An estimated one in three Americans suffer from insomnia symptoms, and roughly six percent of us might be diagnosed with insomnia. So, if you have trouble getting a good night’s rest, you are not alone. For people recovering from addiction, you could be up to five times as likely to suffer from sleep disturbances. If left untreated, sleep problems are known to increase your risk of addiction relapse. In this post, we’ll share three suggestions that may help you with your sleep and addiction recovery.
1. Stay Active
Regular exercise has been shown to improve quality and duration of sleep—particularly in test subjects who kept up the practice for four or more months. However, it’s important to avoid too much vigorous activity before bedtime because that can leave you feeling too energized to get to sleep. Long-term exercise also provides many other benefits, including stress reduction. Since stress itself may disrupt your sleep patterns, exercise packs a powerful insomnia-fighting punch!
2. Stick to Your Sleep Schedule
Keep steady sleeping and waking hours even on weekends and holidays. If you’re always changing your sleep pattern, your internal clock may have a difficult time adjusting. However, if you find yourself unable to fall asleep after 15 minutes, don’t fight it! Tossing and turning tends to fuel anxiety over sleeplessness which just results in more trouble falling asleep. Instead, get up and do something relaxing until you feel tired.
3. Watch What You Eat and Drink
While many of us rely on a cup of coffee or tea to start our days, too much caffeine – especially in the afternoon – can have lingering negative effects on our sleep. Try to curb your caffeine consumption after two p.m. Or, consider switching to decaf. You should also pay attention to how much you eat. Overeating before bed can leave you feeling uncomfortable and bloated and hunger pangs can cause you to toss and turn.
Make Better Sleep Part of Your Relapse Prevention Plan
At The Raleigh House, our residential addiction rehab program helps people find hope in recovery. Our comprehensive approach doesn’t just focus on treating the addiction – it considers the person as a whole. From the underlying psychological, behavioral and environmental causes of your addiction to the nutritional deficits and interpersonal trauma that often comes as a result, we’ll build a personalized treatment plan just for you. If you’re struggling with addiction or you’ve recently experienced a relapse, The Raleigh House is here to help.
