Dr Harry Barry: Top 10 tips for a good night's sleep

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Getting enough good quality sleep is recognised as an important preventative factor in all mental health conditions.  Everyone should aim for at least eight hours' sleep, with children and young people requiring even more.

Yet our sleep is often the first thing that suffers when we start feeling anxious, stressed or depressed.  Dr Harry Barry shares his top tips for improving the quantity and quality of your sleep.

1. Maintain your sleep routine.  This means going to bed and getting up at roughly the same time every day.  This gives your body the opportunity to establish its own sleep cycle.

2. Shut down all technology at least an hour and a half before bedtime. This will give your brain a chance to switch itself off from the barrage of news and information.

3. Clear your bedroom of technology.  This means all phones and devices should remain in another part of your home.

4. Cut down on alcohol.  "I advise my patients not to drink from Monday to Friday and then to allow themselves a drink or two at weekends," says Dr Barry. "Alcohol and a good night's sleep just don't mix."

5. Do not have any coffee after midday.  This will give your body enough time to metabolise the caffeine.

6. Take regular exercise but make sure you do so during the daytime.  Do not exercise in the two to three hours before bed.

7. Use blackout curtains, especially if you live in an urban area.

8. Sleep in a well-ventilated room.  Many of our bedrooms are too hot.

9. Try meditating, practise mindfulness or do something relaxing such as reading or listening to music before you go to bed.

10. "If you are still struggling after all that, get the most boring book you can find and read it for 15 minutes," says Dr Barry. "Then turn off the light and try to keep yourself awake for 15 minutes.  Go back to the boring book and repeat the process until you fall asleep."

• More helpful tips can be found at www2.hse.ie/healthy-you/shake-off-the-sleep-monster.html