To acknowledge the fact that this month is “Canadian Men’s Health Awareness Month,” We would like to take some time to review the battle the men in our lives are constantly facing and find ways to appreciate them and help them to the best of our abilities.
Many men grow up believing that the less they sleep, the more time they have to get up and get things done. This results in missing a lot of quality snooze time. Men with this mindset, or those who may not be able to fall asleep, will have a dramatically different perception of the world, and their mental health will deteriorate. The more sleep they lose, the worse their mental health will get. This is less likely to happen by receiving the proper amount of sleep.
The average man needs approximately 7-9 hours of sleep to function appropriately while being as healthy as possible and in good spirits. Not only does the amount of sleep matter, but the quality of sleep you receive also takes part. While sleeping, the brain must go through the four stages of sleep to activate or deactivate certain brain regions to regulate your emotions, memory, and learning.
Many men can experience health issues due to lack of sleep; many of these include, a higher risk of male infertility, urinary tract symptoms, erectile dysfunction, a decrease in testosterone production resulting in higher levels of cortisol that affect the length of your sleep cycles, and so on.
Three of the top reasons sleep is so important:
- Improves your mood and emotions. You wake up feeling refreshed and happy; this means the brain can process all the positive emotions you will feel.
- If you don’t get proper sleep, you wake up, and during the day, you only use the most basic functions of your brain. For example, imagine cooking dinner, you’ve eaten, then finished the cleaning, you end up going to watch a movie and then think to yourself, “Did I remember to shut off the stove?” or maybe you forgot to close the door after getting home from work that day, any primary task can result in something happening that you wouldn’t have thought of since your brain is running on low power mode.
- Improves relationships. Engagement in social activities or the everyday conversation one might end up in daily can all be affected by less or more sleep. It can make someone feel you need to be more active or interested in what they say, as you may seem sluggish or indifferent. This can happen at any time, whether at work or home with family. I know that’s the last thing anyone wants to wake up to.
The dream team at Snore MD wishes to leave you with the best tips so the men in your life may receive good quality long hours of sleep, so their brains can relax. So they are refreshed to start a new day while looking forward to it.
Making sure that the men in your life sleep well:
- Although it may not seem too drastic of a change, keeping the bedroom cool, dark, clean and quiet can impact one’s sleep more than you would think. Keep any electronics away for at least one hour before bed so your brain has time to shut down and relax. Using digital devices straight before bed can result in extensive rays of blue light interrupting your brain, suppressing the melatonin your brain will produce. This will then, in turn, affect your circadian rhythm (sleep-wake-cycle). This may be a sign to start taking nightly walks just before bed with your father, husband, brother, etc., leaving your digital devices tucked away for the better. This benefits both parties, as you will be one step closer to better sleep.
- Create a schedule. We know this can be a struggle, but it does not have to be a set schedule in a journal that you must follow strictly. It could be as simple as before bed, you write down the things you need to do or must get, etc. This allows your mind to process that information and puts it to ease as you now have a set list and functioning plan you can go over and review the following day. You can also help the men in your life by doing some of those tasks if they become overwhelming, even if they are to be the most simple tasks.
- Doing some light activity before bed can help shut down your brain so that it is ready and prepared for sleep. If you find yourself in the position where you are tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep within 30 minutes, it may be the best time to go for a light walk. We advise you not to revert to checking your emails or watching a show.
- Try to go to bed at the same time every night. This helps your sleep-wake cycle so you get the constant sleep you need.
- Try to go to bed sober. If you have a wild night every once in a while, take the time afterwards to focus on getting your sleep schedule back on track.
- Avoid heavy meals before bed or late at night as they disturb your sleep.
- If the men in your lives face negative self-talk or become more anxious, it may be time to visit the counsellor. A counsellor can help them break the never-ending cycle of negative thoughts and give them more tips to overcome daily negativity.
How can I check if the man in my life is getting quality sleep?
Our answer to that question is quite simple. If they appear notably exhausted during the day, encourage them to implement some of the tips and tools we have provided here today. Should these not prove to be a benefit, perhaps the man in your life may also be suffering from something such as “Sleep Apnea,” a condition that deprives a person of the much-needed quality of sleep, and this can be addressed with a simple test and treatment should it be required. Reach out to your local Snore MD, and they can start the process to determine if this next step would be right for you.
Now if you implement these tips and notice, they are falling asleep within 30 minutes of going to bed with a maximum of 20 minutes of wakefulness throughout the night. In that case, they are sleeping 80% + on the night. Furthermore, if they begin feeling more energetic and mentally/physically better than usual, then they are most definitely on the right track to a better night’s rest.
