Whenever life gets busy or work gets hectic, one of the first things that gets sacrificed is our sleep. But does that overtime pay off? While it may feel like we are getting more work done, it can have an adverse effect on our mental health. Poor sleep can worsen mental health challenges and vice versa.
We often hear people say, “I can function on five hours of sleep.” But the truth is that chronic sleep deprivation is associated with reduced cognitive performance, increased emotional reactivity, weakened immunity, and a higher risk of burnout. It negatively affects attention, memory, and concentration. While compromising on sleep might give you a sense of productivity, it is ultimately counterproductive. Sleep is an important period of rest for your brain. It helps in mood regulation, improved cognitive functioning, including the consolidation of memories and emotional resilience.
Poor sleep and psychological distress go hand in hand. Sleep plays a role in balancing neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine and a chronic lack of it can activate your body’s stress response system, increasing your cortisol levels, thereby making you more vulnerable to stress responses.
Insomnia is not just a symptom of mental health conditions, but is also an active contributing factor. For example, even partial sleep deprivation can lead to significant increases in anxiety and can precipitate depressive episodes, making recovery harder. Sleep disruption also acts as a trigger for manic or depressive episodes in individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and maintaining a consistent sleep schedule is a crucial part of the treatment plan.
If you’ve been navigating sleep disorders, don’t worry, the good news is that sleep health is treatable. Improving sleep starts with simple, evidence-based habits which are very important for developing good sleep hygiene. Building habits like sticking to a schedule, waking up at a particular time, sleeping at a fixed time and maintaining an active lifestyle can help regulate the body’s internal clock. Limiting screen time to about 30 minutes before bed, as well as reducing caffeine can also help. Having a calming bedtime routine that helps you wind down, such as journaling, reading and meditating can support better rest. Exercising during the day is known to improve sleep quality, but avoid intense workouts too close to bedtime, as it can disrupt sleep. Along with it, therapeutic approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), combined with other structured therapy approaches aimed at addressing the root cause and/or psychiatry, can be transformative for your sleep health.