To maintain optimal-health and emotional wellness, the contribution of wholesome sleep is undeniable! It is a vital natural practice that certainly determines the quality of life. Links between sleep and depression are strong. People with depression may find it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep during the night.
The necessity of espousing sufficient sleep is triggered by various health and psychological concerns. On a physical level, a good amount of sleep lowers the risk of weight gain, heart disease, inflammation, and enhances immunity. It also soothes muscle tension and relieves pain in various parts of the body. On the other hand, several brain functions like concentration, cognition and productivity are dynamically correlated to sleep.
Cherishing a quality sleep every night boosts your daily performance intensity as well as cerebral functioning. Sleep ensures better physical coordination, enhanced vitality and improved athletic potential. It furthers links to your social rationality and emotional intelligence.
While there is a glaring connection between sleep and mental health, studies have confirmed that wholesome sleep plays a deliberate role in curing the emotional disturbance called depression. But how? keep reading to know how healthy sleep can ease depression
How Mental Health is Related to Sleep
According to research, the link between sleep and mental health is complicated. Various psychiatric conditions have been considered as a consequence of sleeping habits and the studies believe that sleep naturally contributes to the development and subsistence of diverse mental health problems. Sleep and mental health go hand-in-hand and sleep problems also affect your emotional wellness.
There is a bidirectional relationship that links mental health with sleep. Insufficient sleep impacts both the onset and trajectory of a variety of emotional well-being problems. The potential connection between sleep and mental health proposes an interesting possibility that wholesome sleep or adjusting to better sleep habits can improve mental wellness. Various clinicians, researchers and members of public interests have shown great interest in this hypothesis. Practically speaking, if lifestyle changes to improve sleep can retrieve mental well-being, then getting sufficient sleep can be seen as a valuable tool for tackling mental health problems. Self-help interventions to improve sleep have remarkable effects on the symptoms of sleeping disorders like insomnia.
Impacts of Sleep Deprivations on Mental Health
Lack of sleep or sleep deprivations causes disruptive effects on mental health. A night of insufficient sleep makes one go through frequent mood swings, irritation, and unnecessary anger. Lack of proper sleep increases the stress level of a person. Poor sleep makes you treat minor hassles daily with high frustrations and you often get easily short-tempered. Sometimes, insufficient sleep can even turn into a root cause of stress.
Additionally, extreme stress and sleep disorders can increase the risk factor for developing anxiety problems. If you suffer from extreme sleep deprivation, you may start suffering from an anxiety condition. Adjusting with anxious distress becomes more difficult when someone is exhausted from chronic sleep disturbances like insomnia and poor sleep can make the signs of anxiety much graver. In fact, sleep deprivations affect the emotional wellness of healthy people.
Extreme stress, anxiety disorders and sleep deprivations can further beget Bipolar Disorder that comes with syndromes like insomnia, abnormal sleep-wake cycles, and nightmares. Moreover, This condition is characterised by fluctuating states of depressed moods. It is true that various sleep disorders including insomnia can be symptoms of depression but studies have recently confirmed that extreme poor sleep cycle is becoming a root cause of depression. The impact of inadequate sleep intensifies the state of depression with agitation and paranoia.
Now, why is depression a serious mental condition? the answer is quite apparent from the below assessment of the severity of the condition –
Depression and Sleep – Signs and Symptoms
There could be various reasons behind depression but one of the serious factors is the extreme condition of sleep deprivation or insomnia. Poor sleep elevates blood pressures and boosts stress hormones. These chronic mental pressures cause a critical imbalance in emotional wellness and finally make one go into a state of depression.
Depression is classified into three factors based on the severity of its condition- mild, moderate and major. Mild depression comes with symptoms like –
- Self-loathing and hopelessness
- Irritability or anger
- Lack of motivation and pessimistic outlook
- Appetite changes and weight changes
- Feelings of guilt and grief
- Sudden disinterest in socializing
- Daytime fatigue and lack of energy
- Lack of concentration or focus
- Body pain and losing interest in things
- Reckless behaviour and indulging into substance abuse and addiction
Moderate depression comes with further added signs along with previous- self-esteem issues, feelings of worthlessness, reduced productivity, emotional sensitivity, excessive worrying and frequent anxiety. In the critical stages of major depression, a person often undergoes delusions, hallucinations, feelings of stupor and develops suicidal thoughts or behaviours. These signs and trains of different types of depression can be seen in both teenagers and adults.
Now, what’s the natural solution for depression? The answer is, as already mentioned before, self-help interventions to improve sleep!
How Can Sleep Help Depression?
The best way to pacify the restlessness of your depressed mind is to calm yourself down! Sleeping is the ultimate natural healing therapy for both mind and body. The appropriate rest that your mind and brain acquire through regular wholesome sleep is sufficient enough to keep your mental balance on track. As already told, according to the bidirectional relation between depression and sleep, if lack of sleep can cause depression, then getting sufficient sleep can also cure the condition of depression. So, the answer to the question, ‘can sleep help depression?’, ‘Yes’!
A wholesome sleep lets your brain and body to process the proper rest cycles at night. The completion of each sleep cycle is vital for the body’s proper functioning and relaxation. During sleep, your brain emits delta waves. Your mind and body get ultimate relaxation through the deepest and most restorative sleep. The physiology condition during the nighttime sleep includes repairing of tissues, muscle building, bone strengthening, reinforcement of the immune system and dropping of blood pressure, heart rates and body temperature. As the body relaxes, the brain starts releasing larger waves that repair itself and promote emotional wellness. In your deepest sleeping condition, the energy level of the body gets boosted and you mentally and physically get revitalised.
The competition of the total sleep cycle takes around 90-120 minutes. On the completion of each cycle, there is the commencement of another round. The proper completion of the sleep cycle is imperative to ensure maximum mental as well as physical wellness. A person must sleep 8hourse per day. The eight- hours sleep with the proper completion of each round of sleep cycle is extremely wholesome!
Sufficient sleeping ritual drains out the toxins from your brain cells and body. Getting sufficient sleep imparts positivity to your conscience with emotional content. The feeling of contentment further eliminates stress, agitation, anxiety and cures the other signs of depression. The regular habit of healthy night-time sleep eventually helps you to defeat the condition of depression with an optimistic mindset. Thus, sleep is extremely important and it has great potential to ease your depression and balance your emotional wellness.
But how to get wholesome sleep? 4 out of 10 people have been reported for unable to process proper sleep cycles due to various sleep disturbances and they eventually end up with mild/serious mental and physical health concerns. Most of the major reasons for sleep disturbance are related to lifestyle and faulty sleep hygiene. If you are one of them who are seeking ways to get sufficient sleep at night, embrace effective lifestyle changes such as Avoid Alcohol/drugs/smoking, Do exercise regularly, Have meals on Time and Maintain Proper Sleep Hygiene. Excellent sleep hygiene is extremely important to get a wonderful sleeping experience at night.
Final Takeaways!
Bad sleep environment affects both the condition of depression and sleep. Make sure the setting of your bed is comfortable enough to rest comfortably. Right mattress and pillows help you to enjoy your sleep with ultimate relaxation. To find ideal bed equipment, explore the wide range of Magniflex mattress and pillows. Keep your bed coverings cleaned and washed. You can also take a night-time bath to feel more relaxed and it also soothes your stress level. Try to use essential oils for more relaxation. You can light some essential candles or spray room freshener to calm your senses down. These sleep hygiene not only gives you quality sleep but also eases down your depression.
