Expert advice on getting a good night's sleep amid Coronavirus anxiety

19 March 2020, 15:14 | Updated: 19 March 2020, 15:16

A sleep expert has offered tips to getting a good night's rest when feeling anxious. Picture: ITV

A sleep expert appeared on This Morning to advise viewers struggling to sleep as the struggle with anxiety.

Concern about Coronavirus has led to many people struggling with increased levels of anxiety, which for can have a significant impact on sleeping patterns.

Struggling to fall asleep and waking up in the middle of the night are very normal side effects of anxiety, but there ways by which to manage these.

Speaking on This Morning earlier this week, a sleep expert spoke to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield about the importance of sleep - and steps you can take to get a good night's rest.

Many people have been struggling with sleep amid Coronavirus anxiety. Picture: ITV

He said: "Sleep does play a fundamental role in boosting your immunity, so it’s one of the best things to be doing right now.

He also opened up about habits people can often get into when anxious, which can impact sleeping patterns.

"One of the traps we fall into is when we feel a bit anxious is slipping toward having an extra glass of wine, but alcohol affects your sleep, or eat extra chocolate that contains sugar and caffeine, or binge on boxsets, which means we cut our sleep short."

The sleep expert advised avoiding too much screen time in the two hours before bedtime. Picture: ITV

He advised people to "keep a really good regular sleep cycle because that helps to regulate internal body clock."

Suggesting that we take care of looking at screens too much in the run-up to bedtime, he added: "What we know is that humans are incredibly sensitive to light, particularly blue light and daylight.

"We live very lit up lives these days - turn off lamps and switch off brightness on your screens two hours before bed.

Many people have been struggling to sleep while feeling anxious about Coronavirus (stock image). Picture: Getty

When asked by Holly and Phil how best to wind down in the evenings, he said: "In that last two hours you want to be engaging in non stimulating activities. Reading a nice book, jigsaw puzzles. Do stuff that signals to the brain that sleep is on its way.

He also suggested not getting overwhelmed with news in the evenings, saying: "Be informed, consume your news in the day, but ring-fence that with sleep preparation."

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