The Relationship Between Sleep and Mental Health
There’s a big difference between a good night’s sleep and a restless night, and not just in how you look. If you have been on the receiving end of someone who has awakened on the wrong side of the bed, then you know firsthand it often means a bit more than a bad hair day or a disheveled appearance. Poor sleep also impacts energy, mood, and attitude. Don’t let unhealthy sleep make you known as the office grump! Keep reading to learn how sleep affects mental health and what you can do to improve your sleep cycle.
Sleep and your wellbeing
Sleep plays major roles in both physical and mental health. Getting enough high quality sleep is essential to help your body and brain recover from the day’s stressors. Whether that means muscle recovery after a workout, neural network reorganization after learning a new concept, or even giving your immune system a chance to recoup after fighting off invaders all day, adequate rest is key for success.
Physical health effects
According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, sleep deprivation and deficiency affect one in three U.S. adults, and about 70 million U.S. adults have ongoing sleep disorders, whether they know it or not.1 You might be experiencing sleep deprivation or deficiency if you are sleeping at odd times during the day, not getting high quality sleep even if you are getting your recommended 7-9 hours per night, or missing out on certain phases and stages of your sleep cycle. A few telltale signs and symptoms include feeling overly tired throughout the day, not feeling refreshed when you wake up, or unintentionally dozing off for moments of microsleep.
Not only does a lack of sleep affect your energy levels during the day, but inadequate sleep also can have trickle down effects on other aspects of physical health. Sleep deficiency is linked to several chronic health conditions, like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke, and it increases the risk for bodily injury from falls. In addition, driver fatigue is estimated to factor into more than 100,000 car accidents every year.1 By prioritizing your own sleep, not only do you protect your health, you also protect the health of those around you. So get your zzz’s!
Mental health: Mood and cognition
Getting enough rest is also essential for your mental health. When we talk about mental health, we are not only talking about emotions and mood, but also the mental processing and cognitive functioning that goes on throughout the day (and night). Because we know mental health is a vital component of overall wellbeing, it makes sense that it is connected to sleep. If you aren’t getting enough quality sleep on a regular basis, then you might notice that lack of sleep affecting different areas of your life; maybe it’s the way you work, the way you learn, or even the way you communicate or engage in different social settings.
Because cognitive pathways are strained by lack of sleep, it can impact personal and professional productivity. You might have more trouble learning new concepts or struggle to focus on tasks at hand. That also makes it that much harder to pick up on non-verbal cues, like body language or facial expressions that influence the meaning of someone’s words, leading to more miscommunication or disconnect. Thinking about your mood, you might feel more frustrated, cranky, worried, or anxious in social settings, and these negative emotions impact not only you, but also the individuals you surround yourself with at work and at home.
Research from the National Sleep Foundation found that seven in 10 U.S. adults who report dissatisfaction with their sleep quality also have higher frequencies of depressive symptoms than individuals without sleep difficulties. Over half of adults who get less than the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per night have mild or worse levels of depressive symptoms.2 Other things, like anxious feelings, worrisome thoughts, and additional stress are obstacles to high quality sleep. By getting the restorative sleep you need, you can reduce the risk of depression and improve your overall wellbeing by supporting how you feel and think. Sleep is just one piece of the mental health puzzle, but it’s a big one you shouldn’t ignore.
So, what can you do to optimize your sleep?
The good thing is there are many factors that you have control over that can set you up for restful sleep. Turn a critical eye to your own sleep routine and environment to find some room for improvement.
1. Your bedroom
Let’s talk about your sleep environment. The bedroom should be reserved just for sleep – not working, watching TV, or eating meals from bed. By creating a routine where you know it’s sleep time when you enter your bedroom, you establish healthy habits and protect your sleep quality.
Looking around your bedroom, are there light sources that might keep you awake or disrupt your sleep? Slivers of light that cut through the curtains, bathroom lights, or – gasp! – your cell phone on the nightstand lighting up with notifications, can all be distractions that derail a positive sleep environment.
Other factors to consider with your bedroom environment are room temperature and nearby sounds. In general, people sleep best in a cool and quiet space, so bump down your thermostat an extra degree on your way to bed next time.
Maybe even kick the dog out of the bedroom if you notice it wandering around at night or finding its prized bone to chew on under the bed. Pet parents know one sound that will wrench them from sleep is the infamous “huagh-huagh” of a dog coughing up the stick they chewed or ate earlier in the day.
2. Your screen habits
E-screens of all sizes emit blue light, which interrupts the brain’s production of melatonin. Melatonin is often referred to as the “sunset” hormone, because it naturally rises when the sun goes down, helping to prepare your body and brain for sleep. As melatonin’s level rises, you should begin to feel tired, signaling that it’s time to start getting ready for bed. Because blue screens and artificial light interfere with melatonin production, you might catch yourself not feeling tired when you get in bed if you had just been scrolling social media or binge-watching your favorite show – another reason to leave your cell phone, TV, laptop, and tablet out of the bedroom! Sticking to a regular sleep schedule helps make it easier to fall asleep and wake up feeling refreshed.
3. Your consumption patterns
We’re talking food, alcohol, and stimulating compounds like nicotine or caffeine. Eating a large or heavy meal just before bed can make it difficult, and even uncomfortable, to lie down and fall asleep. Typically giving yourself at least an hour or two after your last meal of the day before getting into bed gives your body time to get digestion moving down and not refluxing back up when you lie down.
Alcohol, although it is a depressant that slows brain waves, has negative effects on sleep quality. How, you ask? Even though an alcoholic drink can lead you to feel more tired or ready for a nap, the sleep you get will not be as restful. Alcohol interrupts the sleep cycle, preventing you from getting into the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, which is crucial for memory formation. Because this creates a sleep cycle imbalance, your other sleep phases and stages are also adversely affected, leading to further feelings of fatigue because your rest isn’t as rejuvenating as it should be. Rethink your drink the next time you’re considering a nightcap.
Nicotine and caffeine are both stimulating compounds. Although caffeine is often found in foods like chocolate, and beverages like coffee or tea, caffeinated sodas, sports and energy drinks, even some supplements and medications can contain caffeine that prevents sleep from coming easily. Caffeine can stay in your system for up to eight hours after consumption, so keep that in mind if you frequently run out to grab an afternoon pick-me-up.
Nicotine is tricky because a lot of nicotine users, whether through vapes, cigarettes, or other tobacco products, find the habit soothing or calming. However, your body chemistry is experiencing something quite different. Nicotine is a stimulant that increases heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. It stays in your bloodstream for several hours after inhaling it, leading to difficulties falling or staying asleep.
Your mental health!
Sleep and mental health have bi-directional relationships. Getting poor or not enough sleep? Then you have probably felt more irritable and found it difficult to manage stress or other emotions because of the lack of rest. Feeling strained in your mental health and cognitive functioning? Then that’s probably leading to low quality sleep due to trouble falling or staying asleep, or unhealthy coping strategies that lead to further downward cascading effects on sleep and mood.
Taking care of your mental health also means taking care of your sleep – quality and quantity matter! Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, or even just notice extra stressors coming into your day-to-day routines lately, it’s important to make mental health a priority because of how interrelated all the aspects of health and wellbeing truly are!
The takeaway
Whatever your health needs, Thorne can help. Visit this link to find a health professional near you.
Looking for additional sleep-supportive supplements? Consider Thorne’s at-home Sleep Test, a health test that measures your salivary cortisol and melatonin levels – two hormones that influence sleep – and gives personalized recommendations for a healthy sleep plan.
References
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