March 23, 2020 • 8 mins
During times of uncertainty, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, sleep can be challenging. To help with sleep during this time, we discuss simple strategies you can implement to help your sleep and mental health.
Dr Moira Junge (Health Psychologist) and Dr David Cunnington (Sleep Physician) host the monthly podcast, Sleep Talk - Talking all things sleep.
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Links mentioned in the podcast:
- Fact sheet on sleep during COVID-19 pandemic - Sleep Health Foundation
- Australian Government information on COVID-19
- Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia - background and links to components
- Resources for coping with COVID-19 - Australian Psychological Society
- Looking after your mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic - Beyond Blue
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Voiceover (00:00):
Welcome to sleep talk. The podcast about all things sleep
brought to you by sleephub.com.au. Here are your hosts Dr.
David Cunnington and Dr. Moira Junge.
Dr Moira Junge (00:12):
So welcome to this special episode of the Sleep Talk podcast.
Welcome Moira.
Hello Dave. A really good idea to just have this quick one off episode to
get some messages out there about those that aren't sleeping
well which is probably the most of the world at
the moment.
Dr David Cunnington (00:26):
So the circumstances we find ourselves in are unfortunate but
we thought it was important to try and give people
some strategies to help with sleep during these difficult times.
One of the key points we wanted to emphasize is
that our daytime lives are markedly different. It's been totally
thrown upside down in what we're allowed to do during
the day. So really we should expect that nighttime and
(00:46):
sleep is also going to be different. It's a very
stressful time. So it's also important to make sure we
look after ourselves both physically and mentally. We've experienced this
personally over the last week feeling anxious and finding sleep's
changed but have been able to manage our symptoms. I've
been waking up a bit earlier. It's a natural tendency
of mine anyway but it does get earlier again when
(01:07):
I'm a bit stressed or anxious. Cycling's my thing. If I'm
feeling a bit stressed or anxious spending some time on
a bike and fortunately I've got an indoor bike set
up so I can do that whilst maintaining social distancing.
It's been helpful. So although I've been waking early I've been
fitting in a cycling session before work and I found
that pretty helpful. I've also selected a couple of books
(01:28):
to read that deliberately aren't work or virus related. What about
you Moira?
Dr Moira Junge (01:33):
It's a devastating time. There's the worry about the virus.
There's also that fear of keeping yourself safe and your
family safe. Am I being cautious enough? Those sorts of fears.
But of course there's the worry and the sadness about
the deadly economic and social consequences. The change is so rapid.
There's so much uncertainty. So I haven't actually been sleeping
very well. In the first maybe say a week ago and
(01:55):
I've managed to get things back on track.
Dr David Cunnington (01:58):
So what did you do?
Dr Moira Junge (01:59):
Isn't it great that a physician, not that I'm a physician,
but physician heal thyself. I actually just had to take
my medicine and put into practice the CBT-I principles that
I've taught for many many many years now. We've actually
just developed a new Sleep Health Foundation fact sheet that's
available now. We'll put the link to that in our
(02:20):
show notes that outlines basically what I did. Do you want me to tell you what I did?
Dr David Cunnington (02:26):
Absolutely.
Dr Moira Junge (02:27):
One of the most important things for me was to
limit my media exposure because I'm just devouring the media exposure about COVID-19.
Because as a business owner, as a parent, as a
concerned citizen, I really want to be up to date
but I realize that I have to really limit that
and only go to the official sites. So I actually
recommend the www.health.gov.au because the rest of the media reports
(02:50):
are just too conflicting. Have you noticed, it's just too conflicting and there's just too
much uncertainty. So for me I just have to go
with what the actual requirements and guidelines are right now today.
The other thing I found really important that I've taught
all my life and realize how much I needed to
do it myself is unwinding. So spending that time relaxing
doing other things other than looking at COVID-19 reports. Also
(03:13):
I thought was super important to keep up my fitness
and I've got my whole family onto that too that
we are really clear about our exercise every day and
eating sensibly. There's nothing open anyway so there's no need
to be drinking too much, so we're actually just really really
white hot onto the three pillars of health of exercise,
our diet our sleep. Just prioritizing those three things to
(03:36):
keep our immune system healthy but also to keep our mental
health functioning well because there's a lot of angst in
our household like around the world. I also have really
got into making myself remind myself of the importance of
meditation and I can't stress that enough. To me it's
like the insulin for the diabetic at this time. I
just have to fall back and lean into my meditation
(03:58):
to actually make sure that I keep my levels of
hyper arousal reasonable and make sure that I don't go
over that threshold to sleep poorly. I really need my
sleep more than ever.
