugar surges that may lower melatonin. Get a fiber boost from beans, artichokes, bran cereal and quinoa.
Salmon – Most fish, especially salmon, halibut and tuna boost vitamin B6, which is needed to make melatonin— a sleep-inducing hormone triggered by darkness.
3. Adjust your sleep temperature
Once you’ve gone through the first 2 recommendations, the last step to experiment with is temperature. According to Sleep.org, the ideal temperature for sleep is 60-67 Farenheit. This may be cooler than what most people are used to, but keep in mind that our body temperature changes once we fall asleep.
Rule of thumb: sleeping in cooler temperature is better for sleep quality than warmer temperature.
Congrats on making it to the end of this guide on sleep. If you’re serious about taking the necessary steps in improving your sleep, remember to take it one step at a time.
I recommend trying just one of the steps mentioned such as taking a hot bath, blocking out blue light at night, or sleeping in cooler temperature. From there, see how it impacts your sleep quality and you can keep doing what works, and throw away what doesn’t.
As long as you follow these steps cautiously and diligently, I know you’ll see improved results in your sleep!
