You may have discovered that as you get older, sleeping becomes more of a challenge. However, older adults need just as much sleep as younger ones. The National Institute on Aging recommends seniors aim for 7-9 hours per night.
A lack of sleep doesn’t just make us more tired during the day. It can have a detrimental effect on our mental well-being. So, it’s crucial to understand more about the relationship between seniors and sleep and how you can get a good night’s rest.
In this article, we will take a deep dive into the connection between seniors and sleep problems. We will also share some better sleep tips for seniors that could help you feel refreshed and happier.
The Connection Between Sleep and Mental Well-Being
Research from the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry revealed why restful sleep is so important for good mental health. It highlighted that a lack of sleep makes us respond negatively to stressors. At the same time, we experience fewer positive emotions when we are not well-rested.
Why Sleep Matters
The connection between sleep and our emotional and mental health is not fully understood. However, sleep supports brain and body functions that are responsible for processing what has happened in the day and regulating how we feel and behave.
A lack of sleep can also affect our cognitive skills, making it harder to pay attention, learn, and remember events clearly. It can also distort our view of the world, making it hard to deal with minor stress.
Sleep and Mental Health Disorders
Sleep disorders can cause and exacerbate certain mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. People with psychiatric disorders may experience worse symptoms if they do not sleep well.
Seniors and Sleep Issues
According to Mount Sinai Hospital, seniors generally experience less deep sleep than younger people. It is common even for a healthy 70-year-old to wake up often at night.
Seniors may experience disrupted sleep for many reasons, including the following:
- Chronic pain
- Long-term diseases
- Medications
- Lack of physical activity during the day
- Frequent urination
All of these issues can become exhausting and take their toll on our mental health. However, the good news is that sleep quality improvement is possible with the following senior sleep advice.
Better Sleep Tips for Seniors
If your lack of sleep is getting you down, it may be tempting to go to the doctor and ask for a sleeping tablet. Of course, talking about your sleep issues with a medical professional is always a good idea. However, there are several tips for seniors’ sleep that are completely natural and could help you drift off and stay asleep more easily.
Create a Healthy Sleep Schedule
Some seniors face a major challenge when it comes to setting a healthy sleep schedule – retirement.
When you had to get up and go to work each day, you had no choice but to stick to a strict sleep schedule. However, retirement brings a lot of freedom – including the freedom to get up and go to bed whenever you like. The problem is that this can increase the incidence of disturbed sleep, which can have a negative impact on your mental health.
The GAZEL Prospective Cohort Study into the effect of retirement on sleep disturbances found that 19.7% of retirees experienced disturbed sleep in the first seven years after retirement. The key to correcting these disturbances is getting back into healthy rising and sleeping patterns.
Think about a schedule that would work for you and your lifestyle. If possible, try to go to bed and get up at the same time each day. This may take some adjustments, but it can result in more restful sleep for seniors, leading to better mental health.
Avoid Long Daytime Naps
OK, nobody is going to grudge you a quick ten-minute snooze after lunch. But long naps in the day, especially in the late afternoon or early evening, can make it hard to get restful sleep at night.
So, even if you’re tempted to go to bed in the middle of the day, try to resist the urge. Instead, hold on until bedtime, and you will be more likely to get a good night’s rest and feel better in the morning.
Relax Yourself Before Bed
If you enjoy watching TV or browsing the internet until you go to bed, you could find it harder to get to sleep. That’s because the blue light emitted by screens tricks our bodies into thinking it is still daytime. So rather than relaxing us, they actually stimulate our brains and make it harder for them to switch off.
Try to avoid the following for half an hour to one hour before bed:
- TV
- Smartphone
- Tablet
- Laptop
Instead, settle down with a good book or put on some relaxing music. Try taking a shower or a bath before bed to unwind and get your body ready for sleep. If you need assistance, caretakers at your assisted living community can help.
Things to Avoid
Many people mistakenly think a little alcoholic drink before bed helps them sleep. However, according to the Sleep Foundation, it actually makes our sleep worse. It may help you feel drowsy, but alcohol causes you to wake up more often and have lower-quality sleep.
Other things to avoid before bed include:
- Heavy meals
- Caffeine
- Exercising up to three hours before going to bed
A few tweaks in your daily routines could help you sleep better and enjoy a happier life.
Sleep Like a Baby at Meadowview Place
The relationship between seniors and sleep can be complex. But as we’ve seen, there are many things you can do to make it easier to get a great night’s sleep. And when you follow these better sleep tips for seniors, you may even notice an improvement in your mental well-being.
The senior living options at Meadowview Place Assisted Living make restful sleep for seniors easier to achieve. Our assisted living community provides 24/7 caretaker support. You can rest easy knowing that help is at hand at all times of the day and night.
Now is the time to come and see how relaxing life at Meadowview Place can be. Contact us today to tour our community.
