Sleeping in Stressful Times

Restful sleep often seems elusive at the best of times. Add economic, workplace or personal stress into the mix and suddenly, increased difficulty in sleeping turns a bad situation worse. Proper sleep allows us to recuperate and operate at maximum efficiency the next day. It is paradoxical, then, that at times when we most need sleep we spend hours in bed staring at the ceiling. Instead of operating at peak ability, we are fatigued, irritable and lack concentration. Even more worrisome, over time chronic insomnia will increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and depression. In recent studies work place stress doubled the risk of insomnia.

Benzodiazepines, the traditional medications used for the treatment of insomnia, help in the short term but bring with them significant side effects including tolerance and dependence. Rather than resorting to leaving civilization and living in a yurt, there are actually changes you can make to mitigate the sleep erosion caused by stress. A comprehensive approach which includes optimizing changes to chemistry and psychology is best. The One Week to Better Sleep Program is a comprehensive, clinically proven strategy that employs the BED approach. By incorporating small changes to Behavior, Environment and Diet (BED) over the course of one week you can increase your time asleep and achieve a good’s nights rest when you need it most.

To increase your subjective sense of sleep quality, one of the key changes to behavior is increasing the amount of time asleep in bed, even if you need to decrease the total time in bed. Another positive step is eliminating all ambient light in the room and finally, some carbohydrates can have a surprisingly positive effect on sleep, if combined with specific proteins.

The One Week to Better Sleep Program is based on published clinical trials that significantly reduced time awake in the middle of the night, resulting in an increase subjective sense of sleep quality.

Some Highlights:

• Why distractions affect sleep
• Why alcohol is a counterproductive sleep aid
• What foods help with sleep
• Why getting out of bed may just help you stay asleep

This and much more is covered in our One Week to Better Sleep Program based on the best clinical and sleep medicine research. Send us a message to get your free copy!