Sleep hygiene
Encyclopedia
Sleep hygiene can be defined as the controlling of "all behavioural and environmental factors that precede sleep and may interfere with sleep." It is the practice of following guidelines in an attempt to ensure more restful, effective sleep
which can promote daytime alertness and help treat or avoid certain kinds of sleep disorder
s. Trouble sleeping and daytime sleepiness can be indications of poor sleep hygiene. The International Classification of Sleep Disorders
-Revised (ICSD-R) states on page 74: "The importance of assessing the contribution of inadequate sleep hygiene in maintaining a preexisting sleep disturbance cannot be overemphasized."
Doctors and clinicians who advise sleep hygiene for patients and families have lists of suggestions which may include advice about timing of sleep and food intake in relationship to it, exercise, sleeping environment, etc. Which items are suggested for which patients are selected by the clinician, depending on knowledge of the individual situation; the counselling is presented as a form of patient education. Re-education involves a combination of advice about homeostatic, adaptive and circadian
aspects of sleep control, how to avoid sleep deprivation, and how to respond to unwanted awakenings from sleep if these occur. As the second edition of the ICSD (ICSD2, 2005) points out, the "sleep disruptive effects of poor sleep hygiene are often obvious to others, but the patients show little insight into this fact."
Sleep
Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...
which can promote daytime alertness and help treat or avoid certain kinds of sleep disorder
Sleep disorder
A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning...
s. Trouble sleeping and daytime sleepiness can be indications of poor sleep hygiene. The International Classification of Sleep Disorders
International Classification of Sleep Disorders
The International Classification of Sleep Disorders is "a primary diagnostic, epidemiological and coding resource for clinicians and researchers in the field of sleep and sleep medicine."...
-Revised (ICSD-R) states on page 74: "The importance of assessing the contribution of inadequate sleep hygiene in maintaining a preexisting sleep disturbance cannot be overemphasized."
Doctors and clinicians who advise sleep hygiene for patients and families have lists of suggestions which may include advice about timing of sleep and food intake in relationship to it, exercise, sleeping environment, etc. Which items are suggested for which patients are selected by the clinician, depending on knowledge of the individual situation; the counselling is presented as a form of patient education. Re-education involves a combination of advice about homeostatic, adaptive and circadian
Circadian rhythm
A circadian rhythm, popularly referred to as body clock, is an endogenously driven , roughly 24-hour cycle in biochemical, physiological, or behavioural processes. Circadian rhythms have been widely observed in plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria...
aspects of sleep control, how to avoid sleep deprivation, and how to respond to unwanted awakenings from sleep if these occur. As the second edition of the ICSD (ICSD2, 2005) points out, the "sleep disruptive effects of poor sleep hygiene are often obvious to others, but the patients show little insight into this fact."