Between overwhelming amounts of work and the various social conflicts that come with being a girl, sleep is the last thing on most of our minds. Men have the ability to drift off into a soundless sleep without the slightest bit of worry or hammering thoughts. For many reasons, women face a greater amount of trouble when trying to get some rest, caused by both physical and mental composition.

Hormones, as we’ve learned about in 6th grade health class, play a leading role in what causes the great distinction between a male and a female. In a female body, different levels of estrogen and progesterone fluctuate, especially during the menstrual cycle, which men do not undergo. The shifts that occur within hormone transportation can unfortunately disrupt sleep, especially when accompanied by menstrual pain and mood swings.

Besides the obvious physical differences, females operate in contrasting ways within everyday emotional and mental processes. Psychological strain and tension can lead a heavy weight to remain on a woman’s shoulders throughout the day and into the late night. “After a long day of problems and stress, I find it really hard to fall asleep at night and sometimes it often takes hours,” offered Wayne Hills sophomore, Maddy Carlo. To simply state it, our brains just can’t shut off! Emotional sensitivity can leave a girl tossing and turning in the dark, constantly pondering about what had happened during the day and worrying about what’s to come when the sun rises yet again. “It’s true there’s sort of a snowball effect — there’s an initial insult and then there’s sort of a stress phenomenon that follows that. Concern and worry and hypervigilance about not sleeping can perpetuate it.” It’s not always easy to change this line of thinking,” Dianne Augelli, M.D., a sleep expert at the Weill Cornell Center for Sleep Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian.

So then follows the real question: What can we do?

The following list provides 5 helpful tips to improve sleep habits:

1. Stick to a bedtime routine
2. Restrict time in bed (avoid oversleeping!)
3. Exercise
4. Stay away from bright electronics right before bed (instead try reading a book or magazine to pass the time)
5. Try contacting a doctor