Why is Sleep Important to Your Mental Health?
Getting those zzzzs are hard these days. Why is it you can feel so exhausted but when your head hits the pillow, you can’t fall asleep?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a third of U.S adults have trouble sleeping at night. Why is that? Stress is one of the leading causes for poor sleep. Stress can stem from COVID-19 worries, workplace stress, relationships, money, to what you are going to watch on Netflix. How we manage stress and carry it with us throughout the day is crucial to the quality of our sleep.
Did you know that poor sleep can actually increase depression? According to the National Sleep Foundation, around 75% of depressed people show symptoms of insomnia, and many people with depression also suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness and hypersomnia, which is sleeping too much.
Additionally, sleep is not only important to our mental health, but inadequate sleep can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity (CDC). Not getting enough sleep can also affect memory and motor skills during the day, such as vehicle crashes, mistakes at work, and not living up to the best of our ability.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends the following for proper sleep times based on age.
0 -3 Months
4 - 17 Hours
4 - 12 Month
12 - 16 hours/24 hours (including naps)
1 - 2 Years
11 - 14 hours/24 hours (including naps)
3 - 5 years
10 - 13 hours/24 hours (including naps)
6 - 12 years
9 - 12 hours/24 hours
13 - 18 years
8 - 10 hours/24 hours
18 - 60 years
7 or more hours per night
61 - 64 years
7 -9 hours per night
65 years and older
7 - 8 hours per night
If you have been waking up exhausted, want be more productive during your days, and start feeling like you are part of life, here are some tips for how you can sleep better:
Stick to a consistent sleep schedule.
Do not interact with electronics right before you go to bed. The blue light in electronics can keep you from sleeping.
Avoid food, alcoholic beverages, and caffeine before bed.
Create a relaxing space for you to fall asleep. Make sure room temperature is to your liking and there is not a lot of light exposure.
Stretch before bedtime to help you relax and release the tension that stress could affect.
Daily physical activity can help you sleep better. Just getting about 30 minutes a day will improve your sleep.
Seeking counseling can help you develop stress management skills, how to overcome relationship struggles, mind-body skills, anxiety, depression, etc. to help with your bedtime dilemma. Also, talk to your doctor about sleep problems in case you have a sleeping disorder.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/index.html
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/mental-health
https://sleepeducation.org/healthy-sleep/healthy-sleep-habits/
-Chesnie Nichols, Graduate Counseling Intern