Managing Sleep With ADHD

DESCRIPTION: Sleep is important to your health and can affect your ADHD symptoms. Learn how to sleep better with these tips. KEY TAKEAWAYS: * Sleep is important to you’re all around health. * Lack of sleep can affect your ADHD symptoms. * If you’re not getting enough sleep, there are biological, behavioral and psychological reasons why you may not be getting enough sleep. * There are many  adjustments you can make that will help you get enough sleep including some that are specific to ADHD Adults. * Of course, make sure you check in with your doctor to see if there are physical reasons for your sleep challenges. RESOURCES: Website: Sleep Foundation Sleep App: Sleep Cycle Sleep Data Collection: * Sleep Log * Sleep Diary TRANSCRIPT: (00:00): Are you getting enough sleep? If not, this lack of sleep may be making your ADHD symptoms worse, but you can change that. You’ve tuned into scattered Focused Done Re-Imagining Productivity with ADHD, a podcast for ADHD, adults like you who want to learn how to adopt the best strategies, tools, and skills to get your essential work done in a way that works with the way your brain is wired. I’m Marla Cummins and I’m glad you’re joining me today on this journey to re-Imagining Productivity with ADHD. So you can get what is important to you done without trying to do it like everyone else. (00:41): No doubt getting enough sleep is important to maintaining your health. Not getting enough sleep can lead to a number of health issues and can affect your relationships, your work, and other areas of your life. I know you already know that. But if you’re trying to manage your ADHD, have you thought about the impact of not having enough sleep on your symptoms is. For example, you’re less able to regulate your emotions or focus and attend, as well as use your working memory, which is already compromised. If you struggle with your sleep, it’s not a surprise as getting enough sleep is a common challenge for ADHD adults. (01:24): It might be that you have problems going to sleep, not being able to wake up in the morning, perhaps waking up too early or some other sleep related problem. The most common problem I hear about is not going to sleep or being able to fall asleep at a reasonable hour. Others may be able to fall asleep but then wake up throughout the night. Difficulty getting up in the morning is also widespread challenge for A DHD adults. Another common challenge for A DHD adults is what is called daytime sleepiness, which is not related to getting enough sleep, interestingly enough. But rather it happens when you’re not engaged enough in what you are doing and your nervous system disengages. Ever happened to you? ADHD adults also experience sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and teeth grinding in greater numbers than the general population. (02:24): So if you’re having sleep problems, you’ll want to make sure that it’s not due to a medical issue such as one of these.