You are currently in your 3rd period class, which unfortunately happens to be
your history class. You only got 2 hours of sleep last night, making your eyelids
feel heavy as you listen to your history teacher ramble on about some
important treaty that you completely forgot about. As you keep going on with
your day, you realize that you can’t stay focused, feel exhausted, and have
completely lost motivation to stay awake. These are all signs and symptoms of
sleep deprivation, which is defined to be a state caused by a lack of sleep. Sleep
deprivation may be caused by things such as stress, schoolwork, or poor
sleeping habits. However, sleep deprivation can also be caused by diseases like
circadian rhythm sleep disorders that are involuntary or voluntary. Some
long-term effects of sleep deprivation include hypertension, obesity, weakened
immune system, and insomnia. In addition, sleep deprivation can also increase
your chances of developing diabetes, memory loss, strokes, heart attacks, and
psychiatric disorders.
So what does sleep have to do with our mental health? Well, it’s not so easy to explain. Many of us have experienced a good night’s sleep and the bright
energetic feelings that occur after getting 7-9 full hours of sleep. In
comparison, a bad night’s sleep makes us feel grumpy, foggy, and exhausted.
The vast differences between a good or bad night’s sleep may be caused by the
negative emotional responses to stressors or positive emotions experienced
changing. Although the exact reason is still yet to be determined, it is widely
known that sleep is important to our brain and body functions when regulating
emotions, behavior, cognitive skills, and processing our daily activities.
If sleep is so important to our mental health and overall body, how can we improve our sleeping habits to avoid causing health issues in the future? In order to start drastically changing your sleeping habits for the better, you need to gradually begin changing your routine. You should start o by sticking to a realistic and reasonable schedule, as it will help you “train”your body to fall asleep and wake up easily and on time. You should also limit your daily caeine intake, as it will increase your need to relieve yourself throughout the night ultimately leading to a restless night. Being physically active can also improve your hours of restful sleep by helping you attain a higher amount of restorative deep sleep. Try to limit your day naps as it will disrupt your natural daily sleep cycle and make you feel more energetic during the day which can lead to insomnia occurring. Watch out for sleep surroundings that promote insomnia
by setting app limits or time limits on your electronics at least 30 minutes
before going to bed. By removing your electronics from your mind, you will be
able to get peaceful sleep without any interruptions. Finally, if you don’t seem
to be falling asleep after 20 minutes of being in bed, get up and read a book to
calm your mind, relax and avoid any tossing and turning.
Sleep is a natural part of our day that we usually don’t take into account. Sleep
impacts our mental health by regulating key features like our cognitive skills,
behavior, etc. Although some people would argue that bad sleep habits are
caused by schoolwork and procrastination, organizing your work to fit into a
realistic schedule would lessen or completely eliminate the possibility of sleep
deprivation occuring. Therefore, bad sleep habits can be fixed with setting
limits, ultimately leading to decreasing the risks of developing mental health
issues.
Citations:
How Sleep Deprivation Impacts Mental Health.”Columbia University Department of
Psychiatry, 16 Mar. 2022,
www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/how-sleep-deprivation-aects-your-mental-hea
lth#:%7E:text=Sleep%20helps%20maintain%20cognitive%20skills,to%20perceive%
20the%20world%20accurately.
Harvard Health. “Successful Aging: 10 Tips for Better Sleep.”Harvard Health, 28 July
2017,
www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/successful-aging-10-tips-for-better-sleep
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