Sleep Health Foundation
August 3-9 2020, Australia
Sleep Awareness Week (SAW) is held annually in Australia, and at different times throughout the world and is an awareness raising campaign to advocate for the importance of sleep to our overall health.
Over the coming week the Sleep Health Foundation (SHF) aims to creates awareness to improve Australians sleep 52 weeks per year.
- This year the focus of SAW will be on the relationship between sleep and anxiety, depression and stress such as from the COVID-19 pandemic and the catastrophic Australian summer bushfires.
- The SHF has developed many resources this year for the public to be able to obtain adequate sleep and stay mentally and physically healthy in periods of hardship.(See COVID-19 Resources )
- the SHF have also recently bundled up the factsheets into Mental Health Resources
Did you know that:
- Sleep is the third pillar of a healthy lifestyle along with healthy eating and regular exercise
- Chronic sleep disruptions increase the likelihood of negative thinking, depression, anxiety and emotional vulnerability
- There is strong evidence that ongoing sleep disturbances may lead to poor mental health (e.g. increased risk of clinical depression and anxiety) across multiple age groups (from adolescents to older adults)
- Good quality sleep assists with the recovery from stressful experiences and is related to greater mental resilience
- Sleep medicines may not be as helpful as the general population may think. Instead, we encourage the use of cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBTi) and mindfulness
- Simple, practical advice such as those readily and freely available via our SHF factsheets and new resources (see link above) can prevent acute sleep difficulties from becoming long term chronic sleep problems.
It is crucial during these acutely stressful time that we try to avoid long term sleep problems.
For more information please visit Sleep Health Foundation
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