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"My sleep is affected when I'm stressed.
Some nights I'll stay awake until the
early hours of the morning or sometimes
I'll stay awake until the next evening.
Usually my mind will race when I'm
trying to get to sleep. I just can't
stop thinking about things. I choose my
tutorial schedule based around my
insomnia, so I only have to come to uni
in the evening. I don't go to lectures
because they're usually in the morning
and I can't wake up on time. It's really
affected my relationships because my
parents get annoyed when I'm awake and
doing things during the night and I can't
do social things with people during the
day because I'll either be too tired or
trying to sleep. I'm now trying to exercise
to exhaust myself, so I find it easier to
sleep. I use medication from my GP as well
and it's helping a little, but I'm still
trying to find something that works best
for me."

University is a common time for people
to experience sleep problems. The stress
of studying, possibly living away from
home for the first time, and having a
whole new peer group can add to this.
What's more because of the social side
of university life, many students develop
habits that can hinder getting a good
night's sleep. Up to 30% of people
experience insomnia and students are at
particular risk because they often have
irregular sleeping patterns. Sleep problems
and insomnia can look different for
different people. Insomnia involves
persistent problems with sleep, including
significantly disturbed sleep that has an
impact on waking life; losing at least 30
minutes of sleep a night from either
difficulty falling asleep, difficulty
staying asleep, waking too early, or
experiencing non-restorative sleep. These
sleep problems are classed as insomnia if
they occur at least three nights per week
for a period of three months or more.

You may have heard of the term sleep
hygiene. This means creating good sleep
habits. Think of it as training your body
to sleep well.You can do this by avoiding
caffeine and bright lights at night (try
to avoid caffeine at least four to six
hours before going to bed); removing
electronic devices from where you
sleep; using your bed only for sleep
and sex; going to bed at the same time
every night. If you find yourself awake
in the middle of the night for longer
than 20 minutes, get up and try again.
Do something calming or boring until
you feel sleepy and then go back to
bed. Insomnia and unhelpful thinking
patterns often go hand in hand. Do you
lie awake at night running things over
in your mind or feeling anxious about
something? Perhaps you get stuck in
negative thoughts about sleep, thinking
that you will never be able to sleep
again or that you won't be able to
function because of poor sleep.
Just like we talked about in our video
about tackling negative thinking,
take note of any unhelpful thoughts you
might be having in the middle of the
night. Write them down and see if there
are any other more realistic or helpful
ways of framing things. For example, a
thought such as, "I'll never be able to
sleep well, how will I cope?" could be
framed as something like this, "it's true
that I haven't been able to sleep well
recently. Something might be going on
with me and I can look at addressing it
in the morning". If you'd like some
additional support for sleep issues,
you can talk with a GP or a mental
health professional.

Thanks for watching.

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