Spring Education Series: Sleep Wellness

Sleep hygiene is an important part of your overall health and wellbeing. Studies show significant lack of sleep impairs your ability to manage even small daily stressors. All areas of life can be impacted by poor sleep hygiene such as: driving a car, functioning at work, problem solving, managing your mental health, managing complex situations. The process to make lasting change in your sleep habits takes commitment, consistency, practice and problem solving. It is possible to improve your sleep behaviors and as a result improve your mental health.

In this brief introduction to sleep hygiene, Alaska Behavioral Health will cover the impact poor sleep has on preexisting anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as new emerging symptoms of depression and anxiety exacerbated by poor sleep; clear, direct sleep hygiene activities and routines you can do to improve your quality of sleep; and briefly touch on diet and fitness, use of meditation and use of smartphone applications to assist in tracking sleep as well as providing a soothing atmosphere to encourage sleep.