How Sleep Affects Your Mental Health

Key takeaways

• How Does Sleep Affect Your Mental Health?

How Does Sleep Affect Your Mental Health?

When was the last time you had a restful night’s sleep? Do you wake up each morning feeling rejuvenated and ready to tackle the day? Or do you feel sluggish and unable to focus at work?

When the morning alarm beckons after a night of tossing and turning, many of us have to fight the temptation to hit the snooze button, desperate for just a few more minutes of sleep. While sleep may feel like a luxury in your already-too-busy schedule, getting enough sleep allows your body and mind to perform necessary daily tasks, to fight off illnesses and take care of your mental health.

If you find yourself frequently struggling to fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up early, you may notice that your lack of sleep is affecting your mental health, along with your physical well-being. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the effects of sleep deprivation on mental health and some potential ways to improve your quality of sleep.

Why is Sleep Important for Mental Health? Sleep and mental health have a complicated relationship. Lacking sleep affects your mental health, and certain mental health conditions, like depression and mood disorders, can cause sleep deprivation and insomnia. Since the two are so intertwined, it’s helpful to understand how exactly sleep benefits our mental health.

Restores and renews energy levels : Your physical and mental health depend on one another, and your body requires enough sleep to have ample energy to perform its necessary tasks. Strengthens our immune system: By getting at least six to nine hours of quality sleep, your immune system is able to heal itself and more aggressively fight off infections and illnesses. Aids in mood and emotion regulation : An article on sleep research reports that insomnia affects the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for regulating emotions and self-control, and because of this, “insomnia so often coexists with mood swings, grumpiness and erratic behavior.”

Promotes neuron health : Have you ever noticed how your brain seems to shut down when you’re feeling tired? According to Mental Health America , studies show that “the neurons in the brain send their signals at slower speeds when you’re tired,” affecting your ability to make decisions, reason and react, and these slow neuron signals are caused by the buildup of waste-like proteins between cells that your brain typically cleans up during sleep.

Encourages balanced hormones: When we sleep, we allow our bodies to regulate hormone levels. Mental Health America also describes how sleep deprivation releases more ghrelin, our hunger hormone, and less leptin, our satiety hormone, affecting your appetite and causing food cravings, and because of this, “prolonged sleep deprivation may lead to unwanted weight gain and diabetes.”

When to reach out

If symptoms are affecting relationships, work, school, sleep, or daily routines, professional support can help you sort through what is happening and choose a realistic next step.

MHCS provides therapy and mental health support for individuals, couples, families, teens, and adults.