The relationship between sleep and mental health is two-way. Multiple studies show that poor sleep or sleep deprivation negatively affects our psychological state. When you’re experiencing mental health issues, your sleep patterns are often disturbed. You may battle to fall asleep or wake up at various times throughout the night. At the same time, poor sleep can contribute to – and worsen – mental health problems including depression and other mood disorders, anxiety disorders and attention deficit disorders.
The effects of poor sleep
Christine Brophy, VP of Behavior Change at Vitality Group suggests building “sleep hygiene routines” that promote good quality sleep. “About half of us are kept awake by stress and 1 in 3 people experience insomnia,” she says. “Seven to nine hours of sleep a night is recommended for optimal health for most people, but this isn’t always easy to achieve, with work being the number-one reason people cut back on sleep.”
“Without question, a lack of sleep takes its toll on our mental abilities – our mental reasoning skills suffer, and our decision-making processes become challenged.” This may result in making mistakes on the job, poor performance and productivity.
Your emotional capacity is also stressed. Think about the last time you had a poor night of sleep. You likely got up the next morning feeling groggy, irritable – and even anxious and lacking concentration and focus. This makes a full, productive workday impossible, which heightens feelings of stress. It also makes it harder for you to cope with even the smallest of challenges in daily life which may impact your personal relationships, too. “Staying ahead of sleep problems is crucial to help protect overall mental health and wellbeing.”
