Let’s talk about sleep

6 March 2025

Insomnia Awareness Day week is Monday 13^th March 2025, and World Sleep Day on Friday 14^th March 2025

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Sleep is an important part of keeping our body and mind fit and healthy. Across our lifespan, we all need sleep, although the amount varies depending on our age.

What does sleep do that is so important?

Sleep is a bit like rebooting your computer each night or putting your phone on charge for a software update. Except, it is a bit more complicated than that. Human sleep has two key functions:

1. Servicing your hardware – or your body. It is fixing cells, repairing muscles, and supporting physical growth.
2. Servicing your software – or your brain. When we sleep, especially in dream sleep, it helps new information into your memory, and it processes unresolved issues that have arisen in the day, such as worries, or fears, or challenges.

Usually, those two types of sleep are divided 75:25. This means that 75% of our sleep is repairing our body and 25% of our sleep is supporting the brain.

Sometimes, when we have a lot of worries, or are having a hard time, our brain needs more dream sleep to help it get ready for the next day. But dreaming is pretty tiring! So sometimes, you can wake up feeling exhausted, especially if you have a lot going on. This can contribute to feelings of low mood and low motivation.

What if I struggle to sleep and don’t get enough sleep?

When we don’t get enough sleep, we are more likely to:

• Have a hard time concentrating and focussing
• Feel grumpy or short tempered
• Eat more to try and compensate for low energy
• Struggle with more worries
• Feel low in mood
• Struggle to meet our emotional needs
• Have difficulties with our behaviour and emotion regulatio

How can I sleep well?

For some people, sleep comes easily, but most of us, at some point in life, have difficulty getting enough sleep, or getting the right balance of sleep. If you have been struggling to get enough sleep for more than 2 weeks, please talk to your doctor for some more help, support and advice.

How do I know I have slept well?

You wake up in the morning feeling energised and ready to go. I know not everyone is a “morning person” and some people feel much more energised in the evening. However, noticing that you have enough energy to get through the day, is a good indicator you are getting enough sleep, and getting good quality sleep.

For more sleep tips and advice, you might like to explore this website: https://cerebra.org.uk/get-advice-support/sleep-advice-service/ Cerebra is the Sleep Advice Service and can offer lots of support, advice and information on supporting sleep.

For more sleep tips and advice, you might like to explore this website: https://cerebra.org.uk/get-advice-support/sleep-advice-service/ Cerebra is the Sleep Advice Service and can offer lots of support, advice and information on supporting sleep.