Many students on campus report struggling with sleep related issues. Some of the common issues are not getting enough sleep, struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep, as well as struggling with anxiety and stress that negatively impacts their sleep. In the spring of 2017 counsellors for Brandon University, Sherry Sawatzky-Dyck and Marsha Harris, brought the National College Health Assessment survey to Brandon University. The survey documented that 27.6% of students indicated sleep difficulties that were negatively impacting their academic performance. To deal with this common issue for students, two workshops have been scheduled; Monday October 29th at 1:30 P.M. and Wednesday November 21st at 2:30 P.M. Both sessions take place in the A.E. McKenzie Building in room 005, and students need only attend one if they do wish to attend the workshop.
The purpose of these workshops is to support students in learning new skills or techniques to create healthy sleep habits. Students who have been struggling with sleep can attend this session and receive beneficial tips that can be used to help themselves. Having a healthy sleep is important for physical and mental wellness. A chronic lack of sleep may have a strong possibility of negative impact on daily performance, ability to concentrate, well-being and mood. Sleep is something that students do sometimes struggle with in order to complete everything they need to do in a day. It can be difficult to balance school and have the proper quality of sleep needed to be healthy.
There are a number of helpful resources available regarding sleep hygiene and how to improve it. If students are unable to attend any of the workshops, they may wish to do some personal research into sleep hygiene. When asked about ways to start improving sleep hygiene, Marsha Harris, BU Counselor at Student Services replied that one thing students can try right away is limiting their screen time before bed, it’s a simple tip but can make a big difference.
In these workshops, students will learn about healthy sleep routines, the current research regarding sleep routines, some hands-on tools to try at home, as well as receive a sleep diary, and handouts related to specific sleep issues in order to help students practice better sleep hygiene on their own. Whether you practice good or bad sleep hygiene is up to you but if you want to get a better night’s rest, the answer often begins with improving your sleep hygiene.