Health Alert 101: Correlating Sleep deprivation to Mental Illness

by Chrizzy Adams

Sleep and mental health are closely correlated. Studies show that sleep deprivation leads to mental health issues or illnesses.

Those with mental health problems are also more prone to develop insomnia and other sleep disorders.

Most Americans are sleep deprived due to various factors such as work and social-related issues. Around 50% to 80% of patients struggle with chronic sleep problems in a typical psychiatric practice.

These problems are prevalent among those with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.

Even today, the brain basis of the correlation between sleep and mental health and illness is not yet fully understood.

However, neuroimaging and neurochemistry research shows that quality sleep boosts mental and emotional resilience. On the other hand, lack of sleep leads to negative thinking and emotional susceptibility.

How Does Sleep Impacts Mental Health

Key Point: Lack of sleep/ sleep deprivation can increase the risk of developing mental illnesses and other terminal health issues.

Before digging deeper into that, let us first look at the specific relations of sleep and mental health.

A typical sleeper revolves between two major categories of sleep every 90 minutes.

The first is the “quiet” sleep wherein, a person goes through four stages of increasingly deep sleep.

When you reach the deepest part of this category, physiological changes happen, boosting your immune system’s functioning.

That is why it is imperative to treat disorder to alleviate the symptoms of a mental health problem.

The second sleep category is rapid eye movement (REM), the period when you start dreaming.

Experts reveal that REM sleep contributes to enhanced learning and memory while enhancing emotional health in different ways.

Although scientists haven’t concluded the mechanisms, they revealed that sleep disruption/deprivation impairs the brain, adversely affecting thinking and emotional regulation.

That is because a lack of sleep wreaks havoc to the levels of neurotransmitters and stress hormones. Consequently, emerging insomnia worsens the effects of psychiatric disorders.

Psychological Impacts of Sleep Deprivation

Studies disclose more than 70 types of sleep disorders, affecting millions worldwide!

Insomnia (difficulty catching sleep or staying asleep), obstructive sleep apnea, various movement syndromes, and narcolepsy are some of the most common sleep disorders.

Each type of disorder varies by psychiatric diagnosis, especially in terms of prevalence and impact.

But based on the overlap between sleep disorders and different psychiatric problems, there are common biological roots of these problems.

Concerning that, here are some of the major mental-related impacts of sleep deprivation.

• Depression

Based on recent studies, 65% to 90% of adults and almost 90% of children suffer from major depression because of sleep problems.

Most of them developed insomnia, and one out of five have obstructive sleep apnea.

Insomnia and other sleep issues impact the results of patients with depression.

Studies reveal that depressed patients who continue to suffer from insomnia respond less to medications than those without sleep problems. Even those who underwent antidepressant therapies are more prone to relapse of depression. They are also more likely to contemplate suicide and commit suicide.

• Bipolar Disorder

According to studies involving various populations, around 69% to 90% of patients experiencing insomnia shows less need for sleep during a manic period of bipolar disorder.

Similar studies, however, suggest that in bipolar disorder, 23% to 78% of patients sleep excessively, while others struggle to catch or maintain sleep.

Longitudinal-based studies also reveal that insomnia and other sleep disorders worsen before a manic episode of bipolar depression. Sleep deprivation can also lead to mania while negatively impacting mood and causing a relapse.

• Anxiety Disorders

Sleep disorders impact more than 50% of adults who suffer from generalized anxiety disorder.

These are also prevalent among those with post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias. Such sleep problems are also common among children and adolescents.

Laboratory researches reveal that youngsters with an anxiety disorder had trouble falling asleep and slept less deeply, in contrast with another group of healthy children.

On the other hand, insomnia can be a risk factor leading to anxiety disorder, though not as much as it is for severe depression.

The longitudinal research of teenagers cited in the previous paragraph, for instance, showed that sleep disorders preceded anxiety problems 27% of the time.

They also preceded depression for a whopping 69% of the time.

Insomnia, however, can aggravate the signs and symptoms of anxiety problems and loosen recovery. Sleep disturbances in PTSD, for instance, may lead to an inhibition of adverse emotional memories.

As a result, patients may have trouble receiving relief and healing from fear-extinguishing therapies.

• ADHD

Around 25% to 50% of children with ADHD suffer from various sleep disorders such as difficulty falling asleep, shorter sleep periods, and restlessness.

Because of the overlapping symptoms of ADHD and sleeping problems, it may be harder to distinguish them apart.

Sleep-disordered breathing impacts up to 25% of youngsters with ADHD and other sleep problems. Because of these, they tend to become hyperactive, inattentive, and emotionally unstable.

Common Sleep and Mental Health Lifestyle Changes

If you are suffering from a lack of sleep and mental illnesses at the same time, here are some lifestyle changes you need to cope with.

These can also apply from sleep disorders caused by mental illnesses or the other way around.

1. Lifestyle Changes. A lot of people are aware of the sleep deprivation effects of coffee. But even alcohol and nicotine can lead to that.

Alcohol depresses the nervous system which aids people to catch sleep. However, alcoholic effects expire after a few hours, causing people to wake up.

Nicotine also stimulates heart rate and thinking. It’s best to avoid these substances if you want to attain better sleep and a healthier mental state.

2. Physical Activity. Jogging, walking around the park, sports, and other aerobic activities can help you fall asleep faster, achieve deeper sleep, and wake less often throughout the night.

3. Sleep Hygiene. Sleep hygiene includes practices such as having a regular sleep-and-wake schedule, using the bedroom only for sex and keeping it free from distractions like flashy lights. It can also mean using deep pressure therapy blanket and sleep retraining.

4. Relaxation Techniques. You can do meditation, guided visualization, deep breathing methods, and muscle relaxation movements. All these can help you cope with anxiety and racing thoughts.

5. Cognitive-behavioral therapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapies aid people with insomnia to shift from negative thinking to more confidence in achieving a good night’s sleep. When sustained, that can lead to the gradual healing of mental illnesses or the prevention of such.

Author Bio

Chrizzy Adams is a passionate and prolific writer who loves sharing meaningful and practical tips to readers. He mainly writes about depression and how patients could practically cope with such. During weekends, he sleeps all day with his deep pressure therapy blanket.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect all or some of our beliefs and policy.  Any links on this page do not necessarily mean they have been endorsed by Defying Mental Illness.

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