Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMag - Latest Edition - Flipbook - Page 50
SLEEP
BY SLEEP HEALTH FOUNDATION
COMMON CAUSES OF
INADEQUATE
SLEEP
From everyday habits
and changing schedules
to stress and medical
conditions, many things
can stand between you
and a good night’s sleep.
Understanding what is
getting in the way is a
useful place to start.
Making time for sleep
It can be tempting to
treat sleep as wasted
time, especially when life
is busy. Yet time spent
asleep gives the brain an
opportunity to carry out
important tasks, including
forming memories and
processing the day’s
events. Making enough
time for sleep allows these
processes to take place.
Caffeine, alcohol and
sleeping tablets
Caffeine in tea and coffee
is a stimulant that can
make it harder to sleep
well. Alcohol may initially
make you feel drowsy,
but it can also leave you
sleeping restlessly.
Sleeping tablets can lose
their effectiveness with
regular use and may
lead to dependence.
They should not be
treated as a routine
answer to poor sleep.
