Recommendations for irregular sleep during confinement

Some recommendations for managing sleep regularity problems in the face of confinement.

After being confined at home for more than 30 days, many people have noticed that their usual sleep schedule has been altered.

Sometimes these these disruptions in the regular schedule are due to anxiety, uncertainty and unsettled emotions.Sometimes these disruptions in the regular schedule are due to anxiety, uncertainty and overflowing emotions that are being experienced, but it is also due to not having a work schedule to which we must adjust.

Irregular sleep during confinement

The fact of not having a high physical activity, coupled with not maintaining the same level of mental activity during the day means that during the night we feel less tired. In addition to these factors most people who are at home do not have to keep to work schedulesexcept in the case of teleworking, where a set schedule is followed.

All these conditions have favored to a greater or lesser extent that the general population has seen its sleep pattern affected, either in terms of conciliation or its maintenance.

For this reason, it seems necessary to provide some recommendations to alleviate irregular sleep.

Sleep hygiene

Before moving on to some specific guidelines, it is necessary to comment that it is important to maintain a good "sleep hygiene". This refers to a series of habits and attitudes that help us to maintain a good quality of sleep at the general level. Among these habits we should remember the following.

1. Try to avoid stimulating beverages.

Avoid stimulating beverages, such as those with caffeine, for at least six hours before bedtime.at least six hours before going to bed.

2. Avoid consuming alcohol in the early afternoon.

Failure to do so can significantly worsen your sleep quality.

3. Try to avoid Smoking at night as well.

Although smokers sometimes think that smoking relaxes them, the truth is that it activates the body.

4. Exercise during the day but not too late

Do not exercise at least two hours before going to sleep.

5. Also try to avoid having a heavy and copious dinner

Avoid foods with excessive refined oils, sugars and carbohydrates.sugars and simple carbohydrates. It is important that you also try to have dinner at least 2 hours before going to sleep, and if it is before, the better.

6. Try to maintain a suitable environment for sleep

That is, try to make sure that your room has a good temperature, low noise, lighting that facilitates sleep, etc.etc.

7. Use the bed only for sleeping and sexual relations.

If you engage in other activities such as reading, watching TV, talking, you will find it harder to associate the bed with sleep and this will affect your sleep pattern.

8. Do relaxation exercises

The last hours before going to sleep try to do relaxing activities that make it easier to fall asleepWatch a movie that is not too exciting, read something pleasant, listen to quiet music...

9. Try to connect some activity with the time to go to sleep.

For example, sometimes we have a kind of "routine" before going to bed (brushing our teeth, going to drink water, reading a few pages of a book, etc.). If we always do the same activity just before going to sleep this can help us connect these activities with sleep and our brain will associate the two.

Behavioral patterns

When we can't sleep what usually happens is that we we start to get anxious and we watch ourselves over and over again.. This in turn makes that when we see that we still can not sleep we increase the activation that we already had entering a loop, so that we find it even more difficult to fall asleep. To try to alleviate this there is what is called "stimulus control". It consists of the following.

Try to go to sleep at approximately the same time every night.

Try to go to sleep at the time you used to go to sleep before confinement.

Go to bed and try to go to sleep, try not to be self-observing all the time.

Above all, don't use this time to plan what you will do, worry...

Take breaks

If after about 20 minutes you still can't sleep, get out of bed and go out of the room.. Go to another room in the house and try to do some relaxing activity: watching TV, reading, etc. Something that does not require great activation.

When you see that the drowsiness returns, go back to bed.

When you go back to bed, try to do the same as in step 2. If you find that you are still not sleeping, you will have to go back to step 3.

Keep to your schedule

Despite not having rested that night, it is also important that you try to get up at the same time of the day. it is important that you try to get up at the same time you used to get up before.. If on the contrary you continue sleeping until 12 noon we will continue with the same problem, we will delay the time of sleep at night and we will continue without being able to sleep.

Do not nap

Another important step is to try not to nap in the afternoon. Now we have a lot of free time and many people use this resource to make the time pass faster, but it does not benefit us at all at night. it does not benefit us at all when trying to get back to a normal sleep pattern..

Concluding

It is important for you to know that acquiring a regular sleep pattern is not a matter of a few days. It takes time and perseverance. In addition, as mentioned above, our current circumstances make it more difficult for us to return to our usual routine.

From Mariva Psychologists we are offering discounts in online therapy of up to 20% for all people who require psychology sessions at this time. We also offer a 30% discount on online therapy for health professionals and people who are unemployed. Do not hesitate to contact us if you think you need more information.

Bibliographic references:

• Sevillá, J. and Pastor, C. (2015). Psychological treatment of depression. A step-by-step self-help manual, Valencia, Spain, Behavior Therapy Center Publications: 8th Edition.