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2022-06-27 -Land of the Free
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On PTSD Awareness Day, important help for veterans, military service members in search of better sleep
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[FoxNews] Three dedicated experts reveal keen insights to relieve sleep issues among those suffering from PTSD.
On Monday, June 27, PTSD Awareness Day — and on every day of the year, for that matter — it's important for all Americans to recognize that up to 30% of service members experience some sort of post-traumatic stress from their experiences during wartime or deployments or from other traumatic events, such as sexual and physical assault.
Dr. Yuval Neria, a Columbia University professor of medical psychology and PTSD expert, told Fox News Digital in an interview that PTSD sufferers often find difficulty falling asleep due to anxiety, agitation and hyper-vigilance.
They also may experience chronic nightmares.
"Nightmares are really a common symptom of PTSD," said Neria. "People are terrified by their nightmares and always very ambivalent about whether to fall asleep or not because they know that they may meet their demons," he also said.
RAND Corporation senior behavioral scientist and sleep expert Dr. Wendy Troxel agreed that nightmares, along with feeling "chronically vigilant" and experiencing flashbacks, are among the hallmark symptoms of PTSD.
"There’s even some evidence that sleep disturbances can predict the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder," she said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Troxel led a 2015 RAND Corporation study that found that only 37% of veterans achieve adequate sleep — while more than half reported some sort of sleep disturbance.
Jen Satterly, a St. Louis-based certified health coach and respected authority on PTSD, has worked closely with combat veterans and others who have dealt with PTSD issues.
"Sleep — and a lack of thereof — is such a huge issue in this community, and it really affects everything," she told Fox News Digital in an interview this past weekend. "Unfortunately, for our special operators, they work in reverse cycle — so they've trained their whole lives to work at night."
Satterly worked alongside many special ops combat forces in the field and today helps veteran couples and others address their PTSD issues head-on, along with her husband, Tom Satterly, a highly decorated combat veteran whose story was portrayed in the Oscar-winning 2001 film "Black Hawk Down," about the 1993 battle in Somalia.
For veterans and active duty service members who recognize they may have PTSD symptoms or who want to try to ward it off completely — and for their loved ones and other family members going through these issues right alongside them — here are five expert tips on how to get better sleep.
1. Establish a routine to promote sleepiness
The best way to get into the groove of consistent sleep is to maintain a regular sleep-wake schedule.
"Our bodies and our brains simply work better when we have predictable, reliable routines," said Wendy Troxel. "And the best place to start with that is having a regular wake-up routine."
Troxel advised beginning by waking up at the same time every day followed by immediate exposure to sunlight.
"That's a very powerful cue to set our internal biological clocks, otherwise known as our circadian rhythms."
Neria, an Israeli military veteran, said people should avoid taking naps during the day in order to promote sleepiness at night.
The psychologist also mentioned the importance of daily exercise, since physical activity will exert energy as well as improve mental health.
2. Avoid alcohol, especially at night
Imbibing a few alcoholic beverages at night may make people feel sleepy at first — but alcohol is not a sleep aid.
"It is a sedative," Troxel said. "Sedation is not sleep."
Excessive alcohol, which the body must process during the night, will actually cause fragmented sleep — which disturbs REM sleep.
REM, or rapid eye movement, is the part of sleep most associated with emotional processing, learning and memory consolidation.
"So, by disrupting and fragmenting sleep, particularly REM sleep, this can further disrupt one's ability to emotionally regulate, which can exacerbate any other mental health symptoms," said Troxel.
Neria added that people with PTSD already have "great difficulty" achieving REM sleep due to disturbances such as nightmares.
3. Get up for a bit if struggling to fall asleep
For those who are tossing and turning and waiting for sleep to kick in, getting out of bed for a short time may help.
"Go to a chair in the room or go to a separate room and do something that's relaxing but distracting," Troxel said. That way, "you can actually get your body and your brain sleepy again so that you're able to fall back to sleep."
The key is to avoid stimulation from light or aggressive activity — so busying your brain with reading a book, listening to music or engaging in deep breathing could help, especially if a nightmare was the culprit in disrupting your sleep.
"Those types of self-soothing strategies can be really helpful, and you do that until you're ready to return to bed," said Troxel.
4. When to seek treatment
It might be time to seek medical treatment if sleep problems persist for more than three nights a week for longer than a month, noted Troxel.
"Better to nip it in the bud sooner rather than later, because the more chronic it becomes, the more debilitating it can become," she said.
5. Other suggestions
Consider taking natural supplements such as magnesium and melatonin, said Jen Satterly of All Secure Foundation; it's always wise to check with your doctor first. "Work on your gut health for better sleep as well," she said.
| ...over-the-counter prebiotics and probiotics, yoghurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, and other fermented foods and drinks improve the diversity of the gut flora |
Don’t drink caffeine at least 8 to 10 hours before bed.
Also, consider reducing or removing energy drinks from your diet.
Use meditation or sleep-assist apps such as Calm to help relax into sleep, "without having the TV on," she said, "which can keep you awake in the long run."
Check with your doctor to see if you should have your hormone levels tested.
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Posted by Skidmark 2022-06-27 07:13||
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