Here’s What Happens When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep (And What You Can Do About It)
We’ve all woken up in the morning kicking ourselves for staying up too late the night before watching Netflix or reading just one more chapter. It’s not unusual to have some restless nights or groggy mornings. The problem comes when this becomes a pattern. Sleep is critical to our quality of life and impacts much more than we realize, including our mental health. Not sure if sleep is an issue for you? Here are some signs your sleep may be negatively affecting your mental health:
You have constant brain fog
Your focus is struggling or nonexistent
You’re irritable and grumpy, possibly lashing out at others
You have difficulty being present with those around you
Small stressors feel like giant worries
You skip out on hobbies, events, or commitments because you want to nap, catch up on sleep, or are simply too tired to want to go anywhere or do anything
Your anxiety is worse, especially at night
You have low energy (which may lead to depressed mood)
You use caffeine in excess to function throughout the day
If these ring a bell, keep reading to learn more about the significance of solid sleep!
First of all, sleep plays a huge role in regulating cortisol - aka: the stress hormone. When someone is getting healthy sleep, it decreases their baseline stress levels, essentially creating more of a foundation for emotion regulation and better functioning across the board. When your sleep is out of whack, your cortisol levels go with it, leading to heightened stress that can manifest as physical tension, mental blocks, and increased reactivity. For example, when you don’t get enough sleep, you might feel on edge or that the most mundane things tick you off. This is because your body has not properly regulated cortisol like it needs to.
Sleep is also our body’s way of restoring itself! Our bodies and brains naturally use a lot of energy during the day and sleep is when our brain gets to work reorganizing neuropathways, processing information and emotions, and consolidating memories. It is also during sleep that our brains clear toxins and strengthen our learning pathways (hence the ability to focus and retain info). This helps us to have appropriate reaction times, memory recall, be our creative selves, and make decisions. If we don’t give our brains the time they need to be busy bees, the impacts can be detrimental to our overall health and wellbeing.
Disruption in sleep, especially when it is persistent or chronic, can have both long-term and short-term impacts on mental health. Poor sleep is linked to depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder (sleep loss can trigger manic episodes), and increased ADHD symptoms. In addition, when we don’t have the recovery time our body needs, we are at a higher risk for burnout and exhaustion and popping a melatonin gummy is (typically) not a long-term solution.
Another way sleep helps us out is by regulating our blood sugar levels. Have you ever gotten terrible sleep and the next day felt ravenously hungry? Like all you wanted was Dunkin Donuts and iced coffee? Or maybe you felt like you had no appetite at all and the sight of food made you want to cringe. You can thank the disruption in glucose regulation for this appetite weirdness. Lack of sleep affects how your body processes glucose (a sugar your body naturally makes for energy). This is what contributes to low energy that leads to wanting sugar and caffeine as quick pick-me-ups. They give your body a short boost of energy and then follow with a crash, leading you right back to where you began feeling tired and low energy. The espresso can only get you so far!
One way to help get yourself back on track is to start healthy sleep hygiene habits. A few ways to do that include:
Tracking your sleep (how many hours did you get? did you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep?)
Setting alarms for the same time each day to create a consistent sleep/wake schedule
Putting down your devices! Aim for a device-free night one hour before bed
Create a soothing environment: dark room, cool temperature, silence or using a white noise machine
Using a sleep mask or weighted blanket if needed
Healthy nighttime hygiene can improve sleep for many people, however it should be noted that persistent difficulties falling asleep, staying asleep, or feeling rested may signal an underlying health condition (and we dont want to miss this!). In cases like these, it is important to reach out to your doctor! Disorders like insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, or health concerns can interfere with normal sleep patterns. This is not something to ignore as these conditions sometimes need professional evaluations or testing. If you have concerns about your sleep patterns, make it a priority to see your doctor to get it under control as soon as you are able.
Sleep is one way our body restores itself, processes emotions and memories, manages stress, and reduces physical tension. It is our body’s natural holistic healer and helps us at every level. Taking good care of your sleep is also taking good care of yourself!