How Does Lack of Sleep Affect Your Mental Health

14 January , 2020

Sleep and Mental Health: Why Quality Sleep Matters

We’ve all experienced it. Maybe you had a late night out with friends, had little to no sleep with a crying newborn, crammed for a test, or binged your favorite new TV show all night. After getting only a few hours of sleep (or no sleep at all), you start a new day feeling cranky and ready to lash out. Or you feel fuzzy and completely “out of it.” You can definitely blame that lack of sleep, which can strongly affect your mental, physical, and emotional health. But what about the times you’re feeling emotional, moody, or just “off”? That might be connected to your sleep habits, too. Below, we’re talking all about how a lack of sleep affects your mental health emotion — and how getting better quality sleep can help you better handle anything life throws your way.

Quality sleep helps stabilize your emotions

When you don’t get enough sleep, you might feel more grumpy, angry, and hostile. Once you start feeling those negative emotions, it can also be harder to keep yourself in check. You might let rude comments slip, start fights more easily, or find yourself overreacting to stressors. Why does this happen? Some research suggests that sleep loss leads toincreased activity in the amygdala, which is a part of the brain that has to do with negative emotions. Without proper sleep, the amygdala and the part of the brain that regulates its functions suffer, leading to anger and irritability.

Sleep can lower your risk of mood disorders

Sleep loss doesn’t just lead to angry feelings, either. It can also lead to feelings of depression, as well as a lack of empathy and decreased friendliness towards others. You may feel more lonely and disengaged from the world around you. Studies have shown that people with insomnia are 10 times as likely to haveclinical depression and 17 times as likely to have clinical anxiety than those who sleep normally. Generally, simply getting a full night of quality sleep can stabilize your emotions and lead to positive emotions the next day.

Sleep repairs and restores your mental functions

Without consistent and healthy sleep, it’s not just your mood and emotions that suffer. Your mental functions do, too. While you sleep, your bodystrengthens the nerve connections that make memories, helping your brain retain information better. Your reaction time and ability to make split-second decisions improve with good sleep as well. This is especially important for anyone who drives a vehicle or relies on that decision-making process for their job. Even if you work a desk job, sleep can help you manage that stress (and boredom) better!

Sleep affects your appetite

Sleep also helps regulate two hormones thatcontrol your appetite, ghrelin and leptin. Insufficient sleep can cause these hormone levels to spike and plummet, making you feel hungrier than you actually are. This can lead to poor eating habits and weight gain. Ever feel a crazed sense of hunger after a bad night of little sleep? Your wonky hunger signals are likely to blame. When you get more sleep, you’ll feel less hangry and more in control of yourself. Read more about how quality sleep can help you achieve your weight loss goals.

Sleep rebalances your melatonin and serotonin

Did you know that melatonin and serotonin are an important part of the circadian rhythm, and therefore your sleep habits and mood? When melatonin levels increase as the sun sets, it signals to our body that it’s time to sleep. Butmelatonin is actually a byproduct of serotonin — which you may know is related to depression and mood. We can boost serotonin with exercise and laughter, but we can also boost it with quality sleep. When we get restful sleep and wake up feeling rejuvenated, our bodies generate sufficient serotonin, which is then synthesized into melatonin. Voilà! We balance our sleep cycle and get enough of the feel-good chemicals we need to level out our mood and emotions.

Balance your emotions and mood with RestoreZ

Deep, restful sleep is proven to have positive effects on your mind, body, and emotions. If you have sleep issues that are preventing you from achieving quality sleep, let RestoreZ help. RestoreZ’s line of supplements made with natural ingredients can target various sleep issues. Whether you need to resynchronize your sleep patterns, feel more refreshed in the morning, or stay in deep, sound sleep longer, one of our products can help. Learn more abouthow RestoreZ works now.

Sleep and Mental Health: Why Quality Sleep Matters