Dr David Cunnington (04:07):
It's a really good point about the meditation and I've
been a bit more proactive about that as well because
often if people aren't sleeping well they'll conceptualize it as
'the answer is I'm going to fix this by doing
something about sleep' but in stressful times like this the
answer is more about self care and managing worries during
the day. So really important to be proactive about managing
(04:29):
worries throughout the day and there's a lot to worry about.
People are also going to sleep shorter because that's actually
pretty common when we're uncertain of things for adrenaline levels
to be higher.
Dr Moira Junge (04:38):
Bed restriction and sleep restriction are core components of CBT-I that we've talked
about a lot. I made sure that I practice it myself.
I had to be realistic about just staying up as
late as possible with my unwinding period mind you and in
dim light to make sure that I could actually have
that higher level of sleep pressure to make sure I
could initiate and then maintain my sleep better. And if I wasn't
(05:02):
sleeping well that I did go to another room, waited to be
tired and sleepy. Did some reading. All the stuff I've taught.
So glad I actually know how to do this stuff. It turned back
very quickly within a matter of just a day or two.
Dr David Cunnington (05:14):
And that's what the research shows. Those two techniques sleep
restriction stimulus control are really powerful strategies for getting sleep back
on track by changing behavior around sleep.
Dr Moira Junge (05:25):
It really helps build that empathy as well. You really
need to understand how bad it can be for people
and just to really understand t his is the strategy
I'm going to do. It's so important when you are
out of the bed waiting to be sleepy and tired that you are in dim light and you
don't monitor the clock. It's very important. Just do not
(05:48):
even buy into what time it might be and what
you what you are missing or calculating all that sort of stuff. The final
point I wanted to make was that it's really important
to manage your fatigue. Even I didn't get much sleep it
doesn't mean that it is the end of the world or mean I wouldn't be able to function well the next day.
I've been making the use of having little naps if
(06:08):
I needed to and even though I had a coffee,
actually having appropriately timed caffeine to help manage my sleepiness
and my energy levels. So that was really important. I
also have been right on to following my psychological society's
fact sheets on things like how to manage distress in
(06:29):
the time of coronavirus and also Beyond Blue which is our
leading national advocate on mental health. They've got good resources on mental health and we'll put
both those resources in the show notes.
Dr David Cunnington (06:38):
Thanks for that discussion Moira. Just to try and tie
things together. The key points for people who are having
trouble with sleep for me is expect sleep to be
different. Our day times are very different. This is a very
uncertain time and we're all going to be feeling somewhat anxious.
So in those circumstances expect sleep to be shorter, to
be waking more, for sleep to be lighter and change
(06:58):
your behavior accordingly maybe by going to bed later. Not
be so concerned if you wait during the night and
if you do wait during the night don't be afraid
of getting up doing something else until you feel sleepy
before you go back to bed. What about for you Moira?
Dr Moira Junge (07:11):
I think the overall management of your self care, your
stress management is really important and I think that the
keeping the three pillars in check making sure you do
have plenty of exercise and that you're eating well and
that you are prioritizing sleep at least allowing time for
sleep and rest in this sort of uncertain time. I
think these are the key things that will help bring
(07:32):
people back on track to actually just improve their sleep.
Dr David Cunnington (07:36):
If you are having trouble with sleep despite accessing the
good resources like the Sleep Health Foundation fact sheet that
we'll link to, remember that healthcare providers are still working
during this time and are available. Providers like myself and
Moira have worked very hard to shift our consultation services
online so that we're available for people throughout this period,
(07:56):
which is going to be a challenging period and cause
changes with sleep for many people. Thanks very much for
your insights Moira and for contributing to this episode.
