March is the month of Sleep Awareness and it has people realizing how much they sleep and whether or not they need to change their sleep habits. 50 to 70 million Americans are affected by sleep disorders and basic sleeping problems that can affect your health and safety, according to the National Institutes of Health. Some other downfalls of untreated sleep disorders could be hypertension, stroke, diabetes, and depression.
Some questions you may want to ask yourself are:
1. Do you have a hard time getting to sleep or staying asleep?
2. Does sleepiness and fatigue persist for more than two to three weeks?
3. Are you so tired in the morning that it is hard to function throughout the day?
If any of these issues persist you may want to seek a primary care physician or a sleep specialist
Some things you can do to put yourself at ease before heading to bed are:
· Stop using your phone or any other electronic device two hours before going to bed
· Don’t exercise in the late hours of the night because it is a stimulant
· Have something warm to drink like hot cocoa or a non-caffeinated drink
· Do some light reading or listen to soft music that isn’t too loud
· Take a warm bath
· Try not to turn on the television on
With these tips, I hope you catch some more Z’s because sleep is important in the grand scheme of life and will affect your health of today as well as in the future. The recommended sleep per night is 8 hours. If you get less than 6, you will be more stressed and tired than usual.