Sleep and mental health are closely connected. Sleep deprivation affects your psychological state and mental health. Sleep problems are particularly common in patients with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Psychiatric disorders are the leading cause of insomnia, the inability to sleep. Sleep and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression are closely related.

 

If you’re having problems sleeping, you might: be more likely to feel anxious, depressed, or suicidal. be more likely to have psychotic episodes – poor sleep can trigger mania, psychosis, or paranoia, or make existing symptoms worse. Studies suggest that disrupted sleep such as insomnia could help us predict episodes of mental illness and that fixing sleep problems may help treat them.

 

Sleeping helps us to recover from mental as well as physical exertion. Sleep and health are strongly related – poor sleep can increase the risk of having poor health, and poor health can make it harder to sleep. Sleep disturbances can be one of the first signs of distress. Patients with neurologic disorders commonly experience sleep dysfunction and psychiatric disorders. The most common sleep dysfunction is insomnia, which is a primary symptom in 30% to 90% of psychiatric disorders.

 

5 Major Sleep Disorders:

• Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)
• Insomnia
• REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD)
• Sleep Apnea
• Narcolepsy.

 

Common causes of chronic insomnia include Stress. Concerns about work, school, health, finances, or family can keep your mind active at night, making it difficult to sleep. Stressful life events or trauma — such as the death or illness of a loved one, divorce, or a job loss — also may lead to insomnia. Insomnia, the inability to get to sleep or sleep well at night, can be caused by stress, jet lag, a health condition, the medications you take, or even the amount of coffee you drink. Insomnia can also be caused by other sleep disorders or mood disorders such as anxiety and depression.

 

How Can I Improve My Sleep?

• Stick to a sleep schedule. Set aside no more than eight hours for sleep.
• Pay attention to what you eat and drink. Don’t go to bed hungry or stuffed
• Create a restful environment. Create a room that’s ideal for sleeping.
• Limit daytime naps.
• Include physical activity in your daily routine.
• Manage worries.

Many people think the term “insomnia” refers to a complete lack of sleep. In truth, insomnia encompasses a host of sleep problems, including:

• Difficulty falling asleep
• Waking up in the middle of the night
• Early morning awakening
• Non-restful sleep

 

Most people need between seven and nine hours of sleep. Getting insufficient sleep can:

• Cause fatigue, irritability, and excessive daytime sleepiness
• Cause weight gain and make it difficult to lose weight
• Weaken the immune system, making you more susceptible to getting sick
• Cause elevated blood pressure and can increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease
• Contribute to chronic pain
• Exacerbate mental illness, including depression and anxiety
• Reduce focus and concentration, leading to decreased performance at work
• Decrease motor function, making driving hazardous

 

Prescription pills for sleeping aren’t always the best solution. Unfortunately, some sleep medications can make the problem worse. Sleep aids frequently disrupt sleep cycles, causing less restorative sleep. Even if they help you sleep through the night, the sleep is not necessarily deep or restful. People can become dependent on these meds, requiring them to sleep, and many develop a tolerance to sleep meds over time, requiring more medication to get the same effect. These medicines can also cause rebound insomnia, meaning it becomes even harder to fall asleep without the medication. So, before you pop that pill for your sleep problems, try these methods instead:

1. Sleep Hygiene
2. Brief Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Intervention for Insomnia (also called “CBT-I”)

 

Sleep hygiene is a collection of habits that can help you fall asleep more easily and sleep more deeply. You can develop good sleep hygiene on your own.

 

Sleep Hygiene: Do’s & Don’ts

The Dos:

• Stick to a regular sleep schedule (same bedtime and wake-up time), seven days a week.
• Exercise at least 30 minutes per day most days of the week. Restrict vigorous exercise to the morning or afternoon. A more relaxing exercise, like this yoga, poses to help you sleep, can be done before bed.
• Get plenty of natural light exposure during the day. Open your blinds first thing in the morning and get outside during the day. You can even try using a light box first thing in the morning during dark winter days to help your brain wake up and regulate your body’s rhythms.
• Establish a regular, relaxing bedtime routine.
• Take a warm bath or shower before bed.
• Do relaxation exercises before bed, including mindful breathing and progressive muscle relaxation.
• Make sure your sleep environment is pleasant and relaxing. Your bed should be comfortable, and your room shouldn’t be too hot, too cold, or too bright. If necessary, use earplugs and an eye mask. Be sure your pillow is comfortable.
• Associate your bed with sleep and sex only. Don’t work, eat or watch TV in bed.
• Go to bed when sleepy, and get out of bed if you’re tossing and turning.
• Turn your clock around so you can’t see the time.
• Turn off the alert for texts and emails on your phone.
• Keep a “worry journal.” If something’s on your mind as you’re trying to fall asleep, write it down on a pad of paper so you can revisit it the next day.
• If you’re unable to fall asleep after about 20 minutes, leave the bed and do something relaxing (like reading); return to bed later.
• Download free screen-dimming software for your computer. Two popular programs are f.lux and Dimmer. These nifty programs help you avoid the stimulation of bright light if you’re using your computer late at night. Better yet: Put the computer away an hour before bedtime!

 

The Don’ts:

• Don’t ingest caffeine after noon. This includes coffee, tea, iced tea, energy drinks, and soda.
• Don’t have that second glass of wine with dinner. While alcohol is known to speed the onset of sleep, it also disrupts sleep–especially causing arousal during the second half of the night, when the body should be entering deep sleep.
• Don’t take other stimulants close to bedtime, including chocolate, nicotine, and certain medications.
• Don’t eat a large, heavy meal close to bedtime.
• Don’t watch TV, use the computer or spend long periods on a mobile device before bed. These activities stimulate the brain and make it harder to fall asleep.
• Don’t use your phone, laptop, or other mobile devices in bed.
• Don’t give in to the urge to nap during the day; it can disturb the normal sleep/wakefulness pattern.

 

 

Insomnia is more than just occasional trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Most people experience sleep disturbance at some point in their lives. If you have chronic trouble (meaning more nights than not) falling or staying asleep, don’t feel refreshed in the morning, and especially if lack of sleep begins to impact your personal or professional life, it might be time to seek medical help.

 

Insomnia has many possible causes, including sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, thyroid issues, or other underlying medical conditions. Most people who struggle with sleep, however, don’t have an underlying medical problem, and for them, sleep hygiene alone will often restore their ability to achieve a sound, restful sleep each night. But when good sleep hygiene isn’t enough to solve your insomnia, working with a therapist who specializes in cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) may be helpful.

 

CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) is a method of addressing both the behaviours that prevent you from sleeping effectively as well as the thoughts that can interfere with sleep. The behavioural aspect of CBT-I focuses on stimulus control and sleep restriction. Common sleep disorders like insomnia, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea can affect every aspect of your life including your safety, relationships, school, work performance, thinking, mental health, weight, and the development of diabetes and heart disease.

 

To determine if you have a sleep disorder, it is important to pay attention to your sleep habits by keeping a sleep diary and discussing patterns and characteristics of your sleep with your healthcare provider. Many common sleep problems can be treated with behavioural treatments and increased attention to proper sleep hygiene. Consult your healthcare provider if you have any concerns about your sleep pattern.