SIX WAYS TO HAVE BETTER SLEEP AFTER NIGHT SHIFT WORK

 SIX WAYS TO HAVE BETTER SLEEP AFTER NIGHT SHIFT WORK

As a psychiatrist, I have worked with many people who do night shifts. They often struggle with sleep deprivation. Many tell me that after their shift ends, they come home in the morning but still can't fall asleep. Even when they do manage to sleep, it's usually only 2 or 3 hours, and then they wake up in the afternoon and can't fall back asleep. By the next night, they return to work feeling tired and mentally drained. Our bodies have evolved to follow a natural circadian rhythm based on sunlight. We are meant to be in bright light during the day and in darkness at night. This helps us feel awake and energetic during the day, and sleepy at night. When we work at night and are exposed to artificial light, it disrupts this rhythm and can lead to sleep problems. If you work at night, it's important to get enough sleep and rest during the day. Getting 6-7 hours of sleep during the day can be tough because it goes against our natural rhythms. 

Here are five tips I give my patients to help them sleep better after a night shift.

1. Sleep Sooner

When your shift ends, head straight home. Do not delay going to bed. Eat a light, balanced meal, then shower and go to bed. Try to fall asleep as soon as you can to make up for lost sleep. Do not talk on the phone, watch television, or do anything unnecessary. Reach for the bed as soon as your schedule permits.

2. Make your Room Dark-

Make your bedroom dark. Use thick curtains, preferably black or dark brown. Your curtains should block out all the light. The darker your room, the better you will sleep. If you can see and count your fingers when you hold up your hand, the room is not dark enough. The goal is to fool your body into thinking that it is still nighttime. Ideally, the bedroom should feel like a cave, dark, cold, and silent, to foster deep sleep.

3. Use Supplements If Needed

Sometimes, even with a dark room, you might still have trouble falling asleep. I recommend two supplements: melatonin (up to 5 milligrams) and magnesium glycinate (400 milligrams). Both are available over the counter. You can try these to help with sleep.

4. Exercise & Natural Light

Aim to sleep as long as possible. If you can get 6-7 hours, that's great for your health. When you wake up in the afternoon, go outside and get some natural light. Natural light will keep your mood up and help maintain your circadian rhythm. In addition, try to exercise for at least half an hour, or as much as you can. Exercise has many health benefits, and it can also help you get deep sleep the next day.

5. Wear Blue Light Blocking Glasses

During your night shift, wear blue-light-blocking glasses to reduce blue light exposure. Blue light can lower melatonin levels and disrupt your sleep. I use blue-light glasses myself when working after sunset. They help my eyes feel less tired, and I have fewer sleep problems.

6. Limit Caffeine 

If you need caffeine or tea to stay awake, that's okay, but try to have it only in the first half of your shift. Avoid caffeine in the last two hours before your shift ends. If you drink coffee or tea near the end of your shift, it can stay in your system and make it harder to sleep when you get home.

5 Health Benefits of Outdoor play for Children

 

Less time outdoors may affect children’s physical and mental well-being. Discover how outdoor play supports relaxation, movement, focus, creativity, and healthy vision—and why even a nearby open space can make a difference.

Many young children these days have mental health issues like anxiety, ADHD, and depression. They also have obesity and poor eyesight. Childhood diseases, both physical and mental, are on the rise. One reason is that children these days spend very little time outdoors. They are busy with school, and in their spare time they play video games at home, watch television, and spend time on social media.  Very little time is spent outdoors. This is taking a big health toll on the children's mental and physical health. 

Here are 5 benefits of outdoor play for children-

1. REDUCE stress

When children spend time outdoors, it helps them relax. It reduces blood pressure; a lower heart rate lowers cortisol levels.

2. Reduce obesity

In addition, children get plenty of movement: climbing, jumping, and running. It also helps reduce obesity.

3. Reduces Hyperactivity 

Also, children with ADHD, especially hyperactivity and impulsivity they do well when they get to spend time outdoors. They have a lot of pent-up energy. Spending time outdoors running, jumping, and climbing helps release that physical energy, so they are less hyperactive and impulsive and can focus better in school.

4. Improve Eye Sight

Also, when we are indoors or studying, our eyes have to focus constantly on nearby objects. This causes problems with our eyesight and increases the risk of myopia nearsightedness When children are spending time outdoors, they are looking far away. It helps their eye muscles relax, and studies have shown that spending time outdoors improves your eyesight and lowers the risk of myopia. 

5. Improves Creativity & problem solving

Also, when children are playing outdoors, it is not organized. There is no instructor. There is no coach, so they use their own imagination and creativity to make a place. And if you're living in a place where you don't have access to green space, any open space where you can see the sky or where you have some trees will be helpful

Social Media Before Bedtime is Hurting Your Sleep

 Looking at social media updates at night can affect your sleep. It makes you more alert when your body should be winding down. Many teens and young adults keep their phones nearby and check social media before bed. Whether the notifications are positive or negative, they can wake up your brain and make it harder to relax. This raises hormones like cortisol and noradrenaline, which can lower both the quality and amount of your sleep.

I recommend checking social media after dinner, but limit it to 10-15 minutes. Set a timer, do what you need, and stop when the time is up. You won’t miss anything important that can’t wait. This way, you stay connected without letting social media get in the way of your main responsibilities, like schoolwork for students or job tasks for workers.

