anyone who did psychological therapy You know the first thing a therapist usually asks is how you sleep. Sleep is essential for good mental health, so insomnia, not getting enough hours of sleep or waking up frequently can make it very difficult to recover from illness. episodes of anxiety or depression. So, all this is well known. However, until now no one has been able to quantify the impact of poor sleep on mental health as did a group of scientists from Meadows Mental Health Institutein the United States.
They carried out a review which included 154 studieswith over 5,700 members, published last 50 years. They analyze The impact of poor sleep on mental health, using various sleep restriction methods. In some studies, participants were forced to go to bed later than usual, in others they were forced to stay awake for many hours, and finally, in some they were allowed to sleep normally but were woken up several times. throughout the entire sleep.
In all cases, the impact of poor sleep on mental health was measured differently. Their self-assessments of their emotional state were checked, and a professional analysis of their feelings was carried out. symptoms of anxiety and depression. In addition, some of them responded to different emotional stimuli. The results certainly demonstrate what we already knew. But at what level do they do this?
The impact of poor sleep on mental health
The first thing that caught the attention of these researchers was that all three types of sleep loss resulted in fewer positive emotions, such as joy, happiness and satisfaction among the participants. In addition, in any case, an increase in symptoms was observed anxietyincluding increased heart rate and increased anxiety.
This happened even when participants were awake. just an hour or two longer than usual. That is, going to bed a little later, although it may seem innocent, can gradually take a toll on our mental health.
The impact of poor sleep on mental health was clearly significant, especially in relation to anxiety. It is more than obvious that lack of sleep can cause anxiety or worsen the symptoms of anxiety if we already have it.
When depressionHowever, the results were less consistent. Perhaps because it is much more multifactorial. However, negative consequences due to lack of sleep have also been observed.
What is all this for?
This study does not break new ground, but it does provide data to further raise awareness of The impact of poor sleep on mental health.
The pace of life in modern society causes many people to sleep less than usual. 7 hours recommended Least. In fact, it’s especially common among teenagers, who are also one of the populations most susceptible to anxiety.
Therefore, there is a need to intensify campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of sleep. It’s true that this is research has limitations. For example, although several investigations were taken into account, most of them dealt primarily with young people, with an average age of 23 years old. Most, moreover, came from Europe or USA. It would be interesting to look for new studies, or to do them from scratch, that include volunteers from more diverse cultures and different age groups.
Additionally, research is needed to find out why poor sleep affects mental health. They are not the same for everyone. Two people can have exactly the same sleep schedule, but the result is that one experiences extreme anxiety and the other remains the same as if they were sleeping much more.
This is a question that remains up in the air and which we must try to answer in the future. For now, the only thing that can be confirmed is that if you want to be happier, you might want to start with more sleep. Sleep does not bring happiness, but it does give you peace of mind to try to achieve it.
Source: Hiper Textual
