The connection between insomnia and mental health
Sleep Matters Blog
by Sleep Matters Team
1w ago
Key takeaways Insomnia disorder is very common, and even more so in people with mental health conditions.  Insomnia can increase the risk and severity of mental health struggles. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy-Insomnia (CBT-I) is typically a short treatment and is the recommended first line treatment for insomnia. Treating insomnia has beneficial impacts not just for insomnia but on co-existing mental health conditions. Insomnia, a common sleep disorder characterised by difficulty falling or staying asleep, is intricately linked to mental health conditions. The research of Dr Melissa Ree ..read more
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Why clinic research matters: Advancing understanding and improving care
Sleep Matters Blog
by Sleep Matters Team
11M ago
As Perth’s first behavioural sleep medicine clinic, Sleep Matters is dedicated to helping people overcome sleep difficulties and improve their overall health and wellbeing. We believe that research plays a crucial role in advancing understanding of sleep disorders and finding effective treatments for sleep-related issues. Sleep Matters Director, Dr Melissa Ree trains and supervises the Sleep Matters team as well as holding a tenured academic appointment at The University of Western Australia where she engages in teaching and research into sleep disorder treatments. Here are some of the key ..read more
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Answers to 5 of your most common questions about sleep
Sleep Matters Blog
by Sleep Matters Team
1y ago
Sleep health is important. We understand that everyone needs at least reasonable sleep to function happily and healthily. Yet sleep itself can be somewhat mysterious and misunderstood. The Sleep Matters team have advanced training in the management of sleep difficulties and we wanted to clarify some sleep facts and bust some common myths. So here are the answers to 5 common questions we get asked about sleep. These questions are largely focused on the mornings, we’ll follow-up with some answers to other common questions in future blogs. 1. Why do I feel so sluggish when I wake up in the mornin ..read more
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Navigating jet lag
Sleep Matters Blog
by Sleep Matters Perth
1y ago
If you’re jet-setting to another time zone this summer, you will likely experience some disruption to your sleep. This can often be due to early or late flight schedules and anxiety or excitement about travelling, but another key factor is the dreaded jet lag. What is jet lag? Jet lag occurs when we travel to a destination in a different time zone, meaning that our internal body clock (circadian rhythm) is running at a different time to our new destination.  A flight from Perth to Sydney, for example, can leave you wide awake at 11pm local time, since your biological clock still thinks ..read more
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Is it time to get help for your trouble sleeping?
Sleep Matters Blog
by Sleep Matters Team
1y ago
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Evening exercise and sleep: should we be changing our advice?
Sleep Matters Blog
by Sleep Matters Team
2y ago
Many of us are interested in improving our health and wellbeing. Sleep is a great way to do this was we know that sleep is the third pillar of health alongside physical activity and nutrition. A very common piece of advice for improving sleep is to avoid moderate-vigorous exercise before bedtime. Many official ‘Sleep Hygiene’ Guidelines suggest no exercise after mid-afternoon, and certainly not within about 3 hours of nighttime sleep. This advice can put sleep and exercise in competition with one another, should I sleep or should I exercise? The existing sleep hygiene advice is that moderate ..read more
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Winding Down for Sleep
Sleep Matters Blog
by Sleep Matters Team
3y ago
Many people who come to Sleep Matters for help with their sleep use expressions such as “I can’t switch off” to describe having a busy mind that interferes with sleep. Many people mistakenly believe that switching off or shutting the mind down is necessary for sleep. It’s important to remember, however, that the human brain doesn’t have an off switch, and the mind is actually pretty busy whilst we sleep. Indeed, the brain is busy processing, consolidating memories, and cleaning itself during slumber. So, while some mental activity is fine for sleep, stressed, anxious, or racing minds can cert ..read more
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Sleep Terrors, what are they and what can be done about them?
Sleep Matters Blog
by Sleep Matters Team
3y ago
Eleanor Jones (Clinical Psychologist Registrar) What are sleep terrors? Sleep terrors (also known as night terrors) are often confused with nightmares, but they are actually a different phenomenon. Sleep Terrors are a type of  parasomnia, an unusual behaviour that accompanies sleep. Sleep terrors are a partial arousal parasomnia, meaning that the person experiencing the sleep terror shows signs of being both awake and asleep. Someone experiencing a sleep terror may seem like they are awake, but they are still in a sleep state. Upon waking in the morning, they are unlikely to remember tha ..read more
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When kids find it hard to sleep alone
Sleep Matters Blog
by Sleep Matters Team
3y ago
Eleanor Jones (Clinical Psychologist Registrar) For some children, sleeping alone at night can be a scary prospect. This can often lead to parents finding themselves co-sleeping with their children or having children frequently jumping into the parent’s bed in the middle of the night. This may be the case for toddlers through to teenagers. Although we all need extra closeness sometimes, especially after a nightmare or if something stressful has happened during the day, ongoing difficulties with separating from parents at night can impact on both parent’s and children’s sleep and wellbeing in ..read more
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Tips for sleeping well when you’re away from home
Sleep Matters Blog
by Dr Melisa Ree
3y ago
Australians love to travel during the holidays and the thought of seeing new places and being away from home can be exciting. Many of us are able to travel now that COVID restrictions are lifting. However, for some, travel can prompt concerns about trying to get to sleep in an unfamiliar environment. If you’ve ever had difficulty falling asleep in a hotel room or in a tent while camping; you are not alone. Sleep researchers have found that people often report the first night in a new place tends to be more restless and have labelled this the ‘first night effect’. This can be observed in campe ..read more
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