By Sarah Cummings
We all know that sensation of waking up after a truly good night’s sleep and feeling like we can take on the entire world.
Unfortunately, in today’s fast-paced, screen-infested modern world, that feeling is all too rare. Fewer and fewer of us are getting the rest our bodies so badly need. Which is bad news for our mental health.
Chronic sleep deprivation – consistently getting less than seven hours’ kip a night – has been linked to increased levels of anxiety, stress, depression and even suicide.
What’s concerning is that getting less than seven hours a night is a situation that one-third of North Americans are currently in. So serious is the problem that in 2014 the U.S. Centre for Disease Control declared sleep disorders to be so prevalent as to constitute a public health epidemic.
Below, we take a look at the role sleep plays in mental health and how getting more of the good stuff can help build mental resilience.
Sleep and emotional regulation
Mood swings are a familiar consequence of a bad night’s sleep. Why should this be the case? Well, it’s all to do with a small almond shaped collection of nuclei hidden deep in the medial temporal lobe. Say hello to the amygdala, also known as the emotional control centre of our brain.
The amygdala, while small in stature plays a big role in how we respond emotionally to external stimuli. When everything is working well we respond in an emotionally balanced way. However when we sleep badly studies have shown the amygdala becomes overly sensitive to external stimuli. The result can be dramatic mood swings.
The link between the amygdala and mental resilience doesn’t end there. A host of conditions including depression, stress and anxiety are thought to be linked to the malfunctioning of the amygdala. Abnormal functioning may be due to developmental problems, damage or neurotransmitter imbalances, the latter of which can be strongly linked to poor sleep. More on that below.
The better we sleep, the better our emotional stability, the greater our resilience.
Sleep, cortisol and depression
While we lie dreaming of chocolate unicorns, our brain is busy preparing itself for the day to come. As we slumber, a number of vitally important processes take place. One of the most important for our emotional wellbeing is the regulation of a number of powerful neurotransmitter levels in our system. This includes cortisol, also known as the “stress hormone.”
If we don’t sleep for long enough, or our sleep is broken, then the regulation of these hormones can be impaired. It’s thought the knock-on impact of this can either cause, or at the least amplify, pre-existing mental health conditions such as stress, anxiety and depression.
Such is the link between poor sleep and mental health, it’s been stated that insomniacs are a mind-boggling 20 times more likely to suffer from panic related stress disorderthan individuals who sleep well, and five times more likely to be depressed.
For more information on the importance of getting at least seven hours quality sleep a night, discover what the latest up-to date researchfrom the Sleep Advisor at www.sleepadvisor.org has to say on the topic.
Sleep and positivity
While not getting enough sleep can have a severe impact on our emotional resilience, sleeping well can have the exact opposite effect. There is a strong and proven link between unbroken sleep and the ability to maintain a positive outlook on life.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that individuals who slept through the night without interruption had a much more positive outlook than individuals who woke once or twice during the night.
A complementary study conducted by the University of Binghamton found that individuals who got less hours sleep were more likely to be overcome with “repetitive negative feelings.”
According to these findings, when you go to bed and how much sleep you get can have a very profound impact on your ability to control how much you worry about things.
Final Thoughts
When we rest, our mind repairs and rejuvenates itself after the hardships of the day. These processes require long stints of deep and unbroken sleep to be successful. If we consistently sleep badly we are interrupting these process and ultimately our mental stability is going to suffer as a result.
To be ensure mental health you have to give your brain’s need for sleep the respect it deserves. Treat your bedtime seriously and it will treat you to improved mental resilience in return.
Sarah Cummings (@ImSarahCummings) is Editor in Chief and Sleep Expert at the blog The Sleep Advisor. A self-confessed sleep addict, she regularly writes on this topic, even for other sites. Sarah believes that by improving our sleep habits just a bit will lead to a healthier and happier life. She is also a big fan of spreadsheets, sunbathing on a beach and travel.
