Sleep Hygiene for Mental Wellness: Why Poor Sleep Affects Your Mood

As many as 50 to 70 million Americans have chronic sleep disorders, and countless more have an on-again, off-again relationship with getting a good night’s sleep. There is plenty of research to show the importance of getting adequate rest for your body to function well, but that is also the case with mental well-being.

Without enough sleep, your moods tend to suffer. You can experience everything from anxiety to depression. But how can you improve the quality of the rest you get? Learn more about the connections between rest and mood and how to get ready for bed in a way that will encourage sleep.

How Does Lack of Sleep Affect Your Mood?

If you have ever missed a night of sleep, you probably experienced feeling unmoored. You might have been irritable and more vulnerable to stress. These are natural reactions when you do not get decent rest. Even partial sleep deprivation has a huge effect on mood.

A study found that people who were restricted to just a few hours of sleep a night for a limited time reported feeling significantly sadder, angrier, and more stressed. Once they returned to their regular sleeping schedule, their moods stabilized.

However, lost sleep can affect you even if you just miss an hour or two, especially if you lose REM sleep. REM, or rapid eye movement, is the stage of sleep where most dreams occur. Your brain activity during REM is similar to your waking brain activity, and this process is essential for a number of brain tasks, including:

• Emotional processing

• Brain development

• Memory consolidation

• Dreaming

Because emotional processing takes place during REM, it is easy to see why losing hours of that sleep stage can impact your mood.

A lack of good rest can also worsen any mood issues you already have. People can have spiking symptoms of anxiety and depression and could even experience suicidal ideation. But why does lack of sleep have such a profound effect on mental wellness?

The Amygdala’s Role: How Sleep Deprivation Affects the Brain’s Emotional Center

The amygdala is the area of the brain that is most closely associated with emotions, fear, and motivations. It is responsible for emotional processing and can connect emotions to memory.

If you don’t get enough sleep, your amygdala begins to overreact to stimuli because it becomes less able to communicate with the medial prefrontal cortex, which would otherwise moderate its response. This leads to emotional instability.

Are You Helping Yourself Get Enough Rest? Tips That Can Improve Your Sleep Quality

If you have trouble getting a good night’s sleep, it can help to perform a sleep hygiene assessment. Sleep hygiene refers to a range of behaviors and environmental factors that can help promote quality sleep. One of the signs that your sleep hygiene might need some boosting is if you do not fall asleep easily or you wake up often.

If you experience excessive daytime sleepiness, mood disturbances, and concentration issues, they could be related to inadequate sleep. These tips can help you improve your sleep hygiene.

Maintain a Consistent Sleeping Schedule

Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day allows your body to get used to a routine. People struggle to do this on the weekend and may choose to sleep in, but that can disrupt your sleep patterns and make it more difficult to wake up for work on Monday.

Remember to prioritize sleep. It can be tempting to stay up an extra hour socializing or even working, but doing so does not allow your body to maintain its sleep rhythm. You also do not want to overdo it with napping for the same reason.

Optimize Your Bedroom

Your sleep environment plays a significant role in the quality of sleep you get. Going to bed should be a pleasurable experience, so choose a mattress that is comfortable and addresses any body aches you may have. Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature but on the cool side.

Reducing noise is essential, especially if you live on a busy street. Try earplugs or a white noise machine. For some people, even the sound of a fan is enough to block outside noises.

In addition to reducing noise, try to minimize the amount of light. Choose heavy curtains or blackout blinds, or wear an eye mask.

You can also try calming scents. A misting machine that releases scents of lavender or a few drops of essential oil on your pillow can help you relax.

Develop Healthy Daytime Habits

Throughout the day, try to get more natural light exposure. Open your curtains as soon as you wake up and step outside as much as possible throughout the day. Light is one of the most important cues your body needs to maintain its circadian rhythm.

Try to get some exercise during the day. Not only can it offer a wealth of health benefits,it also makes falling asleep at night easier. Just don’t exercise right before bed since it can energize you and make it more difficult to relax.

If you smoke, it’s a good idea to try quitting. Nicotine stimulates the body, making sleep more difficult. The same thing goes for alcohol. Although it can make you sleepy at first, the effects wear off later at night and actually make it more difficult to fall asleep or to stay asleep.

Cut down on caffeine in the afternoon and evening. Caffeine is a stimulant, so it can keep you wired for hours. If you have a habit of dining late, moving it up can help, too. It gives your body plenty of time to digest your meal before trying to sleep.

Try relaxation exercises throughout the day to better manage your stress levels. The more stressed you are, the more difficult it can be to relax when it’s time to sleep.

Learn How to Unwind With a Bit of Help

If you have trouble sleeping and feel that your mental well-being is affected, you can rely on mental health professionals to help you. These experts can provide relaxation exercises and other behavioral strategies to improve your mental state throughout the day. By managing anxieties and everyday worries, getting sleep can be a bit easier.

The mental health professionals at Wellness Links can assist you in developing better sleep hygiene strategies.

Notes

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2022, March 24). What Are Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation

Tomaso, C. C., Johnson, A. B., & Nelson, T. D. (2020). The Effect of Sleep Deprivation and Restriction on Mood, Emotion, and Emotion Regulation: Three Meta-Analyses in One. Sleep, 44(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaa289

How Sleep Deprivation Affects Your Mood. (2023, December 21). TIME. https://time.com/6549926/sleep-deprivation-emotions/

Summer, J., & Singh, A. (2021, December 16). REM Sleep: What It Is and Why It Matters. Sleep Foundation. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/stages-of-sleep/rem-sleep

Saghir, Z., Syeda, J. N., Muhammad, A. S., & Balla Abdalla, T. H. (2018). The Amygdala, Sleep Debt, Sleep Deprivation, and the Emotion of Anger: A Possible Connection? Cureus, 10(7). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.2912