Sleep and Mental Health

When we are anxious, stressed, or just not feeling well, is it possible that sleep issues are impacting how we feel? There may be more to “getting up on the wrong side of the bed.”

Why is Sleep So Important?

Sleep is so important to our well-being and how we feel, yet a third of adults and 80% of teenagers don’t get enough sleep. On top of that, about 25% of adults have sleep apnea, insomnia or similar disorders. In general, more than 20% of adults have a mental health condition. (Stanford)

Poor sleep also definitely impacts our mental health, and poor mental health impacts our sleep, so it can be a vicious cycle. People with insomnia are 10 times more likely to be depressed and 17 times more likely to have anxiety. If you have sleep apnea, you have three times the chance of having these same issues. (Stanford)

Sleep is restorative to many brain and body functions and assists us in processing what happened that day. Sleep helps us regulate our emotions and behaviors. It helps us with cognitive skills like attention, learning and memory. (Columbia) We may have trouble learning, focusing, making decisions, problem solving, or dealing with change if we are short on sleep. Sleep deficiency can even impact our reaction time, the time it takes to do things, and increase the mistakes we make. (nhlbi) Losing good sleep can make it harder to deal with minor stressors and even prevent us from accurate perceptions of the world around us. (Columbia) Until our twenties, sleep aids growth and development. For any age, there is an increased risk of chronic health issues with sleep deficiency. (nhlbi)

Symptoms of Sleep Deficiency

You might be sleep deprived if you OFTEN feel like you could:

• Doze off while: sitting and reading or watching TV, or in public such as in a movie, meeting or class.
• You might doze riding in a car for over an hour nonstop.
• Others might doze if sitting quietly after lunch, or doze during that lunch even if conversing with another individual.
• Some people may doze while stopped in traffic for couple of minutes.
• As we’ve seen with some children, they may become overly active, not be attentive or misbehave. (nhlbi)

Treating Sleep Deficiency

Every one of us is different and has our own optimal sleep length, our own rhythm (owls vs larks), type of mattress, etc. Finding the right solution for you is important!

Make sure you have good sleep habits:

• Have a regular bedtime and length of sleep
• You may want to have a systematic relaxation habit before bedtime.
• Turn down the lights and stop using screen devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime.
• Assess your mattress, pillows, linens and room temperature for your comfort.
• Avoid alcohol, tobacco and caffeine in the evening. You may even need to cut caffeine off in the afternoon.
• If you live in a bright or noisy environment, consider sound and light blocking curtains and/or a white noise machine.
• Regular exercise and daytime natural light might help, but stop exercising vigorously within 2 hours of bedtime. (Sleep Foundation)
• Naps may help, but they should only be 20 to 30 minutes long.
• If you are having trouble falling asleep, some people find it helpful to train their body that bed is for sleep. Get up if you haven’t fallen asleep 15-20 minutes, go to another room and sit quietly or read with a dim light until you are drowsy. Go back to bed. Repeat the process if you still aren’t sleepy. (Harvard)

If you are already doing what you can on your own,

• See your health care provider if you are experiencing sleep deprivation symptoms.
• Your health care provider may refer you to a sleep specialist for a sleep study to assess how you are sleeping.
• If stress and thoughts are keeping you awake at night, or you have other mental health concerns, talking with a counselor may be beneficial. (Sleep Foundation)

Sources

• nhlbi: Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency
• Sleep Foundation: Mental Health and Sleep
• Columbia University, Department of Psychiatry: How Sleep Deprivation Impacts Mental Health
• Harvard Health: Does exercising at night affect sleep?
• Stanford Medicine: How sleep affects mental health(and vice versa): What the science says

Want to learn more about the Embrace Mental Wellness initiative? View the archives.