Sleep

Many of us struggle to have a good night's sleep every night so if this is you don't feel alone. 

In the last Colleague Health and Wellbeing survey 93% of colleagues told us they either frequently or sometimes have problems sleeping. See below for some support resources to help you have better sleep.

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Sleepio

• In September 2021 ran a pilot with colleagues to test the ‘Sleepio’ app – an evidence-based treatment for insomnia. The pilot showed colleagues engaged with the app, would recommend it to others, and it led to meaningful improvements in sleep and wellbeing. Based on these promising results, we are now offering Sleepio access to all colleagues and students. Find out more and sign up today.

Spectrum Life

• Spectrum Life is our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) which is a confidential, neutral service provided by an external company to support colleagues at the University. 

Occupational Health

• If you are experiencing anxiety or depression it can help to talk to your manager who can refer you to Occupational Health for support. Alternatively, you can make a self-referral direct to the Occupational Health Team. 

Mindfulness

• Free mindfulness sessions available for colleagues
• Mindfulness is a simple and powerful practice of training our attention. It involves learning to pay attention to what is happening in the ‘here and now’ (i.e. sensations, thoughts, and emotions) in a non-judgemental way. It can be helpful because it can interrupt the habit of getting lost in thoughts, mostly about the future or past, which often generates more stress on top of the real pressures of everyday life. Mindfulness offers not only a way of reducing stress and preventing low mood, it also holds potential to improve the way we live, helping us to thrive and be resilient at work and in our broader lives.

Other University resources

• Taking good care of ourselves can really help us to stay mentally well. Take a look at the ‘Self-care and staying well’ section for resources and advice.
• Mindfulness practice audio recordings
• A new study co-authored by Dr David Plans, from the Business School, shows going to sleep between 10 and 11pm is linked to lowered risk of heart disease, featured in many places this week including Washington Post, FOX News, The Guardian and ITV.com. 
• Body Clock article (from the College of Medicine and Health)
• The University of Exeter library has an in-person and online wellbeing section you can access.

External support

• Short Stories for Stressed Grown-Ups is a new podcast series by Devon based writer Neil Bebber. The series is part bedtime story, part meditation and has been created specifically to help people relax and get a good night's sleep. 
• NHS sleep advice
• A 'Sleep self-help guide' has been created by DPT NHS.
• TALKWORKS For Improving Sleep workshop is a free CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) session open to anyone over 18 who is living in Devon (with the exception of Plymouth).
• The Access to Work Mental Health Support - a confidential service delivered by Remploy funded by the Department of Works and Pensions is available at no charge to any employees with depression, anxiety, stress or other mental health issues affecting their work.
• NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)- an NHS support you can refer yourself directly to for talking therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), counselling, other therapies and guided self-help. Local IAPT services are listed below:
  • NHS Talkworks (Devon)
  • NHS Outlook South West (Cornwall)
  • Steps2Wellbeing (Dorset)
  • Plymouth Options (Plymouth)
  • Somerset Partnership Talking Therapies (Somerset)
  • VitaMinds (Bristol, N.Somerset, S.Gloucestershire)
  • B&NES Talking Therapies (Bah & N.E. Somerset)
  • If you live outside of these areas, you can find your local service using the NHS IAPT Search Tool.
• You could also try setting a bedtime schedule notification on your phone.

Infographics

Here are some useful infographics from an organisation called BelievePerform we suscribe to. Once you click on any of the below you can then scroll through all of the images. You can then download these (by right clicking -> 'Save images as'). You can then zoom in for greater clarity.