Info card · Depression and burnout
Go through the list to see what’s keeping your sleep from restoring your energy, and choose where to start.
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You go to bed at different times and wake up wiped out, even after sleeping a long time.
“Just five more minutes” on your phone before bed turns into an hour.
Burnout or long-term stress: your energy doesn’t come back, even though you try to rest.
How it works
During sleep, the brain recovers and clears out metabolic waste. That’s why, with burnout, sleep isn’t a luxury but one of the main pillars of recovery. Adults usually need 7–9 hours.
Sleep hygiene is a set of simple rules around sleep: schedule, light, temperature, screens, food and activity. On its own, it doesn’t treat chronic insomnia — for that there is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and medical help. But without these rules, recovery is harder. Mark what you already do and choose one or two points to start with.
The rules are drawn from sleep specialists’ recommendations; the list and wording come from Nikita Grigoriev’s letter to clients with burnout. A review by Irish and colleagues found that individual rules are linked to better sleep, but their direct effect in everyday life has been little studied. The 7–9 hour range for adults comes from the National Sleep Foundation’s recommendations. For treating chronic insomnia, the AASM clinical practice guideline (2021) recommends cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and does not recommend sleep hygiene alone as a treatment.
If insomnia lasts for several weeks in a row, you snore loudly and wake up gasping for air, or you nod off during the day, see your family doctor. Take sleeping pills and melatonin only after talking to a doctor.
If things feel very bad right now or you are having thoughts of death: 112 — immediate danger to life, around the clock; 116 123 — emotional support, 10:00–24:00; 116 006 — victim support crisis line, around the clock; Eluliin 655 8088 (Estonian), 655 5688 (Russian) — 19:00–07:00. Emergency help →
Dim your thoughts before sleep: each one is a monitor whose brightness you turn down.
Info cardRelease the tension your body holds out of habit: tense your muscles as you breathe in and let go completely as you breathe out.
TrackerSee which activities lift your mood, and gradually add them to your week.
If this topic feels familiar, a consultation can help clarify what is happening in your situation and identify practical next steps.
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