specialty focus that second half of the night can become full conscious awakenings . And that ’ s the risk factor for going down a path of negative thinking .
The other factor that predisposes you to maybe go down that negative pathway is evolutionary . Humans are what we call diurnal animals , they ’ re designed to operate in the daytime , so it makes perfect sense that nighttime is actually a bit frightening . On average , human beings are just a little bit more on edge after dark than they are after the sun comes up .
What are the worst things someone can do when they wake that might prohibit them from getting back to sleep ? The sorts of thoughts that you have at that time of night are likely to be systematically biased towards the negative ; that ’ s what we call catastrophising .
It ’ s a really common phenomenon for people with anxiety problems , for people with depression , and even people who don ’ t have those diagnoses . The main thing we want them to understand is that they shouldn ’ t necessarily trust their thoughts , that thoughts aren ’ t facts .
If you haven ’ t got distractions then you really are in danger of being led astray by your thoughts , because it ’ s dark , it ’ s quiet , there ’ s nothing else going on . Your thoughts can take you wherever they want . And we know from our other parts of psychology that that ’ s normally not a great thing , particularly if you ’ re someone who ’ s under stress or is prone to negative feelings , that ’ s going to end badly .
All the things we propose that you should do about this are all about getting out of your head .
Can you tell us about mindfulness and how we can use it in our own lives ? Many people probably use mindfulness to some extent in their daily lives ; it ’ s such a popular approach to improving wellness and dealing with stress . I use it particularly when I wake up at night and it normally works because it ’ s a technique where I ’ ve committed to not going down the path of thinking .
Instead , I listen to the sound my breath makes , so using my senses and bringing attention to the sound of the breath . When you put in foam ear plugs , you hear a nice rich sound of an organism breathing that just happens to be you .
If you want to check out the quality of your thinking , particularly overnight , ask yourself , is most of this thinking about me ? And if it is that ’ s a red flag that you might be going down an unproductive thinking path . When life is going well , we are typically not thinking about ourselves . We ’ re thinking about what we ’ re doing , what we ’ re engaged with and other people .
For me , the breathing technique not only gets me out of my head , but it has this feature that is something about decreasing the importance of myself , because it ’ s just the sound that I ’ m with , not ideas focused on Greg Murray .
If a client came to you who was a shift nurse , for example , and was experiencing things that were quite stressful , what kind of strategies would you prescribe ? There are some lifestyles that we know are really seriously challenging for sleep . I ’ ve had clients who have stopped being a nurse because they have serious mood problems . And I have had clients who ’ ve said to their manager they can ’ t do night shifts ; they just work out over time that is not okay for their health .
There are some lifestyles that are just on the surface really bad for sleep . And you might have to have a good , hard discussion with someone about the pros and cons of that lifestyle if your sleep is a problem . There are some people , of course , who cope really fine with shift work . So , this isn ’ t a universal rule .
If I ’ ve had a significantly , emotionally upsetting experience , especially close to bedtime , I would be accepting that I ’ m unlikely to sleep well . So I would not expect that the arousal of that distressing event is going to pass quickly . I would be accepting that and think , well , maybe I ’ m just going to have to stay up and watch whatever is my favourite relaxing movie or read my favourite relaxing book .
And the other thing that I would be thinking might be a general principle is the notion of debriefing . If I ’ m having concerning or distressing thoughts , a very good general principle is that I don ’ t want them staying just inside my head . I want someone else to know about them .
So hopefully nurses and other professionals are part of a network of support where there ’ s some sort of debriefing available so we can share those experiences . And that sharing might create a space where you can then disengage from it and perhaps head off to sleep .
We can ’ t make ourselves sleep . And if we haven ’ t set up the preconditions for
“ Hopefully nurses are part of a network of support where there ’ s some sort of debriefing available .
sleep , we probably won ’ t sleep very well , and that ’ s okay . There ’ s nothing wrong with missing a night ’ s sleep . It ’ s your longterm sleep habits that matter . I wouldn ’ t be putting myself under pressure to get a good night ’ s sleep after something traumatic had happened at work .
What are some of the things we can do in the day to improve our chances of getting a great night ’ s sleep ? Sleep and wake are opposite sides of the same coin . We sometimes think about problems with sleep as starting in the nighttime , but the most power we have to prevent problems with sleep is actually in the daytime . One of the most powerful things you can do is set up a daily routine .
Getting up at about the same time every day is one of the strongest cues that improves sleep that we know of . And when you get up at about the same time every day , ideally we then go outside and get some sunlight in our eyes , which is the cue for the body clock that the day has started and put activities in our day , like leaving for work , having lunch , getting some exercise , that happen at about the same time each day .
The more we build up that strongly rhythmic pattern , the more our body learns when sleep is meant to happen . So it ’ s not driving sleep , it ’ s not forcing sleep , it ’ s setting up that 24-hour rhythm of which sleep is a part , that ’ s a really major overarching message .
Nature has designed us to be engaged and active and connected in the daytime and to withdraw into sleep at night . That ’ s that 24-hour cycle . One of the ways to really strengthen that cycle is to have pleasurable engagement in the daytime . There ’ s something about that which enables us to feel prepared to withdraw . It ’ s something about communicating to the body and the mind that life is going okay at the moment .
I always say to adolescents , and this is just an exaggeration , but any day in which you ’ ve laughed out loud three times with your friends is a day when you ’ re likely to sleep well . The quality of your engagement with life in the daytime is what predisposes you to sleep at night . ■
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