Sleep Disorders: 13 Tips to Help you Fall Asleep

A “good night” is what you wish for every evening. For many people, this very wish is often just a dream. In Germany, more than 20 million people suffer from problems falling asleep and sleeping through the night. For half of those affected, this disorder requires treatment. Women are affected twice as often as men; older people suffer from sleep disorders more often than younger people. This is also due to the fact that older people often have a chronic illness, which in turn affects sleep. What helps to fall asleep? We give you tips!

13 Tips for a healthy sleep

These 13 tips will help you fall asleep and sleep through the night:

  1. Ask yourself what is preventing you from sleeping! Sometimes it is quite banal things that disturb your sleep. Therefore, check your sleep hygiene: where is the TV? How much quiet is there in the bedroom? A room that is not sufficiently darkened or too much street noise can significantly impair sleep.
  2. Find out how much sleep you really need! Each person has a different need for sleep, one is already enough 6 hours, the other needs 8 hours to feel properly refreshed. The normal amount of sleep for adults is between 6 and 8 hours. The older we get, the less sleep we need. Older people often sleep during the day as well, so the shorter the night’s sleep. Do not sleep longer than necessary, this can do more harm than good. The circulation does not get going and you feel limp.
  3. A sleep diary helps. So you get an overview of their own sleep habits and problems. Noted should be: Fall asleep and wake-up times, duration of lying awake, wake-up reasons, sleep quality and unusual daily events.
  4. Refrain from stimulating drinks or alcohol. Alcohol makes you sleepy, but still disturbs your sleep. You will be awake at night and difficult to fall asleep again. Coffee and nicotine are stimulating and should therefore be reduced in the evening. You should also stop eating heavy meals in the evening – indigestion can significantly impair sleep. In addition, do not eat heavy meals in the evening.
  5. Get into the habit of rituals. To get in the mood for bedtime, recurring rituals are useful. For example, take an evening walk or read a book to relax. Go to bed regularly at the same time so that you get into the habit of a certain sleep rhythm.
  6. Physical activity. Physical work during the day makes you tired. Sports are good for relieving stress. However, strenuous exercise before bedtime can make you feel frisky; therefore, exercise, but not in the late evening hours. Also, move regularly in the fresh air.
  7. Provide a pleasant environment. For a healthy sleep is the bedroom with crucial. The room should be quiet, dark and the temperature should be about 18 degrees. The bedspread should be appropriate for the season, the mattress neither too hard nor too soft. Make sure you feel really comfortable in the bedroom.
  8. No mentally demanding activities before bedtime. If you are still busy with exciting work or personal problems in the evening, you often lie in bed afterwards and can not switch off. Think better during the day about difficult things.
  9. Train the sleep rhythm. As often as possible goes to bed at the same time and in the morning always sets the alarm clock to the same time, so it sleeps better.
  10. Do not roll unhappily in bed for a long time. Sleep can not be forced. On the contrary, the convulsive effort to fall asleep, drives away sleep all the more. If you wake up at night and can’t fall back asleep after a good quarter of an hour, you should turn on the light and pick up a book or write down tormenting thoughts to banish them from your mind. Even better is to get out of bed – listening to music or even ironing makes you sleepy. Back under the covers it goes only when the eyes become heavy.
  11. Provide stress relief through relaxation. Each person has his own ideas about how best to relax. Think about what might help you best. Why not try out the different offerings so you can choose the right one for you. Relaxation techniques such as yoga, autogenic training or meditation help to come to rest.
  12. A warm bath makes you tired.When bathing, the water should be 35 to 38 degrees, ten to 20 minutes is enough. Added lemon balm, hops, lavender or hay flowers relax and make you sleepy.
  13. An old home remedy is a glass of warm milk with honey before falling asleep. And very important: do not look at the clock at night – it puts pressure and keeps you awake.

What disturbs sleep?

If you suffer from sleep disorders, you should check if the following are possible triggers:

Sleep disorders create a high level of suffering. Who sleeps badly at night, is in the morning only “half a person”, bad-tempered or dissatisfied. The ability to concentrate is lowered, the performance is limited. Work productivity drops by up to 39 percent. Overtiredness is also one of the most frequent causes of accidents on the road.