27. Sleep

Having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting out of bed? I’ll never forget the time one of my college psychology professors told us that if we were going to pull all-nighters to study for her tests, we might as well show up to take the tests drunk. Wow!… We know that our quality of sleep affects our stress level, mood, ability to focus, and even weight gain. If you’re not getting quality sleep, it could be due to mental health symptoms such as worrying, racing thoughts, and/ or that inability to turn off your brain.

It can be helpful to use your bed for sleep only; not for studying, eating, hanging out, watching TV, etc. You don’t want your brain to associate your bed with wakeful activities. You may also want to implement (or switch up) your bedtime routine to exclude phone/ screen usage at least 30 minutes (really recommend one hour or more) before you hit the sheets.

What small change can you make today to move toward getting better quality sleep?

— Emily Duncan, LCSW
Duncan Counseling, LLC
Therapy for bright young women in TN, KY, FL