Neurodivergent individuals often report sleep issues. Poor sleep hygiene leads to a lack of quality sleep, which has numerous negative consequences. First and foremost, lack of quality sleep affects your mood. It also lowers your pain threshold, increases your blood pressure, and interferes with your memory. It harms your immune system, elevating your chances of getting sick. It diminishes your ability to concentrate, and makes you more impulsive. It can also cause weight gain.
Here are 15 suggestions to improving your sleep hygiene and getting more quality sleep:
1. Make a calming sensory regulation routine. Find activities that are soothing and easy to do. Keep in mind that some sensory activities are activating and should be avoided at night.
2. Go to bed at the same time every day. Even weekends. The reason for going to sleep at the same time is that your brain releases melatonin about 30 minutes before it thinks you want to go to sleep. If it doesn’t know when you’re going to go to sleep it can’t do that. It’s ok to vary a little, and also ok to occasionally stay up late, but there should be a clear time you think of as your bedtime.
3. Avoid bright lights after the sun goes down. The melatonin that prepares you for sleep is inhibited by bright light. You don’t need to walk around in the dark, but when it’s getting close to bedtime, turn off most of the lights in your house.
4. During the day stay in a brightly lit environment. The melatonin cycle is part of a hormonal package collectively called circadian rhythms. These rhythms are synchronized by bright lights during the day. So take a few minutes to go walking in the sunshine. This has the added benefit of boosting your serotonin, which may be why it helps sleep, as melatonin is derived from serotonin.
5. Sleep for 8 hours straight. Your brain needs to cycle through various stages of sleep (Stages 1 to 4 and then REM sleep). Each cycle takes about 90 minutes, so in about 8 hours you get the appropriate number of cycles. If you wake up in the middle of a cycle you don’t feel rested. Your brain needs to know how much time it has to get everything done it needs to. It can adjust a little, but most people need about 8 hours. However, you need to pay attention to how much sleep you actually need. 8 hours might not be enough for you.
6. Use your bed/bedroom for sleeping. That way your brain associates your bed only with sleep.
7. Make your environment comfortable. Sleep requires down-regulation of the sympathetic nervous system, which is harder if you’re uncomfortable. If your room is too cold, or too hot, or too noisy, or too smelly, then do something about it. If it’s something you can’t change, then just accept it.
8. Don’t take naps. The occasional nap is ok, but don’t make them a regular part of your routine. Sleeping for 7 hours, and then taking a 1 hour nap another time, is not as good for your brain as sleeping 8 hours. Also, taking a nap will often make it difficult to fall asleep at your bedtime. This may surprise you, but if you actually consistently get quality sleep, you won’t even feel the need to take a nap.
9. Create a routine for preparing for sleep. Do it every night. This helps you separate yourself from the hectic nature of the rest of your day. It prepares your brain for sleep. If you’re running around taking care of everything all day, and then just plop into bed, your brain still needs to wind down, and you may have difficulty falling asleep. A bedtime ritual might be brushing your teeth, washing your face, going to the bathroom, and then reading for a few minutes. These should be non-stressful activities
10. If you find you’re stressing over all the things you have to do, then write them down. Your prefrontal cortex is responsible for keeping all these things in your working memory, and worrying about forgetting them is stressful. That stress inhibits sleep.
11. If you can’t fall asleep, you can’t fall asleep. No need to get upset with yourself. Just pick a comfortable position and lie there. Don’t look at the clock. However long it takes you to fall asleep is how long it takes. Moving around, or worrying about it is not helpful. Sometimes also people fall asleep briefly and wake up and think that they didn’t fall asleep, and get annoyed that they’re not falling asleep. Just relax, and lie still in a comfortable position. If after 20 minutes or so you’re still not asleep, then go to another room. Do something relaxing for a little bit, then try again.
12. Avoid caffeine near bed time. Caffeine reaches its peak effects 2 hours after it reaches the bloodstream.
13. Don’t eat a large meal less than 3 hours before bedtime. Indigestion can interfere with sleep, and acid reflux is more common once you’re horizontal.
14. Don’t use alcohol as a regular sleep aid. While it may help you fall asleep, it disrupts the patterns of brain activity while you’re asleep. That means your sleep is not as restful as it could be.
15. Exercise. Exercise is pretty much good for everything. Make physical activity a regular part of your life. Aerobic exercise helps improve sleep. Exercising too close to bedtime may make it difficult to fall asleep though, so try to do it a few hours before.
If you continue to have difficulty sleeping it is best to discuss the sleep issues with a primary care doctor or sleep specialist. There are a number of sleep disorders that may be impacting the quality and quantity