Environmental Factors

On this page you can find help/information about:

Your Surroundings; Your Situation

Your Surroundings

97) Is your bed comfortable?

1) No

2) Yes

Different bodies and personalities need different mattresses. Considering you spend around a third of your life in bed, it may be worth your effort to have one that is comfortable to you. Sometimes, getting a comfortable one can be difficult due to a partner's preferences or needs being different than your own. It is worth getting creative about it.

98) Is your bedroom quiet?

1) No; 2) Yes
Is it possible to get it quieter? If not, many people have found "white noise" to be quite helpful. This can include fans, softly purring machines of some kind or another.

99) Do you have a TV or electronic devices in your bedroom, or other things that may ordinarily be found elsewhere in the house?

1) No; 2) Yes
The more mental stimulants you have in your bedroom, the more you are training your mind that the bedroom is a place of activity, not rest.

100) What is the temperature of your bedroom at night?

1) Please answer in degrees Farenheit or Celsius.
Many people keep their rooms too warm at night. It's best, if you live in the cooler latitudes to have your room around 60 to 65 degrees or so. This helps with the cooling function in sleep.

101) How much light is present in your bedroom when you sleep?

1) None; 2) A little; 3) Some; 4) Quite a lot; 5) A lot and it's moving (blinking or traveling)
If there is some light, please investigate window coverings that will block it out.

Your Situation

8) What wakes you up at night? For instance it may be noises, needing to go to the bathroom, pain, a child...

1) Noise or light from environment or Children

2) Hunger

3) Worry

4) Needing to go to bathroom

5) Other

Sometimes, there is something that is the cause of waking. Sometimes, when almost awake you'll become aware of things. It can be useful to figure out the difference - are these things waking you? Or were you already awake and then they made it difficult to return to sleep. This is particularly true for numbers 3 and 4. Numbers 1 and 2 can usually be reduced to some degree.

42) When, or under what conditions, do you sleep the best?

1) No idea; 2) There are some which I could describe
Use the information from your answer to this question to help you think of ways to adjust your normal sleeping situation.

62) Is your sleep better or worse on the weekends?

1) Better

2) Worse

3) No different

If it's better on the weekends, is work a problem? Consider evaluating and dealing with work stress if that is true.

102) Is your sleep better or worse when you are away from home?

1) Better

2) Worse

3) About the same

If it's better... why? If worse, what can you do to improve your sleep situation when you have to be away from home?

Sleep Impairment

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Sleep/Insomnia Program
Sarah Richards, MS
Counselor & Writer