Stress and Sleep: Their Close Relationship

 May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and it's more crucial than ever to set aside the strains of the previous year and give your mental wellbeing a high priority.

Increased stress can make it more difficult to obtain the necessary amount of sleep, and getting adequate sleep can have a big influence on mental health. This last year has been filled with pressures, from coping with homeschooling to job stress to our health, and for many individuals, it has affected their sleep. Harvard University declared sleep to be the pandemic's "new casualty" and cautioned that individuals may be more susceptible to sleeplessness and other sleep disorders.

You're probably already aware of a few ways that stress and worry might prevent you from falling asleep. Anyone who has sat up late studying for a test or laid in bed stressed out about a big presentation at work the next day will understand what I'm talking about.

Fortunately, those are transient sensations that don't frequently interfere with our sleep patterns.

What's more worrisome is how continuous stress affects your ability to sleep. Let's explore the connection between stress and sleep and how enhancing our sleep may enhance our mental health.

Stress and Sleep: Its Effects

Stress makes it difficult to fall asleep, much like trying to shoot a half-court shot while wearing a blindfold. You can do that, but it's quite difficult to accomplish.

This is due to biological factors.

The primary stress hormone, cortisol, is released by your body while you are under stress. This is related to the introduction of sugar or glucose into the circulation, which raises blood pressure. Your heart will soon start to beat quickly, your muscles will start to tense up, and your mind will begin to race. The "fight or flight" response, a built-in survival mechanism our bodies engage when we're in danger, is the name given to this reaction.

It's that reaction that makes it challenging to get to sleep. When we are anxious, our bodies are just built to keep us awake. This issue already affects millions of Americans on a regular basis. According to a 2017 poll, 45% of Americans reported having trouble sleeping within the previous month as a result of stress.

Stress turns into chronic stress when it lasts for several weeks. High-stress work, financial concerns, divorce, the death of a family member, or, as many people are currently feeling, worry over events like the COVID-19 outbreak, can all contribute to this. The body then begins to adjust to the elevated cortisol levels. Along with making it harder to obtain a good night's sleep, this can also worsen existing health conditions including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression.

Can Being Alone Increase Stress?

You may feel less bonded to your loved ones as a result of social alienation. Sleep issues may also result from this. How does that function? It turns out that loneliness is a significant contributor to both short-term and long-term stress. Additionally, as we just said, both short-term and long-term stress pose significant obstacles to having a good night's sleep. Due to this, the same researchers discovered in their 2014 study that loneliness is strongly correlated with both daytime exhaustion, which can interfere with your regular sleep pattern, and poor sleep quality.

Researchers are still trying to understand why loneliness causes chronic stress, but one possible explanation may be evolutionary: Thousands of years ago, it was safer to travel and live in a group than on our own. That emotion is still hardwired into our DNA, which is perhaps why loneliness causes stress levels to rise.

Make sure to schedule time to speak with your friends and family to prevent this, especially if you live alone. To catch up with someone you haven't seen in a while, you may contact them on the phone or schedule a Zoom or Skype conversation. Whatever it is, make the additional effort you need to right now to keep in touch with the people who matter the most to you.

A Forming part: Insufficient sleep can increase stress

One more point concerning stress and sleep: it's not a one-way highway where stress results in bad sleep. Lack of sleep may exacerbate stress and anxiety, creating a vicious cycle that can be difficult to escape.

A single night without sleep can cause an increase in emotional stress levels of 30%, according to UC Berkeley researchers. When we don't get enough sleep, it becomes more difficult for our body to adequately handle stress. Sleep plays a crucial function in regulating our mood and assisting us in working well.

If you've been feeling more anxious than normal lately, check your sleeping patterns.

Is your regular routine disrupted as a result of remaining at home all day? Are you going to bed later or at a different time than usual? If so, it's absolutely understandable. Just remember that a good night's sleep is your foundation: it improves your immune system's function, your brain's and memory's function, and it reduces stress. This, in turn, will help you sleep better.

I understand that this is not an easy time, but finding a method to unwind and separate from the stresses of the day should be a priority. Regular exercise and a balanced diet are two excellent strategies to relieve stress and prepare for sound sleep. Another easy option to consider is taking melatonin before bedtime and limiting your nighttime exposure to blue light.