How to sleep well
I can't believe there isn't a fairly lengthy thread about how to sleep well in this forum! I see so many posts from people asking for help with getting a good forty winks that I thought maybe it was time to prepare something properly. Hopefully, this will become a sticky, but if it doesn't, then at least we should have some interesting discussion and you might even learn something.
I wrote this all myself, so please don't copy it!
What is sleep?
Well, we all know what's fundamentally involved in sleep: you close your eyes and then suddenly hours have passed. It might seem strange for me to tell you that we're not entirely sure why we sleep, but that's exactly what the situation is.
What we do know is that sleep is absolutely vital for humans to function properly. Not getting enough sleep drastically lowers your performance in all fields - memory, concentration, coordination and even social skills. Ever wondered why you're so ratty if you stay up all night studying? That's exactly it: just lack of sleep.
Sleep is also vital for long-term health. People with sleep disorders very often have higher stress levels and higher blood pressure, as well as the constant drag of not being able to sleep properly. Not getting enough sleep can also make you gain weight - not only will you be much more tempted to rely on sugar highs to keep you awake, but some research has suggested that not getting enough sleep can mess up the hormones that control weight gain and appetite.
How much sleep should I be getting?
On average, most teenagers need around 8 or 9 hours of sleep, although people differ greatly. Some people will be brain-dead if they don't get a full ten hours, but others are quite happy to make do with six hours a night. It just depends on who you are.
There's a reason why teenagers often go to bed late at night and then wake up late in the morning, according to KidsHealth:
These studies show that during the teen years, the body's circadian rhythm (sort of like an internal biological clock) is reset, telling a person to fall asleep later and wake up later. Unlike kids and adults, whose bodies tell them to go to sleep and wake up earlier, most teens' bodies tell them go to sleep late at night and sleep into the late morning. This change in the circadian rhythm seems to be due to the fact that the brain hormone melatonin is produced later at night for teens than it is for kids and adults. This can make it harder for teens to fall asleep early. 
You might be interested in looking at this sleep profiler from the BBC to check out your sleeping habits, but if you believe you have a serious problem, then you should talk to a doctor as soon as possible.
A serious problem? Huh? You just lie down, don't you?
For most people, sleep is as simple as lying down, closing your eyes and switching off. However, there are lots of people who don't just sleep badly sometimes. Just like you can get eating disorders or learning disorders, you can get sleeping disorders.
If you believe you have a sleeping disorder, then you should talk to a doctor as soon as you can.
Insomnia is probably the best-known sleep disorder, as well as an uber-cool-sounding word.
Insomniacs find it very difficult to get to sleep. When they do sleep, it is normally only for a few hours or less. They may also wake up very early in the morning and not be able to get back to sleep.
Transient insomnia generally lasts for 2 or 3 days. Short-term insomnia lasts for longer than a few days, but finishes before a couple of weeks. Chronic insomnia is generally categorised as insomnia that continues for longer than three weeks.
Insomnia can be triggered by a variety of things, such as stress, bereavement, physical difficulties or bad sleeping conditions (for example, sleeping in a noisy room). See this page for a larger list of causes of insomnia.
Insomnia covers a wide range of sleep disorders and the word is often used as a blanket term for anything to do with sleeping difficulties. However, another very common sleeping disorder is sleep apnoea.
Around one in a hundred people is affected by sleep apnoea, although it's relatively uncommon in teens. When a sufferer goes to sleep, the pharynx (the upper part of the airway) collapses periodically, disturbing the patient's breathing. This wakes the patient up for a very brief time (often so brief that they can't even remember waking up), their breathing is corrected and the cycle begins again.
How are sleep disorders diagnosed and treated?
If you go to see a doctor about difficulties with sleep, they will most likely start by asking questions. It's pretty normal for a doctor to want to know about drug and alcohol use, your sleeping habits, how much and when you work and your general lifestyle. They may also want to know if any significant events have occurred in your life that may be affecting your sleep, such as the loss of a loved one or increased stress. If the doctor can't come up with anything straight away, then you may be asked to keep a sleep diary to help them work out what's wrong.
