Insomnia? Well, here's a few ideas for you to sleep on

Published on Monday 1 June 2009 19:22

"THE worst thing in the world," wrote F Scott Fitzgerald, "is to try to sleep and not to".

If you're fortunate enough to enjoy a regular eight hours, that assertion may not cut much ice, but it's certainly likely to strike a chord if you're one of the 16 million people in the UK who had difficulty sleeping last night – or the parent of one of the 25 per cent of children who at some stage suffer from sleep problems.

The occasional bad night isn't anything to worry about. We may feel out of sorts the following day, but studies indicate we can function pretty well.

However, if we're regularly going without sufficient sleep – running up a sleep debt, to use the jargon – some serious consequences can follow. And that holds for adults and children.

Last month, for example, a team of Finnish researchers published a study suggesting kids who get relatively little sleep (less than 7.7 hours a night in their sample of 280 aged seven to eight) are more likely to display behavioural problems, such as hyperactivity, restlessness, impulsiveness and lack of concentration. This sort of behaviour, when severe and prolonged, can be an indication of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The news that lack of sleep can have a negative effect on a child's behaviour is unlikely to astonish most parents.

But did you know that insomnia in adults has been linked with higher rates of depression, anxiety, anger and irritability, physical health problems, road accidents and problems at work?

It won't do much for your relationship either: even assuming your partner isn't kept awake by your tossing and turning, things are bound to be tricky when you're so exhausted and stressed.

However, the news isn't all bad, because there are several tried-and-tested ways to overcome insomnia, no matter how severe it is. Here are a few tips:

&#149 Exercise every day – it will tire you out.

&#149 Avoid caffeine, alcohol or nicotine in the evening.

&#149 Develop a relaxing evening routine – maybe take a warm bath or spend some time reading. Try listening to gentle music or doing a relaxation exercise.

&#149 Have a bedtime snack, but go for something healthy and relatively plain, such as a glass of milk, a banana or a piece of wholemeal toast.

&#149 Get your bedroom right for sleep – that means a comfortable bed and a room that's quiet, dark and at your preferred temperature.

&#149 Resist the temptation to lie in, and cut out daytime naps – you'll only find it harder to fall asleep at night.

&149 Learn to associate your bed only with sleep, so don't use it, say, for reading, eating, watching TV or writing a diary. Sex is permissible.

In relation to children, these guidelines need a little tweaking – but the basic principles still apply.

Getting better sleep is largely about developing a routine, so put your kids to bed at the same time each night and stick to the same getting-up time.

Older kids may want to lie in at weekends, but keep this to a minimum (an hour or so) – otherwise you run the risk of disrupting the body clock you've spent all week setting.

Make the hour before bed winding-down time – a bath and a story is great for little ones; reading or listening to relaxing music are options for older kids – with no TV or computer games.

Ensure that your child's bed is comfortable and that their room is dark, warm and quiet.

Cut down on the amount they drink before bedtime so they're not up in the night for the toilet. Drinks with caffeine in them (tea, coffee, cola, etc) are a particular no-no.

Make a trip to the loo part of their bedtime routine. And finally, if your child is having trouble sleeping, ask yourself whether they're actually tired. Have they had enough exercise (30 minutes a day is a minimum requirement)? Have they napped too long?

"Insomnia is like hiccups," Bob Dylan once commented. "Everybody has a cure, but none of them work."

Well, just for once, the great man is wrong. Sleeplessness is a major problem in the UK today, but it's one that we can all do something about.

&#149 Dr Daniel Freeman is a clinical psychologist and Jason Freeman a psychology writer. They are the authors of the self-help book Know Your Mind (Panmacmillan).