More than one in five adults in the U.S. live with a mental illness. Mental health impacts every part of life, including sleep. Poor sleep can also affect mental health. Find out more about the connection between sleep and mental health.
Why Is Sleep So Important?
Sleep and mental health are closely intertwined. Your mental health can affect your sleep patterns, and if you don’t get enough sleep, it can affect your mental health. Many people believe that a good night’s rest provides a new outlook on life.
Sleep is needed to keep you physically healthy. Poor sleeping habits increase negative emotional responses to stressors. If your adverse emotional reactions increase and your positive responses decrease, that’s simply a recipe for disaster if you’re already having trouble regulating your mood. Sleep is needed to keep your brain and body healthy. Sleep helps you maintain your cognitive skills, so poor sleep can make it harder to go through your day. When you’re sleep-deprived, minor stressors will impact your life more than normal.
How Much Sleep Do I Need?
The amount of sleep you need depends on your age. Children and teenagers need more sleep than adults. Generally, an adult must sleep for at least seven hours regularly. A few factors can change how much sleep a person needs. While seven hours is the minimum, on average, adults need to sleep between seven to nine hours a night to promote optimal health.
Food and Sleep
The foods you eat to nourish your body can also affect how well you sleep. When you’re sleep deprived, it’s common to overcompensate with caffeine or higher-calorie foods. Eating and drinking can be used to stay awake but can have negative side effects.
High-sugar diets are linked to poorer quality sleep. You keep yourself awake with the sugar, but once your sugar levels crash, you feel weak and exhausted.
Some foods like fish, fruit, and milk products are shown to have some sleep-promoting qualities. All in all, it’s essential to eat a well-balanced diet. You also need to create healthy food-related sleep habits, like limiting caffeine.
Improve Both Sleep Patterns and Mental Health
Various mental health conditions can disrupt your sleep schedule. Some things that can improve your sleep can form part of a preventive mental health strategy. Everyone is different and reacts differently to treatments. If you’re working with a mental healthcare professional, they can guide you through the process.
A doctor or psychiatrist can look at the potential benefits and risks of different treatment options and compare them to your needs. Regarding mental health, treatments are tailored to each individual to provide a comprehensive plan. Your doctor might need to delve deeper into your medical history to find a solution. Sometimes there’s an underlying condition, like sleep apnea, that must be treated to improve your sleep and mental health. In some cases, medication might be prescribed, but that depends on your specific case.
Understand Your Mental Health
When dealing with mental health, deciding what affects your mental well-being can be challenging. Sometimes it may seem like something is making you feel worse, but in actuality, you just don’t have the energy for the activity. This is why it’s crucial to understand how your sleep schedule can affect your mental health.
If you’re struggling with your mental wellness, know you are not alone. At Comprehensive Wellness Centers in South Florida, we pride ourselves on giving personal care – so consider getting help today.
