Time to catch some shut eye, it’s getting late. You head to the bathroom to tidy yourself up before you walk into your nice, cozy, and warm bedroom. When you get in your bed, you close your eyes and gently feel the day melt away. Time passes and you constantly toss and turn in your bed. “What the heck is wrong with me!” you might be wondering. Well, nothing is wrong with you. It’s the things you did before bed.
Some common techniques used by a lot of Americans is the “Count Sheep” method. An individual lies on their bed and counts sheep in their head. How does that even help? It might help improve your math skills, but definitely not sleep skills. One thing you can try out is drinking warm liquids, like hot chocolate or tea. Stay away from caffeine and sugar. Drink a good amount and make sure it is warm and toasty. Anything cold will just wake you up even more. Still counting sheep by now?

What causes sleep disorder and what exactly is sleep disorder? Sleep disorder can last for days up to years. One can have restless nights for a couple of days, but then be perfectly fine. Others might have restless years. Just ask Mr Saveriano, an ELA teacher, who hasn’t slept for 7 months during the birth of his first kid. Then 7 more months after his second child. For adults, stress from children usually keeps them up. In that situation, all you can do is put your child in bed.

Most cases of sleep disorder for teens happen when something special or exciting is going to happen the next day. For example: The day before freshman year starts is a restless night for most students. A fluid called Epinephrine, also known as Adrenaline, is released from the adrenal glands, causing excitement and a very active brain. When you are this state, there is nothing you can really do besides take medicine. The only thing you can really do is relax with some soft music and ease your muscles.

According to most people, what should one do to sleep faster? I’ll tell you some techniques, like counting sheep, that you should never try. “Plan B” is usually watch TV until you fall asleep. This is the opposite road to travel on when you’re sleepless. Watching TV makes your brain work to process and enjoy what you are watching. Researchers have proven that an hour of TV before sleep will decrease the probability of you fall asleep in the next hour by 60%! We don’t want that do we. The next resort is usually to just lay on the bed with their eyes closed. This would work in most cases, but not when you are experiencing Insomnia. Like mentioned before, Adrenaline is rushing through your body; it will take hours for it to ware off. This will just bore you to death. Now we know what not to do when having restless nights.

So what should we do to sleep better? One famous and effective remedy is respecting bedtimes. Sounds corny right; but this is extremely effective. Going to bed at a constant rate and time can lead to a routine evolving in your brain. This is the path you want to stay on, whether it is a weekend or a weekday. Another very comforting and relaxing method is to drink or use warm water. Whether it’s drinking sugar-free tea or taking warm steamy baths. Just the sound of warm water filling up in a bathtub relaxes muscles. Physically, a shower is a great way to get warm and cozy. But the mental component is just as important. Attach it to your nightly ritual and see if you can actually feel the day melt away. By nightly ritual, I mean a routine done before sleep every night; followed with constant bedtimes.

Teens who are 13-14 years of age tend to sleep late at night. According to very recent studies, teens who watch an hour of television or more before sleeping, tend to sleep later than 1:00 AM. If this child wakes up at 8:30 for school, then he/she is only receiving 7 hours and 30 minutes of shut eye. Scientists have calculated that teens should at least get 9 hours of sleep to sustain regular growth and stay alert. All of this traces back to the television. If you are planning on watching television, watch it an hour before going to bed. Then, your brain will slow down and fall asleep regularly.

In conclusion, too many people have trouble sleeping and they don’t know what to do. Some people try counting sheep, others try watching TV; but what does work? Warm water helps calm the brain down and relaxes the muscles in the body. Try taking a warm bath or drink hot water. Another great technique to do is to respect bedtimes. Try going to bed at a constant time. For example: constantly going to bed at 10:00 PM would really impact the amount of time it takes you to fall asleep; but going at different times could confuse your brain. Sleepy yet?