A great way to obtain your continuing education points for re-certification of your LCSW is through NetCE.
Link below:
I recently took the online course for sleep disorders. Sleep is vital to your well-being. We’ve become a society in which sleep is seen as lazy and unproductive. If you can boast of little sleep, you must be an amazing “doer”–getting it done. Sleep is one of the most vital processes of life. Sleep preserves, restores, and supports healthy memory processing. Repeated disruption of your sleep can cause significant health issues and impact you physically, emotionally, and mentally. There are 80 official sleep disorders. I encourage you to sign up for the course, in which, Ms. Phillips, RN, BSN provides an in-depth study of the most common sleep disorders, prevention, and treatment.
God created sleep as a natural process–an active body process. Our eyes take in the morning light–the sunrise– and our circadian rhythms begin our wake cycle. As the sun sets, natural light fades, and as the darkness settles in, melatonin is naturally released in our bodies to help us sleep.
The sleep-wake cycle consists of approximately 8 hours of sleep and 16 hours of wakefulness in healthy adults and is controlled by two internal factors: circadian rhythms and sleep homeostasis….Biological clocks located throughout the body manage circadian rhythms.
Adolescents need on average 9.5 hours of sleep. Many of our insomnias are related to sleep hygiene problems. We, as humans, are causing our sleep problems through excessive use of artificial light from media, phones, and computers. The artificial light is depleting our melatonin hormone that helps to calm us for sleep. Other concerns are overeating, alcohol, lack of exercise, taking long naps, less exposure to natural light, and bedrooms that are used for other activities such as watching television.
Try these simple things to improve your sleep:
Avoid large meals before bed.
Limit a nap to 30 minutes.
Seek out sunlight in the morning when you wake up.
Exercise for 20 minutes a day.
Use the bed for sleep.
Keep the bedroom to a cool, comfortable temperature and use blankets versus a heater.
Remove the television from your bedroom.
Limit exposure to media and phones before bedtime.
Keep bedroom dark, quiet, and free of clutter and “busy”.
The article recommended consulting with your doctor and further sleep disorder testing with specialists, if warranted. In some cases sleep disorders can include hypnagogic and hypnopompic experiences (HHEs)–hallucinations. These hallucinations are described as a threatening presence, and you may feel pain or discomfort, for example, in your chest, breathing, or limbs. You may have a full-blown, vivid hallucination and seemingly interactions with beings.
Other life-events such as loss, stress, and grief can impact our sleep. And, in some cases, we can be so anxious about sleep, we fear sleeping, and a self-fulfilling prophecy of sleep deprivation occurs. Again, consulting with your medical doctor, counseling, and changing some bad habits could truly make a difference.
Sleep is important. God’s desire is for you to “fear not” and rest. He also gives us the tools and responsibility to take care of ourselves.
When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Proverbs 3:24
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep. Psalm 127:2
ARRESTED BY GRACE 