Understanding Addiction: Why It's So Hard to Break Free ?

When we talk about addiction, why is it so difficult to get free of it? Most people can drink socially, can drink on a weekend, but some just feel the need to keep on drinking until they're out of control, drunk, and unconscious.   What's the reason for that?

Imagine you're in a group of 5. Everyone's drinking, and you're in that group. Very likely you'll start drinking too. There are some people who, no matter how much they drink, will never become addicted. They'll drink on the weekends, and on the other 5 days of the week they're the ideal worker, husband, father, and family man. Alcohol just doesn't touch them. There is a large cohort of people who are genetically predisposed to addiction, though. If they try to do the same thing, they'll have problems. They'll drink on the weekends, and on the other 5 days they'll be suffering from cravings for alcohol. They'll be restless. They'll be plagued by the desire for alcohol, which will be completely disruptive to their studies, their work, and their family life. The only thing they'll be thinking about is when they're going to get their next drink, how they're going to get their next drink. Over time, they'll lose their job. Their marriages will break down. They'll be estranged from their family. Their children will suffer. That's another factor in the mix: you've got the genetic vulnerability, you've got the underlying mental health issues, and you've got being in the wrong company. The final one is that a lot of people get lost. They don't have a purpose. They don't have a direction. They don't know what they're going to do with their life. That's confusion. Once you have a goal, once you have motivation, once you know you're working for something bigger than yourself, then you can say no to the temptation of addiction because you know there's a higher purpose in life for you than just wasting your time.

PTSD- Trauma's Lingering Aftermath of a 9/11 Survivor

Many times, when we experience a life-threatening situation or a severe trauma, the suffering does not end with the trauma. The sequel of the trauma lingers for months and years. Around 15% of the people who survived the attack at the World Trade Center developed something called post-traumatic stress syndrome. One of the survivors who came to me for treatment narrated her story to me about how she survived the attack at the Twin Towers, but after she survived, she felt sad and depressed. She had nightmares of the traumatic event. She had flashbacks. She could not stay in New York City because it started reminding her of all the bad memories related to the trauma. Many of her friends and colleagues were in the Twin Towers, and they died. Over time, her mental health became worse, and she had to leave New York City. 

She got psychotherapy. She got counseling. When she came to me, she was still feeling depressive symptoms. She still had sleep issues and still has nightmares. I worked with her and adjusted some of the medication; she felt a little better. But the bigger point that I want to make is that trauma can have a long-term sequence. Many people who suffer from mental, emotional, sexual, or physical trauma can continue to suffer even after the trauma ends. Many evidence-based treatments are available for trauma; cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma-focused psychotherapy, and EMDR therapy can all help. For severe traumatic symptoms, medications are beneficial. Depending on severity, medications like prazosin can be used for nightmares and sleep problems associated with the trauma. And if there are depressive symptoms associated with the trauma, antidepressants can help too. If you or your loved one has experienced severe trauma, do not hesitate to seek out help.

How to turn Pessimism into Optimism & Build a Positive Mindset

Over time, as we grow up, we get hurt, cheated, and betrayed; bad things happen, and people disappoint us.  Over time, we become cynical, judgmental, and pessimistic. So here are 2 exercises you can do to build a positive mindset and shift your thinking from pessimism to optimism. Every night before you go to sleep, try to think of one good thing that happened in your life that day. It is like recounting your gratitude. Whatever positive thing happened that day, try to think about it. It is best to write it down in what we call a gratitude journal. If you cannot think of anything positive that happened that day, think about something that happened yesterday or the day before. The goal is to build a habit of thinking about positive things, and your last thought before bed can also influence your unconscious thoughts and belief patterns.

9/11 Survivor's Miraculous Escape

 

9/11 Survivor's Miraculous Escape

A few years ago, a patient came to me who was one of the survivors of the 911 attack on the Twin Towers. She shared her story with me. Sue was working in the South Tower. She could see smoke coming from the North Tower through her window. Then she heard the blast.

She felt the building shake. She got scared. She got up from her desk, and she started to leave. She went to the stairs, and then she heard the announcement, which said, "Everybody, please go back to your desk. Remain in your office. Do not leave. This building is safe." But somehow she felt uneasy. She felt unsafe. She ignored the warning, and she started galloping down the stairs.  She was overweight. She was middle-aged. She had back pain, knee pain, but she did not stop.

She kept on climbing down the stairs one at a time. Sue told me that there was some voice, something deep inside her, that told her to leave the building, not to stay there anymore. In the middle, she met someone else who told her, "You go back to your office space. The building is safe. Do not try to come down." There was a lot of confusion. After the North Tower was hit, a Port Authority official told everyone not to leave the South Tower because they feared that if everyone started leaving and went down, debris from the North Tower would fall on them and hurt them.

Some went back, but she did not. She kept persevering. She kept taking the stairs one at a time, and when she came out into the open, she saw the sky. When she looked back, she saw that the South Tower, where she was working, had also been hit. Black smoke was coming out of the South Tower.  She kept moving as far as she could, running away from the building. This is one of the stories that moved me deeply.  Let me know in your comments below what you think happened. Was it divine providence, coincidence, or mere luck?