Dream Days (And Nights)

How to get the best night’s kip of your life by understanding your sleep style.

Sleep is essential. We all know this, but unfortunately, many of us are simply not getting enough of it. And there’s worse news, because the quality of your sleep can have a fundamental effect on your overall health, and even life expectancy, meaning that if those eight hours are getting interrupted or are restless, your body may not be getting what it needs to thrive.

What type of sleeper are you?

The restless worrier

Takes a long time to fall asleep, wakes up often during the night, and usually feels tired in the daytime

These stressed-out snoozers are more likely than most to experience issues like depression, anxiety, stress or anger. They often report feeling unwell, even if doctors can’t find a medical reason.

To break this cycle, it’s vital to work on both sleep and mental health - treatments like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which helps change thought patterns and habits that make it hard to sleep, can be very effective.

The under-sleeper

Gets less than six or seven hours of sleep each night

People who don’t get enough sleep tend to be more irritable and less easy-going. They often struggle with memory, attention and problem-solving tasks, and find it harder to react quickly or handle decision-making.

This is due to a lack of REM sleep, which is crucial for learning, memory and managing moods… and there’s only one thing to fix it: a proper, big sleep!

The assisted sleeper

Relies on medication, herbal remedies, or supplements to manage sleep problems

Becoming dependant on any medication is often problematic, especially for something as fundamental as sleep. Furthermore, assisted sleepers don’t do as well on memory tests and may struggle to pick up on social cues.

In short, relying on pills as a long-term solution for sleep is far from ideal and could potentially lead to addiction.

The broken sleeper

Wakes up several times each night and struggles to stay asleep

If you’re feeling anxious, are overthinking things, come across as more irritable than before and find it harder to remember things, broken sleep may be the cause.

Firstly, try to work out what’s waking you up - your GP can help with the medical side, such as needing to urinate often, or encountering hot flushes during menopause.

As for what you can do, good exercise should mean you sleep fuller; plus resist trying to ‘catch up’ with long lie-ins or early nights, as this can disrupt your sleep routine further.