HEALTH REPORT
The challenges of sleep deprivation
S leep is critical to the proper functioning of your brain, and a lack of it interferes with mood and concentration. Charmaine West explains . We have all felt the effects of a poor night’s sleep: most people will feel grumpy, stressed or irritable, and they may also have trouble concentrating the next day which worsens if the poor sleep continues. This is because your sleep and your mood are closely linked, and it cuts both ways – while it is easy to see the effects of a bad night’s sleep on your mood, did you know that your mood also affects your sleep? The mood-sleep loop Sleep issues are very common, with a recent report to the Sleep Health Foundation finding that over half of all Australian adults experience at least one symptom of poor sleep. Getting enough sleep, and ensuring that
it is good quality sleep, is essential for health and wellbeing. Your body repairs itself while you sleep, restoring and supporting brain function and overall physical health. A study published in JMIR Mental Health found a strong link between poor quality sleep and decreased wellbeing.
significantly more stressed, angry, sad and mentally exhausted. When the group returned to their normal sleep pattern, they reported an improvement in mood. While it is easy to see how poor sleep can affect your mood, it has only recently been found that your mood also impacts on your sleep. Feelings of stress and overwhelm keep the body and mind stimulated, awake and alert. You may find it difficult to turn your brain off; you may also experience an increase in heart rate and altered breathing patterns – all symptoms that make it hard to get off to sleep and to enjoy long and deep sleep. People experiencing chronic or ongoing stress often have sleep problems. Taking back control If you have trouble getting enough good quality sleep, here’s how to get back on track. Improve sleep hygiene Sleep hygiene is the set of habits that you have around your sleep. Bad sleep habits often play a part in poor sleep. For example:
While it is easy to see the effects of a bad night’s sleep on your mood, did you know that your mood also affects your sleep?
Studies show that people who experience sleeplessness report increases in negative mood balance (e.g. anger, frustration, irritability, poor motivation) and decreases in positive moods. For example, a study conducted at Harvard Medical School that limited the sleep duration of participants to only 4.5 hours a night for one week found that they felt
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ISSUE 61 • 2021
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