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Sleep
Category: Healthy basics
Why is sleep important?
Sleep is essential for your mental health and physical wellbeing. Sleep allows your body to have time to repair and replace damaged muscles and tissues, and lets your brain rest after a busy day.
Are you having good quality sleep?
Having poor quality sleep makes you feel fatigued during the day, weakens your immune system and plays havoc with your skin and eyes. Your mental health, mood regulation and relationships can really suffer without sleep. You might find yourself in situations where you are eating and drinking too much at once and more frequently because you are always tired. Heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes are linked with a lack of sleep. Not getting enough sleep also makes it difficult to focus, learn or participate at school or work.
How much sleep do I need?
Since everyone has different bodies, everyone needs different amounts of sleep. Teenagers and young people need at least eight to nine hours of sleep each night to maintain physical health, school performance and emotional wellbeing.
How do I know if I’m getting good sleep?
The Sleep Foundation describes good quality sleep as:
- Spending at least 85 per cent of the time you are in bed asleep
- Falling asleep in 30 minutes or less
- Waking up no more than once per night and being awake for 20 minutes or less after initially falling asleep
How to get a better quality of sleep?
Work on improving your sleep by:
- Trying to wake up and go to bed at the same time every day
- Avoiding or reducing caffeinated drinks after 4pm, such as coffee, cola and energy drinks
- Not napping during the day
- Making your bedroom a restful place – keep it dark, cool and quiet
- Try drinking a glass of milk or herbal tea to help you sleep. Alcohol does not help you sleep
- Be physically active during the day, everyday. Even walking to and from the train or bus helps
- Give meditation, yoga or stretching a go to help your body and mind relax
- Limit using electronic devices in your bedroom or half an hour before you go to bed
- Keep your room cool. The optimal temperature for sleep of most people is about 18°C
Helpful resources
| Smiling Mind sleep app | Designed for minds of all ages and stages, the new Smiling Mind App helps you learn the skills that promote mental wellbeing and create the habits to thrive. |
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| Beyond Blue – sleeping tips for better mental health | Insights and tips to help you understand the importance of sleep and ways to improve it for better mental health. |
| HealthDirect – sleep advice | Resources and support to help you understand sleep, its importance, how much you need and ways to improve it. |
| Sleep Health Foundation – advice on quality sleep | Promoting better sleep to optimise health, wellbeing and performance for all Australians. |