WorldSleepDay

 It Was World Sleep Day  on Friday 17th March 17

Sleep-Something Adopters Need More Of!!

Friday 17 March 2017 marked the 10th annual World Sleep Day, a day dedicated to celebrating sleep and raising awareness of important issues related to sleep.

The slogan for 2017 is SLEEP SOUNDLY, NURTURE LIFE

Many adopters and foster carers are sleep deprived, even with an older child. Some children struggle to go to bed, others wake in the night, are bed wetters, have nightmares and others are early risers.

Adopters also have the extra worry and negative emotions to keep them awake, by having a challenging child.

When we are tired we tend to exercise less and eat more comfort food and carbohydrates. Both of which make us even more tired. 

Without good sleep we cannot be resilient.

Extract from the World Sleep Day Website

Sound sleep is one of the three pillars of good health along with a balanced diet and regular exercise.

There are close to 100 disorders of sleep, but most are modifiable and manageable with the help of sleep specialists.

Individuals who get an entire night's sleep without any interruptions experience lower rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses.

Sleep Impacting Psychological Disorders

Studies have shown that people with insomnia suffer from more symptoms of anxiety and depression than people without insomnia. And when recording nasal airflow, breathing effort, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and body position during sleep, it was revealed that individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) experienced lower quality sleep than those with no history of depression. Research is underway to better understand the link between sleep quality and mental health.

Research shows that we spend up to one-third of our lives sleeping. Sleep is a basic human need, much like eating and drinking, and is crucial to our overall health and well-being.

Lack of sleep or poor quality sleep is known to have a significant negative impact on our health in the long and short term. Next day effects of poor quality sleep include a negative impact on our attention span, memory recall and learning. Longer term effects are being studied, but poor quality sleep or sleep deprivation has been associated with significant health problems, such as obesity, diabetes, weakened immune systems and even some cancers.

Lack of sleep is related to many psychological conditions such as depression, anxiety and psychosis.

Good quality and restorative sleep is essential for day-to-day functioning. Studies suggest that sleep quality rather than quantity has a greater impact on quality of life and daytime functioning.

Directly or indirectly, disrupted sleep can have a negative effect on family life and relationships by affecting a person's mood and the way in which they are able to perform daily activities and interact socially.

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