In some cases, you will be given a polysomnography. This involves an overnight stay at a sleep laboratory, where sensors and electrodes will be placed on your body while you sleep. They will measure lots of things while you sleep - your movements, breathing and brain activity, for example. The doctors can then use this to establish if you have any sleeping disorders.
Sleeping pills are occasionally prescribed to people with severe sleeping problems, but they're not ideal because they don't treat the root cause. You may be asked to change certain parts of your lifestyle - for example, getting up at a certain time, or reducing your caffiene intake - in order to help you sleep better. If it's possible that your sleeplessness has been caused by emotional upheaval, you may be advised to see a counsellor. In the case of sleep apnoea, you may be advised to lose weight, or to wear a mask while sleeping that helps keep the airway open. In some cases, surgery may be considered.
Tell me about dreaming.
Nobody is exactly sure why we dream. The general consensus is that dreams are images generated by your subconscious mind. Why? We're not sure. Some people believe dreams mean something; some don't. For more information about dreaming, look at the dream sticky.
How can I sleep better?
Get into a routine. Get up at the same time each morning and go to bed at the same time each night. This will help set your body clock up so that it knows when to sleep.
Cut down on caffiene. Caffiene keeps you awake, so if you want to get to sleep, don't have it 
Caffiene takes about eight hours to get out of your system, so generally, not having any - or much - after lunchtime is a good idea.
Make sure you're comfortable. Keep your room dark, and make sure that your bed is good to sleep on.
Sleep when you're sleepy. There's no point trying to sleep if you're not sleepy - you'll just lie awake.
Beds are for sleeping and sex. You might want to try and cut down on activities that you do on your bed, so that your body knows that when you get in it, it's either time to have sex or go to sleep, depending on your situation. Personally, I'm perfectly happy reading in bed, sitting on the bed, doing pretty much anything on the bed, but it's all a matter of personal preference.
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Thought I would add more to Peri's post (I hope she doesn't mind).
I have been asked several times what kind of things should you do in order to help make yourself tired enough in order to sleep at night. Well, I have compiled up some things through research and personal experience. So here's my solution to helping yourself gain the sleep that you deserve to have at night.
What kind of things can I do to help make myself sleep better?
Try making your room rather dark at night. If you use heavy curtains, it will also help block out the noise. If you want to try, you could buy ear plugs and the eye covers to help you achieve this as well.
Keeping your room clean and smelling good will actually help your sleep a whole lot. Even for a guy, I'm sure you can still get away with burning incense or candles right before bed to help you relax (do not leave them unattended or burning while you're asleep though). Lavender is the most known scent to help with this as it is a natural relaxer. It's very easy to find as well. Fresh sheets and fluffy pillows (or whatever is your pleasure) will also help as well.
What you do and when you eat also affect how you sleep later that night. If you eat like an hour before bed, most likely you're not going to sleep as well. Eating about 3 hours before will help you and your digestive tract. Even what you drink will affect your sleeping, so stay away from stimulants such as caffeinated and sugary drinks.
If you're the type that watches TV before bed, maybe try turning your TV off and switching on a stereo will help you out. Listen to soothing music instead of adrenaline boosting music will help as well. Make sure it's at a setting that barely within your hearing range (I find it helps make me focus on something).
Meditation before bed is also a good way to ease your way into the environment. If you look into this, I highly recommend doing some research on it and see what methods to try as there are hundreds of ways to do it.
Excercising about an hour before bed will help a lot as well. Taking a half an hour or so walk will help tire out your body and help you relax much better later on in bed will help tremendously. My dad, who's a roofer, used to be able to work 10 hour shifts, come home and crash for about an hour and then do whatever used to have huge problems falling asleep. He started walking like this everyday, and it changed his sleeping schedule back to normal.
Hope this helps. :)
Post edited at 8:40 am on April 2, 2008 by dreamweaver
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