Christmas. The sleep destroyer?
Christmas contains plenty of potential sleep antagonists. If you drink alcohol, then you will almost inevitably drink more during the festive season. Alcohol is not a primary cause of insomnia but if you are already sleeping badly then drink will usually make it worse. Much worse.
Anxiety is definitely a primary cause of insomnia and sleep disturbance. And despite being the season of goodwill Christmas is riddled with anxiety for many adults. The financial pressures are immense- we see this year after year with our patients. The cost-of-living crisis is ensuring that many families are barely able to cope financially during normal times. Then along comes Christmas with its thousands of pounds in extra spending. Traditionally debt has been the safety valve for this traditional excess. Debt fosters anxiety anyway but with many credit cards now maxed out even that route is frequently unavailable. The fear of being a poor parent is palpable. And the first casualty is usually sleep.
The second festive casualty is all too often relationships. Early January is the prime time for separations and relationship break ups. Whilst that may come as a relief to a few, for most it’s a cause of additional stress and anxiety and again sleep will pay the price.
At a more mundane level the disruption to normal routine over the extended holiday season can be a serious sleep disruptor. Good sleep likes a boringly structured routine. Go to bed and get up at roughly the same time every day. Most people can manage the small amount of disruption that the weekend introduces. But a two-week holiday is a different matter. Lose your routine over Christmas and you may lose sound sleep
So, what you should you do. Firstly don’t worry. Anxiety is the number one sleep destroyer. Yet another cause of anxiety won’t help matters. Do enjoy Christmas. If you’ve never had sleep problems, then you will probably continue to get away with whatever Santa throws in your direction. But if you’ve made it this far inside a specialist sleep help website then you probably have or have had sleep problems. In which case forewarned with be forearmed. Be aware of the potential pitfalls and perhaps just moderate things enough to protect your sleep. If financial pressures are worrying you then please rein in your spending. The quality of your parenting has nothing to do with how much you spend on your children at Christmas