Happiness is what – getting a good night’s sleep. Humans are not designed to be awake during the night. People who regularly work night shifts or have jobs that wake them at night are thought to be at a greater risk of heart diseases and mental illnesses. Sleep and mental health are closely connected. Let’s explore!
Sleep is an active, essential and involuntary process, without which we cannot function effectively. Sleep is not a lifestyle choice; just like breathing, eating or drinking, it is a necessity. Millions of years ago, our ancestors lived, and probably slept, in trees. Today’s chimpanzees and other great apes still sleep in temporary tree beds or platforms. Though, we evolved on bed.
A mechanism called the circadian timer regulates the pattern of our sleep and waking, and interacts with the sleep homeostat. Most living things have internal circadian rhythms, meaning they are adapted to live in a cycle of day and night.
In light of the evidence scientists have gathered, it seems likely that no single theory of sleep phenomenon will ever be proven correct. Instead, we may find that sleep is explained by two or more of these explanations. One of the earliest theories of sleep, sometimes called the adaptive or evolutionary theory, suggests that inactivity at night is an adaptation that served a survival function by keeping organisms out of harm’s way at times when they would be particularly vulnerable.
Another group of researchers has shown that energy metabolism is significantly reduced during sleep. For example, both body temperature and caloric demand decrease during sleep, as compared to wakefulness. Such evidence supports the proposition that one of the primary functions of sleep is to help organisms conserve their energy resources. Another explanation for why we sleep is based on the long-held belief that sleep in some way serves to “restore” what is lost in the body while we are awake. Sleep provides an opportunity for the body to repair and rejuvenate itself.
One of the most recent and compelling explanations for why we sleep is based on findings that sleep is correlated to changes in the structure and organization of the brain. This phenomenon, known as brain plasticity, is not entirely understood, but its connection to sleep has several critical implications. It is becoming clear, for example, that sleep plays a critical role in brain development in infants and young children. It’s no secret that sleep plays an important role in good physical and mental health. Lack of sleep is linked to a number of unfavourable health consequences including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and depression.
Insomnia
Most of us have experienced a sleepless night, which although upsetting, is nothing to worry about since the sleep debt can be repaid over the course of the next few nights. The inability to fall or remain asleep over a period of several nights is known as insomnia. If you’ve ever struggled to get through the day after a night of tossing and turning, you are well-acquainted with the disruptive effects of sleep deprivation. Mood changes including increased irritability and anger can make it much harder to cope with even the minor stresses of daily life. Anxiety arises the next day when the previous night went sleepless. Dreaming is a way to body’s rejuvenation (https://drmadhumitamandal.com/dream-therapy-sleep-mental-health/)
Hypersomnia and narcolepsy
There are also some conditions such as hypersomnia and narcolepsy in which a person suffers from extreme sleepiness during the day. Sufferers of hypersomnia may complain that they do not feel fully awake until several hours after getting up. People who suffer from narcolepsy may suffer from extreme sleepiness, often at inappropriate times in the form of sudden sleep attacks.
Oversleeping
There are also some conditions such as hypersomnia and narcolepsy in which a person suffers from extreme sleepiness during the day. Sufferers of hypersomnia may complain that they do not feel fully awake until several hours after getting up. People who suffer from narcolepsy may suffer from extreme sleepiness, often at inappropriate times in the form of sudden sleep attacks.
Some tips for good sleep
Caffeine, alcohol and nicotine are all substances which can impair sleep quality. Caffeine makes it harder to sleep because it stimulates the central nervous system, increasing your heart rate and adrenaline production, and also supressing melatonin production. It takes a long time for the body to break down caffeine, so drinking coffee during the day can affect sleep at night.
Alcohol can help people fall asleep, but it also impairs sleep quality during the second half of the night, and it is a diuretic which means that we may need to wake in the night to go to the toilet, disrupting the sleep pattern. However, a rapid reduction in alcohol intake for someone who is a heavy drinker can lead to alcohol withdrawal syndrome, which itself can lead to insomnia. Alcohol can also contribute to depressive mood, which in turn can contribute to insomnia.
Nicotine may impair sleep; smokers take longer to enter sleep and have less total sleep time (approximately 14 minutes less per night) compared to those who have never smoked66. Reducing nicotine intake is unlikely to lead to immediate improvements in sleep, but the long-term health benefits are likely to have implications for sleep quality.
Eating habits have the potential to affect sleeping. It is important not to go to sleep whilst feeling hungry, so eating a light snack before bedtime may be helpful. However, eating large meals shortly before bedtime should be avoided, because the body will spend time digesting before it can sleep.
Sleep well!
References-
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/sleep-and-mental-health
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-humans-sleep-less-than-their-primate-relatives-180980018/
- https://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/benefits-of-sleep/why-do-we-sleep
- https://www.verywellmind.com/how-sleep-affects-mental-health-4783067
- https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-06/MHF-Sleep-Matters-Report-MHAW-2011.pdf