Air Force News :: Health & Fitness

Having problems in the bedroom?
You will spend about 22 years of your life asleep. We look at how to identify a sleep disorder and what to do about it.

Sleep disorders can often be fixed with changes to lifestyle aspects, such as eating times, exercising routines and the bedroom environment.

Photo by CPL Simone Liebelt

What is good quality sleep? When you wake feeling refreshed, alert and energised. A person with a sleep disorder usually reports sleeping poorly or not enough. Most people need about six-to-eight hours of good quality sleep a day.

Sleep is necessary for good health and wellbeing. It provides the mind and body with the opportunity to restore balances and repair itself – the immune system works to manufacture cells to fight off infection and disease, the pituitary gland produces growth hormones that help to repair tissues and the overall chemical balance in the body is restored. At the same time, the mind is working to organise and store memories from the day’s activities.

Stages of sleep
Sleep involves five main stages and the brain cycles through these stages several times in the night. Each cycle lasts 90 to 120 minutes.
Stage 1: the body transitions between sleep and wakefulness. The mind and body relax, breathing becomes more regular, and muscle activity gradually ceases. A healthy person will generally stay only a few minutes in this stage of sleep.
Stage 2: the heart rate and blood pressure drop and the person relaxes more deeply. Waking them will be harder. Stage 2 accounts for about 50 per cent of all sleep time.
Stages 3 and 4: sleep is at its deepest. The body is very relaxed, breathing and heart rates are slow and steady. If someone is woken, they will feel groggy and be slow to respond. There is no visible movement of the body. Most of the repair and restorative work in the body takes place at these stages.
Stage 5: REM (rapid eye movement) sleep occurs, when we dream. The first episode lasts about 10 minutes and thereafter each REM episode progressively increases until the final one, lasting about one hour. The brain is active but the body is effectively immobilised. Blood flow to the brain increases, heart rate speeds up, and breathing becomes more rapid. REM sleep accounts for about 20-to-25 per cent of total sleep time.

Signs and symptoms
Some of the signs and symptoms of sleep problems are:

ageing more rapidly;

being more susceptible to illness;

increased risk of accidents;

more emotional problems, such as depression and anxiety;

mood swings and irritability;

concentration problems, impaired judgement and difficulty making decisions;

reduced ability to deal with stress;

increased blood pressure;

apathy, low energy and fatigue;

general feeling of malaise or sickness; and

Everyone experiences sleep disturbances occasionally. For example, when bills are piling up, a friend dies or a relationship breaks down. These types of events can cause a temporary disruption, but if sleep problems persist for a month or more, then you may have a sleep disorder. Waking in the middle of the night, waking too early in the morning, not being able to get back to sleep and waking feeling unrefreshed can be indicators of a sleep disorder.

Causes of problems
Sleep is individual and sleep patterns change as people get older. But daytime activities influence sleep at night and this sleep influences daytime functioning. Common causes of sleep problems include:

eating the wrong foods at the wrong time;

being emotionally upset;

the bedroom being too hot, too cold or too noisy;

exercising too close to bed time;

stimulants, including caffeine, alcohol and nicotine; and

If the strategies below don’t help, keep a sleep diary for two-to-four weeks to evaluate your sleeping habits and discuss this information with a doctor or psychologist. The diary can be used to keep track of what time you went to bed and woke up, what you had to eat and drink before bed, use of medications, naps and exercise during the day.

Sleep strategies
There are many ways to improve sleep. These include relaxation, regular exercise, diet and stress management. Other ways are:

dim the lights so that you sleep in near or total darkness;

create a comfortable environment with a good quality mattress and pillows, adequate room temperature and air flow and remove or hide clutter in the room;

develop a bedtime routine that prepares you physically and mentally to sleep. Choose relaxing activities by yourself or with your family just before bed. The brain needs at least 30 minutes before it is receptive to sleep. Go to bed and wake up at about the same time each day; and

have your dinner at least two hours before going to bed so that your digestive system works more effectively.

If you go to bed but can’t sleep, don’t continue to lie there. If after 15 minutes you still feel fully awake, get up and do something boring that does not stimulate your brain. When you feel sleepy, go back to bed. Repeat this as often as necessary throughout the night.

Treatments and help
Treatments for sleep disorders vary depending on the specific condition identified. The form of therapy chosen also needs to take into account all of the factors that may be influencing the quality and quantity of sleep. It is important to discuss concerns about sleep patterns with a doctor or a psychologist to confirm whether you have a sleep disorder and, if so, the type of treatment best suited to fixing the problem.