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The saying, “have a good night’s sleep”, is a common way to wish someone a good rest. Most people consider sleeping as a way of shutting down your senses and letting your body rest. Sleeping could help maintain essential skills for body functioning, including better concentration, refreshing memories, and coping with traumas(Columbia University Department of Psychiatry 2022). However, the benefits of sleeping don’t only include energizing one’s self or relaxation.
On social media, it’s common to see people consider sleeping as a kind of “guilty pleasure, including taking naps to procrastinate the work one is too tired to do now or just to simply escape from some kind of situation or mood. When you feel sleepy, it’s an alarm from your body that’s telling you to take a rest. Without good quality sleep, it could influence both your physical and mental health, the saying “woke up on the wrong side of the bed” is a way to say someone is feeling grumpy after waking up, showing how closely mental health is tied to one’s sleeping quality. Researchers found out that having a poor sleeping schedule, including insomnia and other sleeping deprivations can be a contributing factor that increases the risk of diagnosing mental health disease or worsening mental health problems (Suni 2023).
When sleeping, our brain will function differently during different sleeping stages. During non-rapid eye movement sleep (NRM), our brain slows down functioning but still generates energy bursts. On the other hand, during rapid eye movement sleep (REM), our brain is faster, and we often have more intense dreams during this sleeping stage (Suni 2023). Since each sleeping stage allows different parts of the brain to work, lack of sleep, especially REM sleep, could influence our mood and the ability to deal with emotions, since our brain tends to handle memories and thoughts, a poor sleeping schedule could lead to difficulties in dealing with negativity, triggering mental health issues, risk of including suicidal thoughts or self-harm behaviors (). Some of the specific mental health conditions that are tied closely to sleep quality include depression, seasonal affective depression, anxiety, ADHD, and bipolar disorder. As a result, having a good sleeping schedule has a tight relationship with having better mental health.
Ways to improve sleep quality (Suni 2023)
A common cause of poor sleep quality is having a bad sleeping schedule, below are some of the ways to improve your mental health by improving your sleep quality.
Having a set bedtime
Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco in the evening, also don’t eat too full before bedtime
Finding a supporting and comfy blanket, pillow, and mattress
Avoid intense exercise before bedtime
Block excessive lights when sleeping
Make sure your room is in a decent and cool temperature
Avoid using digital gadgets before bed and turn the screen to night mode
Starting in 1998, the National Sleep Foundation tried to promote a better sleeping schedule to increase overall mental health in people, and they launched March as Sleep Awareness Month (Columbia University Department of Psychiatry 2022). Sleeping is a huge part of one’s health in all fields, so even if you are busy with your work, always remember to maintain your sleeping schedule and take rests.
Work Cited:
“How Sleep Deprivation Impacts Mental Health.” Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, 16 Mar. 2022, https://www.columbiapsychiatry.org/news/how-sleep-deprivation-affects-your-mental-health#:~:text=Sleep%20helps%20maintain%20cognitive%20skills,to%20perceive%20the%20world%20accurately.
Suni, Eric. “Mental Health and Sleep.” Sleep Foundation, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.sleepfoundation.org/mental-health.
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