A good night sleep is something that we all are searching for.. who doesn't love restful sleep! Like many first responders I have struggled with restful sleep for years - from a hard time falling asleep, shift work, and nightmares. A good night sleep has been a goal and an occasional occurrence. But more often than not, it is just a dream and a hope.
I recently had the privilege to take part in a workshop trialing new treatment styles for nightmares, insomnia, and PTSD hosted by the amazing Center for Fire, Rescue, and EMS Health Research.
Over four days sleep hygiene strategies, writing exposure therapy, nightmare re-scripting, and one on one sessions were done in a small group setting. There was time to process, relax, make new friends over meals and down time. It was an amazing experience with knowledge and skills I look forward passing forward.
My biggest sleep surprise? The time you wake up is more important than the time you go to sleep! The goals is to wake up as close to the same time as possible every day. But. Go to sleep whenever. I mean, the goal is to go to sleep when you are tired. But early? Late? Doesn't matter as long as you are tired. Catch up on sleep by going to bed earlier, not sleeping in more. And there was a strong focus on trying and doing your reasonable best - not perfection. Its about finding what works for you and working towards healthy sleep habits.
Other good sleep skills:
Bed should be for sleep and sex, train your brain to associate bed with relax and sleep
Try to sleep for 15 minutes, if you are not actively falling asleep, get out of bed. Go do something relaxing and boring to you, then try to sleep again when you feel ready
Limit fluids intake before bed and eating anything that is gonna make your insides noisy - both things that can interrupt your sleep.
Alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, and caffeine can all keep you awake or prevent restful deep sleep if taken too close to bed time
After working night work (or your last night in), if you have had 4 or more hours of sleep try to stay awake until you go to sleep for the night; 1-4 hours of sleep take a 2 hour nap before bright light and staying awake until night; no sleep take a 4 hour nap before bright light and staying awake until night.
I am looking forward to the results of the trials (hopefully successful) and them being rolled out as gold start treatments. The treatments are accessible and simple to utilize when working with a therapist. Recent studies has shown them very effective with active duty military personnel, there is a lot of excitement about how they can be utilized with first responders.