It is often said that sleep has the tendency to affect your mental state. And this is a true statement. But how can I be so sure? Well, I remember when I subscribed to Charter cable, I spent most of my time binge-watching my favorite shows on the television, comprising my sleep almost all the time. This led to me becoming a victim of depression and I just had to pay more heed to my sleeping routine. You too should be more careful. The reason is that if you develop a habit of staying up late then you will not be able to get enough sleep which may cause you to have insomnia and that is not a pretty thing. In fact, it can easily become a leading factor in the initiation of mental health problems.
How Is Sleep and Mental Health Related
You may not know this but brain activity fluctuates during sleep. It can increase or decrease during various sleep stages that constitute the sleep cycle. In NREM sleep, the brain activity is not that fast but there are still quick bursts of energy. Whereas in REM sleep, brain activity increases which is the reason why this stage is related more closely to intense dreaming. Also, it is fascinating to note that this brain activity while sleeping can have a big impact on your emotional and mental health.
If you have sufficient sleep then this will facilitate the brain to process emotional information. However, the lack of it is really harmful to you. How? Well, you won’t be able to process positive emotional signals as a result of which your behavior would change drastically.
Sleep & Mental Health Issues
As stated earlier, not having appropriate sleep can lead you to have mental health problems. Let’s now shed some light on it and find out what some of them are
1. Depression
Depression is a mood disorder that makes a person feel hopeless and unhappy. People who have depression usually suffer from hypersomnia and excessive daytime sleepiness. Some researchers have found out that poor sleep is one of the biggest causes of depression.
2. Anxiety Disorder
This disorder is what makes one feel extremely worried and fearful which can easily disturb an individual’s life. It can also contribute to health problems such as diabetes and heart diseases. There are different types of anxiety disorders like panic, post-traumatic stress, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Anxiety and sleep are closely related. You see, fear and worry will create a hyperarousal state which will cause your mind to race. Also, hyperarousal is what causes insomnia in the first place.
3. Schizophrenia
It is quite a serious disease where a person finds it difficult to figure out what’s real and what’s not. People who have this mental health disorder usually experience circadian rhythm disease or insomnia. The fact that symptoms of Schizophrenia and poor sleep can be mutually reinforcing, there might be some benefits if you stabilize your sleep patterns.
4. Autism Spectrum Disorder
It is a type of disorder that encompasses different neurodevelopmental conditions that will affect your social interaction and communication skills. Such a condition is diagnosed in childhood years and may persist in adulthood. People with ASD have more sleep problems which may include sleep-disordered breathing and insomnia. This can simply worsen a person’s life.
5. Bipolar Disorder
A person diagnosed with bipolar disorder will have extreme mood swings that can be both mania and depression. A person’s symptoms and feelings will differ according to the type of episode that he/she goes through. The periods of depression and manic can sometimes lead to major impairment in a person’s life. The sleep patterns of a person suffering from bipolar disorder change significantly. If they are in a manic phase then they might not feel the need to sleep. However, if they are going through a depressive phase then they might sleep excessively.
Conclusion
Insomnia can quite simply make life harder for people. Above are some of the problems which show how sleep and mental health are associated with each other. Therefore, it is important for you to take care of your sleeping patterns so that you can live a healthy life.
