Sleep is for the weak! Right?

We have all seen those highly productive people who say that they go to bed at 11, wake up at 4 and it's GO! GO! GO!. Have you ever wondered how they have enough energy to keep up with their busy schedules on 5 hours of sleep??

Quick Answer: THEY DON"T. On the simpler scale, it makes sense that less sleep means being awake longer to do more productive things, but it's important to note that what you think your body can handle is not always helping you in the long run.

Cynthia LaJambe explains:

“Some people think they are adapting to being awake more, but are actually performing at a lower level. They don't realize it because the functional decilne happens so gradually.”

People who sleep for 6 hours or less each night become used to the EFFECTS of sleep deprivation, this does not mean that they do not feel sleep deprived or that their body is okay with the lack of sleep. Sleep deprivation also takes a great toll on our mental health. I mean it is so well known that the saying for someone who is in a bad mood "woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

In fact, research has shown that lack of sleep is linked to depression, anxiety, bipolar and other mental illnesses. The relationship between sleep and mental illness seems like a vicious cycle. Having mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety can make it really difficult to fall asleep, but at the same time, having poor sleep or insomnia can lead to mental illnesses or worsen the existing mental health struggles. It is therefore important to try and improve your sleep and get enough rest.

How does sleep improve your mental health?

According to research, there's a lot of brain activity that occurs during our sleep. During our REM sleep, our brain processes our emotional information, thoughts and memories and if there is a lack of sleep, research shows that this process is not fully consolidated which results in a gap in especially positive emotional information.

It is estimated that:

Of the approximate 300 million people who suffer from depression, 75% show symptoms of insomnia.

It is therefore so incredibly important that we pay attention to our sleep and try and ensure that we get enough sleep every night. But this is easier said than done. Especially for those who suffer from sleep disruption and insomnia.

How to improve our sleep

Due to sleep and mental health being interlinked where often the one influences the other, and vice versa, I argue that if we can focus on improving one variable, it could lead to an improvement of the other.

Mental illness is incredibly complex with a large variety of factors, so it's probably easier to focus on improving our sleep.

Here are some ways to improve your sleep:

• Have a set bedtime and try and stick to that time.

• Set out an hour wind-down before your bedtime.

• Avoid caffeine after 6pm

• Avoid any screens in your wind-down hour.

• Get enough exercise in during the day

• Drinking chamomile tea is shown to help improve sleep

In conclusion

I know you might think you're strong enough to handle less than 7 hours of sleep, but your body can't and it is probably already showing you signs that it needs rest. Please take time to listen to your rest. Sleep is not weakness or laziness, it's fuel for the mind.

References:

Suni, E. 2022. Mental Health and Sleep. Sleep Foundation: A OneCare Media Company.

Scott, AJ, Webb, T.L., & Rowse, G. 2017. Does improving sleep lead to better mental health? A protocol for a meta-analytic review of randomised controlled trials. BMJ Open, 7:e016873. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2017-016873

Ramar K, Malhotra RK, Carden KA, et al. 2021. Sleep is essential to health: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement. J Clin Sleep Med. 17,(10):2115–2119