Research shows that adults need an average of 8 hours of sleep a night, yet around two-thirds of us are not achieving this. When it comes to our mental health, sleep is inextricably linked. Poor sleep can exacerbate feelings of low mood, overwhelm and fatigue, whilst these same symptoms can in turn contribute to poor sleep. It’s a vicious cycle!
Ironically, when we’re feeling low or overwhelmed with life, curling up on the sofa with Netflix and a glass of wine seems so much more appealing than lacing up our runners, and getting moving, yet this is exactly the solution that is likely to help us beat the blues.
The food we put in our mouths really does form the basis of how well our body functions and ultimately drives our overall health and there is now a growing interest in the impact of nutrition on mental health and more research being done in this area.
For much of our history we lived in connection with nature. It is only really in more recent years that we have become disconnected from the natural world. We are spending less and less time in our natural habitat and more and more time in man-made concrete (or weatherboard!) boxes, with artificial lights, heat and air. The evidence tells us this detachment from nature could be impacting our mental health.
The nights have definitely been drawing in as winter approaches. Whilst there’s lots of good things about this time of year, for some the change in seasons can trigger or exacerbate mental health issues, but there are things you can do to help beat the winter blues.