Dr Moira Junge (08:04):
Thank you very much Dave. Thanks for organizing it so
promptly and I just want to say just best wishes
to everyone.
Dr David Cunnington (08:10):
Thanks a lot.
Voiceover (08:10):
This podcast is not intended as a substitute for your
own independent health professionals advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek
the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider
within your country or place of residency with any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
Welcome to sleep talk. The podcast about all things sleep
brought to you by sleephub.com.au. Here are your hosts Dr.
David Cunnington and Dr. Moira Junge.
Dr Moira Junge (00:12):
So welcome to this special episode of the Sleep Talk podcast.
Welcome Moira.
Hello Dave. A really good idea to just have this quick one off episode to
get some messages out there about those that aren't sleeping
well which is probably the most of the world at
the moment.
Dr David Cunnington (00:26):
So the circumstances we find ourselves in are unfortunate but
we thought it was important to try and give people
some strategies to help with sleep during these difficult times.
One of the key points we wanted to emphasize is
that our daytime lives are markedly different. It's been totally
thrown upside down in what we're allowed to do during
the day. So really we should expect that nighttime and
(00:46):
sleep is also going to be different. It's a very
stressful time. So it's also important to make sure we
look after ourselves both physically and mentally. We've experienced this
personally over the last week feeling anxious and finding sleep's
changed but have been able to manage our symptoms. I've
been waking up a bit earlier. It's a natural tendency
of mine anyway but it does get earlier again when
(01:07):
I'm a bit stressed or anxious. Cycling's my thing. If I'm
feeling a bit stressed or anxious spending some time on
a bike and fortunately I've got an indoor bike set
up so I can do that whilst maintaining social distancing.
It's been helpful. So although I've been waking early I've been
fitting in a cycling session before work and I found
that pretty helpful. I've also selected a couple of books
(01:28):
to read that deliberately aren't work or virus related. What about
you Moira?
Dr Moira Junge (01:33):
It's a devastating time. There's the worry about the virus.
There's also that fear of keeping yourself safe and your
family safe. Am I being cautious enough? Those sorts of fears.
But of course there's the worry and the sadness about
the deadly economic and social consequences. The change is so rapid.
There's so much uncertainty. So I haven't actually been sleeping
very well. In the first maybe say a week ago and
(01:55):
I've managed to get things back on track.
Dr David Cunnington (01:58):
So what did you do?
Dr Moira Junge (01:59):
Isn't it great that a physician, not that I'm a physician,
but physician heal thyself. I actually just had to take
my medicine and put into practice the CBT-I principles that
I've taught for many many many years now. We've actually
just developed a new Sleep Health Foundation fact sheet that's
available now. We'll put the link to that in our
(02:20):
show notes that outlines basically what I did. Do you want me to tell you what I did?
Dr David Cunnington (02:26):
Absolutely.
Dr Moira Junge (02:27):
One of the most important things for me was to
limit my media exposure because I'm just devouring the media exposure about COVID-19.
Because as a business owner, as a parent, as a
concerned citizen, I really want to be up to date
but I realize that I have to really limit that
and only go to the official sites. So I actually
recommend the www.health.gov.au because the rest of the media reports
(02:50):
are just too conflicting. Have you noticed, it's just too conflicting and there's just too
much uncertainty. So for me I just have to go
with what the actual requirements and guidelines are right now today.
The other thing I found really important that I've taught
all my life and realize how much I needed to
do it myself is unwinding. So spending that time relaxing
doing other things other than looking at COVID-19 reports. Also
(03:13):
I thought was super important to keep up my fitness
and I've got my whole family onto that too that
we are really clear about our exercise every day and
eating sensibly. There's nothing open anyway so there's no need
to be drinking too much, so we're actually just really really
white hot onto the three pillars of health of exercise,
our diet our sleep. Just prioritizing those three things to
(03:36):
keep our immune system healthy but also to keep our mental
health functioning well because there's a lot of angst in
our household like around the world. I also have really
got into making myself remind myself of the importance of
meditation and I can't stress that enough. To me it's
like the insulin for the diabetic at this time. I
just have to fall back and lean into my meditation
(03:58):
to actually make sure that I keep my levels of
hyper arousal reasonable and make sure that I don't go
over that threshold to sleep poorly. I really need my
sleep more than ever.
