Active Healing Psychiatric Services Blog

  How Watching TV at Night is Keeping You Awake Do you love to watch TV before bed? You're not alone. Many people find that watching TV is a relaxing way to wind down after a long day. We also use our shows or movies to spend time with significant others or family. People are busy and don't have time to keep up on their favorite shows. However, did you know that watching TV at night can actually have a negative effect on your sleep? Here are a few reasons why watching TV at night can make it harder to sleep: Blue light: The light emitted from TV screens can interfere with the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep. When melatonin levels are low, it can be harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.  Overstimulation: Watching TV can be stimulating. It can make it harder for you to feel tired or sleepy enough to try to go to sleep. It can be suspenseful and initiate the fight or flight response and even give you the feeling of being anxious.  Disr...

Can't Sleep? What to do?    If you are not satisfied with your sleep, start by asking yourself what do you do to help promote good sleep? 9 out of 10 people are using electronics before bed according to the NIH report. As I will discuss more later this may be a major source of insomnia for many. If electronics are not helpful then what would can you do?  Start a bedtime routine. A bedtime routine is a set of activities that you do in the hour or so before bed. It can help you wind down and relax, making it easier to fall asleep. You get to figure out how to make this routine fit for you. Keep in mind what works for one person may not work for someone else.  We all know that person that can fall asleep in 2 seconds, its best to focus on what works well for you since not everyone struggles to wide down at the end of the day.  That being said, there are some general things you can do to create a good sleep routine.   Here are my tips: Start and end your routin...

Sleep is an important part of mental health and wellness. Sleep problems happen for a number of reasons and can range from difficulty falling sleep, staying asleep, or early morning awakening.  What is insomnia:  Poor quality or quantity of sleep that is causing difficulties with day time functioning. Insomnia occurs at least 3 nights a week and has lasted at least 3 months.  What are the medical causes that can be related to sleep difficulties?  Sleep apnea, Restless leg syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, narcolepsy, and circadian rhythm disorders.  These conditions need to be assessed and ruled out by a qualified medical professional as they have different treatments than insomnia.  Do you remember learning about classic conditioning? Dog sees food and drools. Dog hears bell no response.  Dog sees food and hears bell and will drool. Dog gets to the point they just hear the bell and they start to drool. This is what can happen we have difficul...