Relieve your stress, improve your mental health, and stabilize your moods.
Do you often stay up late, working long hours, partying with friends, or catching up on the latest episode of your favorite TV show? Maybe you have chores or kids keeping you busy and up late? If any of this resonates with you, you’re likely not getting the optimum amount of sleep that you require. It is recommended you get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep every day to stay healthy, both physically and mentally. While it’s often easier to see the physical side effects of insufficient sleep, your mental health might be suffering more than you realize.
How sleep affects mental health
With lots of commitments and responsibilities filling our daily lives, we often end up blurring the lines between our mental health and sleep. While coffee can keep us going, it can also keep us from realizing how tired we are and that our mental health might be gradually deteriorating due to inadequate sleep. Often, sleep is dismissed as unimportant when it comes to improving one’s mental health, but there are crucial connections between sleep and mental health that are missed. When it comes to making sure you’re mentally healthy, getting sleep needs to be top-of-mind. Here is why:
- Evidence shows that a lack of sleep negatively affects emotions, memory, daily mood, and overall performance.
- Research also shows that sleep serves as a crucial function to brain restoration and recharges our brains each time we sleep.
- One of the most important circadian rhythms controlling our essential processes and functions is our sleep-wake cycle. This rhythm can be disrupted by sleep deprivation.
- Studies show that sleep deprivation can also increase the risk of developing depression and anxiety in adults.
- A lack of sleep also adversely affects physical health, causing or worsening physical anxiety symptoms such as bad moods, irritability, impulsivity, erratic behavior, psychotic episodes, anger issues, and lethargy.
- Sleep deprivation can cause poor cognitive performance and disrupts the ability to function normally. It can also cause serious immune damage, increase blood pressure and stress hormones, and increase the risk of strokes or even heart attacks due to compromising cardiovascular issues.
How to sleep stress away
- Consistently maintain a daily sleep-wake cycle.
- Try to reduce the usage of stimulants like nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol in the afternoon and especially before going to bed.
- Improve sleep quality by making sure your sleeping space is as comfortable as possible and that you regulate the temperature, sound, and light in your bedroom. Choosing a calming bedroom decor also goes a long way to create the perfect atmosphere for high-quality sleep. Here’s how you can “Improve your sleep by focusing on your five senses.”
- Exercise regularly and try to avoid going to bed until you feel sleepy. Most insomnia patients spend more time awake in bed instead of asleep.
- Unnecessary light or blue light emissions from your devices might also be disrupting your sleep. Therefore, it is recommended that you block out unnecessary light and turn off your devices at night, especially before you sleep. This is how you could “Block out the light with an eye mask for a great night’s sleep.”
In addition to Down Etc’s exceptional sleep solutions and unparalleled product design, we are dedicated to promoting widespread awareness of the importance of sleep, and the impact it can have on your health. That is why our high-end products are carefully curated with the importance of sleep at the core and tailored to provide you with excellent sleep. Choose Down Etc to sleep away your stress and stay mentally healthy starting this World Mental Health Day.
Updated Links July 27, 2022