Dr David Cunnington (04:07):
It's a really good point about the meditation and I've
been a bit more proactive about that as well because
often if people aren't sleeping well they'll conceptualize it as
'the answer is I'm going to fix this by doing
something about sleep' but in stressful times like this the
answer is more about self care and managing worries during
the day. So really important to be proactive about managing
(04:29):
worries throughout the day and there's a lot to worry about.
People are also going to sleep shorter because that's actually
pretty common when we're uncertain of things for adrenaline levels
to be higher.
Dr Moira Junge (04:38):
Bed restriction and sleep restriction are core components of CBT-I that we've talked
about a lot. I made sure that I practice it myself.
I had to be realistic about just staying up as
late as possible with my unwinding period mind you and in
dim light to make sure that I could actually have
that higher level of sleep pressure to make sure I
could initiate and then maintain my sleep better. And if I wasn't
(05:02):
sleeping well that I did go to another room, waited to be
tired and sleepy. Did some reading. All the stuff I've taught.
So glad I actually know how to do this stuff. It turned back
very quickly within a matter of just a day or two.
Dr David Cunnington (05:14):
And that's what the research shows. Those two techniques sleep
restriction stimulus control are really powerful strategies for getting sleep back
on track by changing behavior around sleep.
Dr Moira Junge (05:25):
It really helps build that empathy as well. You really
need to understand how bad it can be for people
and just to really understand t his is the strategy
I'm going to do. It's so important when you are
out of the bed waiting to be sleepy and tired that you are in dim light and you
don't monitor the clock. It's very important. Just do not
(05:48):
even buy into what time it might be and what
you what you are missing or calculating all that sort of stuff. The final
point I wanted to make was that it's really important
to manage your fatigue. Even I didn't get much sleep it
doesn't mean that it is the end of the world or mean I wouldn't be able to function well the next day.
I've been making the use of having little naps if
(06:08):
I needed to and even though I had a coffee,
actually having appropriately timed caffeine to help manage my sleepiness
and my energy levels. So that was really important. I
also have been right on to following my psychological society's
fact sheets on things like how to manage distress in
(06:29):
the time of coronavirus and also Beyond Blue which is our
leading national advocate on mental health. They've got good resources on mental health and we'll put
both those resources in the show notes.
Dr David Cunnington (06:38):
Thanks for that discussion Moira. Just to try and tie
things together. The key points for people who are having
trouble with sleep for me is expect sleep to be
different. Our day times are very different. This is a very
uncertain time and we're all going to be feeling somewhat anxious.
So in those circumstances expect sleep to be shorter, to
be waking more, for sleep to be lighter and change
(06:58):
your behavior accordingly maybe by going to bed later. Not
be so concerned if you wait during the night and
if you do wait during the night don't be afraid
of getting up doing something else until you feel sleepy
before you go back to bed. What about for you Moira?
Dr Moira Junge (07:11):
I think the overall management of your self care, your
stress management is really important and I think that the
keeping the three pillars in check making sure you do
have plenty of exercise and that you're eating well and
that you are prioritizing sleep at least allowing time for
sleep and rest in this sort of uncertain time. I
think these are the key things that will help bring
(07:32):
people back on track to actually just improve their sleep.
Dr David Cunnington (07:36):
If you are having trouble with sleep despite accessing the
good resources like the Sleep Health Foundation fact sheet that
we'll link to, remember that healthcare providers are still working
during this time and are available. Providers like myself and
Moira have worked very hard to shift our consultation services
online so that we're available for people throughout this period,
(07:56):
which is going to be a challenging period and cause
changes with sleep for many people. Thanks very much for
your insights Moira and for contributing to this episode.
Dr Moira Junge (08:04):
Thank you very much Dave. Thanks for organizing it so
promptly and I just want to say just best wishes
to everyone.
Dr David Cunnington (08:10):
Thanks a lot.
Voiceover (08:10):
This podcast is not intended as a substitute for your
own independent health professionals advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek
the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider
within your country or place of residency with any questions
you may have regarding a medical condition.
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