Alfie Lawson (he/him/his), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer
Have you ever been sprawled across the bed in the middle of the night, wide awake, knowing that you want to get some sleep but simply unable to switch off? I think this happens to most of us at some point. It isn’t always for the same reason, or indeed any reason at all, but there are just those nights where sleep is not an option.
It might not be a wild surprise that our emotions can drastically affect the quality of our sleep. In particular, psychologists point to failure, regret, disconnection, fear and worry as the main culprits of sleep disruption. It is essentially stress and guilt that are the major distractions, neither of which are easy to control. Just ask the one in three people estimated to experience at least some of the symptoms of insomnia. So I guess the solution is that we just have to try and suppress our emotions every night right before bed . . .
But is there another way? What if, instead, we attempted to work with our emotions, our stress and our guilt—whatever that might look like—not to distract us from sleep, but to help us with it? Let’s see if there is a way to use ethics to improve our rest.
Just as we need nutritious food and regular exercise, quality sleep is vital to a healthy lifestyle. It improves our attention and concentration, helps to consolidate memories and adds stability to everything from our mental health to our heart rate. But links have also been identified between rest and moral judgements. Studies have found that moral decision-making is more difficult when sleep-deprived, and that tiredness makes us more impulsive and less rational.
Likewise, introspective morality about our actions impacts our ability to rest and recover. Stress that derives from our professions, relationships or even “rest guilt”—the worry that we’re missing out on opportunities if we decide to switch off and relax—can all derail our sleep. This, in turn, impacts our actions by making us angrier and more anxious during the day, and thus more guilt-ridden and unable to sleep at night. Negative ethics can create a vicious cycle of disrupted sleep and an unstable moral compass.
However, we can react to this and break the pattern, starting with understanding more about how our emotions can also help us. Just as stress and guilt disrupt our rest, feelings of gratitude, trust and love can put us at ease when it’s time for bed. Additionally, it has been argued that regulating negative emotions, rather than ignoring them, is crucial to ensuring we have the best chance of getting good sleep.
That anger, guilt and worry you feel from the day? It is okay to express it appropriately. Finding a release before bed—whether it’s exercise, a calming tea, chatting with a loved one or just playing video games—allows us to prioritise taking stock of our concerns.
It is also important to note that this is a process, and one that’s often inconsistent, or even flawed. For me personally, I go for a walk at some point before bed, maybe to coincide with the sunset in the summer, and I try to read instead of being on my phone. I am a sucker for falling asleep to music or a podcast, though, which sometimes compromises that phone screen rule. Likewise, as more of a night owl, I can sometimes find it hard to stop working before bed or go to sleep at a consistent time. This can make it a challenge to switch off, meaning I don’t always get the rest I need. This is especially true when I need to be up early the next day: early bird days are my worst nightmare, if I could actually get to sleep on those nights to have one.
If you were hoping that this advice was coming from someone who has mastered sleep, then I’m sorry to disappoint you. But I’ll try not to let it worry me, certainly not right before bed.
If I had to wrap this all up into one ethical idea, I would say that all you can do is try your best. This applies both day and night. Listen to your body, think positive thoughts and know that you can be satisfied with your efforts. If you channel that right before bed, then all of it becomes easier. Remember, this isn’t something you have to go out of your way to commit time to, either; you practise your sleep every night. It won’t happen immediately, but you do have the rest of your life to try your best.
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