The Vital Connection Between Sound Sleep and Mental Well-being
Why is everyone yawning and grumpy?
March 1, 2024 Written by Dr Rudy Wietfeldt 0 Comments
One topic that easily gets overlooked in discussions about mental health is the importance of good, deep, restful sleep. As a psychologist, I cannot stress enough the profound impact that adequate sleep has on our physical, mental, and psychological well being.
This is a topic we are going to explore in significant detail over time. For today, let's get a good overview.
In a world where hustle culture often glorifies sacrificing sleep for so-called productivity, it's crucial to recognize the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation. Some of you will remember that Ronal Reagan and Margaret Thatcher both spoke of how they only needed four hours of sleep per night. Is it a coincidence that both ended up with Alzheimer's Disease?
According to research and the National Sleep Foundation, adults should aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night to function optimally. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, insomnia has become a prevalent problem.
Insomnia is more than just difficulty falling or staying asleep; it's a disorder that disrupts the body's natural sleep-wake cycle, leading to persistent fatigue, irritability, and impaired cognitive function -- including the ability to make good, moral decisions. The consequences of chronic insomnia extend far beyond grogginess the next day. It can contribute to the development or exacerbation of various mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and even psychosis.
But why is insomnia on the rise? A lot of it has to do with a rise in technology. In 1925, half of American houses had electricity. By 1945, 85% did. And by 1960, virtually all homes had electricity. Herein lies the first issue: for less than 100 years our society has had to adapt to the notion of having the ability of turning night into day. As human beings, we have had only a handful of generations to get our bodies and minds accustomed to having less and less downtime. If you think about it, there is only so much that could be done with the dim effects of candlelight or oil lamps. Also, in the last few decades, the proliferation of screens in our daily lives, from smartphones and laptops to tablets and giant TVs, have all contributed to a different lifestyle -- all of which increases the amount of light we are exposed to later in the day.
Melatonin is a naturally produced hormone that helps regulate sleep. You probably know of someone who has taken tablets of melatonin to help them sleep. The truth is that melatonin production is inversely proportional to the amount of ambient light in the environment: the brighter the room, the more devices we are staring at, the less melatonin we produce and the poorer the sleep we get.
Step one in getting better sleep and better health is setting and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule. Sounds pretty simple, right? Not so in everyday life.
So if you've got that going on already, good job! If you don't, get alarms going to help you get up the same time every day...and use alarms to help you get to bed at the proper time every day. This is the first step.
We'll dive deeper into CBTi, the gold standard of treatment for insomnia, in upcoming posts.
For now, please get some rest.
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