How to get a better night's sleep

Mental Health UK estimates that 79% of us struggle to switch off at bedtime and 60% of us wake up in the night with thoughts of work and other worries. You probably didn't need a survey to get a sense that might be the case - have a chat with a group of friends and almost without a doubt some or most have experienced challenges when it comes to getting a proper night's rest.

To help provide meaningful advice in a positive context, Ockenden Manor has introduced The Good Sleep Retreat, which offers a one-to-one, in-depth assessment and consultation with sleep expert, Dr Maja Schaedel. Not only do you get to enjoy an all inclusive stay (with a programme of yoga classes, exercises and spa treatment) and all that Ockenden Manor and its spa has to offer, but you head home with a plan and techniques to take home to start the road to improving sleep issues.

Importantly, Dr Maja Schaedel is a clinical psychologist at the Sleep Disorder Centre at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and the Co-Founder of The Good Sleep Clinic. Her credentials are extensive, working with people who have experienced a wide variety of mental health issues, often leading to sleep disorders. She says:

"There's not a lot of availability for help on the NHS when it comes to insomnia. GPs are in a difficult spot as all evidence points towards the benefits of CBT over medication but they often don't have the ability to make a referral for that. Nationwide there's a real issue with sleep and it tends to fall between the gaps between mental health help and physical health help. For years sleeplessness was seen as a symptom rather than an issue in its own right, but now we know it works in both directions, for example, a lack of sleep can lead to anxiety as well as being a symptom of anxiety."

As Spabreaks.com introduces The Good Sleep Retreat, we had the opportunity to chat to Dr Schaedel to find out more.

What made you set up your own sleep clinic?

I got particularly interested in sleep many years ago when I started working in a Sleep Disorder Centre in West Sussex and this continued when I moved to Guy’s & St Thomas’ sleep disorder centre, but in my private practice I work with my sister, who specialises in menopause and sleep. We chose to set up the clinic to provide evidence based treatment, knowing how tricky it can be for people to access.

When it came to setting up the retreat with Ockenden Manor, it was about helping people to unwind. One of the main things that keeps people awake is an overactive state of hyperarousal, which is really the result of the flight/fright freeze response - otherwise known as the autonomic nervous system. All those reactions are the opposite of what you need to sleep - you can't sleep if you think you're in danger - the body will naturally fight to keep you awake.

The retreat is a way of addressing that - reducing that fight/flight freeze response and telling the body it's safe. Lots of people with insomnia talk about how the thing that stops them from sleeping is that they get stuck thinking. It's not always stressful thinking that’s the problem, but simply a busy mind. So, it's about finding ways to bring your attention back into your body.

What are so many of us struggling when it comes to sleep?

There's definitely a few camps. On one side there are those who actually don't appear to have anything that stressful going on but have habitually started to have bad sleep. You can trigger insomnia with the smallest thing - staying out late one night, coming off medication - it can cause a couple of days of insomnia but if the body and brain start to create a new habit, like not being able to go to sleep until 2am, then it can be difficult to get back into a good pattern.

There's also the stressed camp - people who have a lot on their mind - that's a huge group. There's a really big group of people around their forties and fifties, who are typically dealing with the stresses and strains of elderly parents, jobs, teenagers, perimenopause, relationship breakdowns - there's often a lot going on for that age group. Another group is new mums who are not sleeping, as well as teenagers and young people who are still trying to come to grips with how their mind works.

For a lot of people, the thing that's keeping their mind whirring isn't stuff that's going on in their life but simply that they're running so fast all the time they can't stop. Sometimes that need to be busy is about avoidance - people don't want to stop because they're worried about what they will feel. Others simply get stuck in a hyper alert way of being, but that can be quite hard to handle as it causes an increase in stress hormones flooding the body and then it's just really hard to turn off.

What would surprise most people about sleep?

One thing I think I would say, and I always feel a bit nervous saying it, is that the focus we give sleep isn't always helpful. All the things we do to protect sleep - having a routine to wind down, turning screens off an hour before bed etc, can add to the stress around sleeplessness.

It's a common story amongst insomnia patients - they usually have blackout curtains, they spray lavender on the pillow, they gave up alcohol and coffee years ago - they're doing everything right, and those things are wonderful. However, sometimes it can draw more attention to the anxiety about whether you sleep or not.

In some ways the best way to protect sleep is not to care about it. I don't have a set bedtime or wind down routine because day-to-day how you protect sleep is you need to reduce the importance of it. The main thing that keeps insomnia going is worrying about getting to sleep. Of course, that can be very hard to do.

Where did the idea for the sleep retreat come from?

Ockenden Manor and I designed it together. We wanted it to be a really effective experience - not just a nice relaxing break. Those who sign up to it will get really evidence-based treatment and information as well as have a really holistic escape with earthwork, activity, exercise and moving the body.

The retreat is educational as well as experiential, it provides an introductory toolkit to help you with tips and strategies on how to improve sleep, all of which is bespoke thanks to an individual assessment. My goal was to make it enjoyable but also to really make sure it had the credentials to provide meaningful help and support.

What does the sleep assessment involve?

The assessment is really important - it's about trying to work out what triggered your insomnia in the first place:

• Is it lifelong?
• Has only been around for a few months?
• Are there genetic links?
• Are you a night owl or morning lark?

Then it's about trying to work out the biggest thing that's maintaining the sleep problem, which is often very different to the trigger. Anything can be a trigger, but the things that keep it going are often behaviours we engage in.

We also look at other things like lifestyle factors that impact sleep - for example, exercise is really protective when it comes to sleep. We consider eating habits - are you waking up and eating at night? We are learning machines and develop new habits really easily, so if someone wakes up in the night and lies in bed and watches TV or eats a biscuit for example, the body can quickly learn that's what it needs and will keep waking at that time. We will also screen for things like sleep apnoea, do a mental health assessment and explore any family history. The goal is to give you the tools to start making a difference.