How Sleep Influences Your Brain

Goals

As the shift to daylight savings begins, a lot of folks may experience irregular sleeping patterns. Sleep is essential to our wellness. As Healthline describes, “Not getting enough sleep drains your mental abilities and puts your physical health at risk.” Sleep irregularities can influence your: Central Nervous System, Immune, Respiratory, Digestive, Endocrine, Cardiovascular systems as well. Nashville Neurocare Therapy points out, “ There is a global experiment that is performed on 1.6 billion people twice a year, and it’s called daylight saving time. And we know that in the spring, when we lose one hour of sleep, we see a subsequent 24% increase in heart attacks the following day.” 24%! That is a very scary statistic.

Similarly, Sleep Centers of Tennessee report, “According to a study from the University of California, Berkeley scientists, a single sleepless night can trigger a 30 percent spike in anxiety levels. This is because your ability to deal with stress depends on a full night of restful sleep.” 30%! (Are you starting to get the pattern we are trying to highlight?) Sleep is essential to being healthy. If you need more convincing- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did a study in 2021 looking at over 200,000 US citizens sleep habits, and found “ Inadequate sleep was associated with significantly increased odds of frequent mental distress.”

Ideal Sleep Habits

Most medical sleep websites share that the goal is for adults to get 7-9 hours of sleep.

The CDC reports good sleep hygiene habits such as: creating a quiet, comfortable bedroom, not eating large meals or consuming caffeine, being mindful of alcohol consumption, or removing screens can help attribute to getting a good night’s sleep.

The Sleep Foundation also makes an interesting point of suggesting that, “Reserve Your Bed for Sleep and Sex Only: If you have a comfortable bed, you may be tempted to hang out there while doing all kinds of activities, but this can actually cause problems at bedtime.” This helps your brain categorize your bed as a restful area versus an area for studying, working, watching tv, etc.

Another important part of sleep habits happens throughout your day- moving your body, eating well, drinking water, and trying to diminish naps. These habits can help set you up for more opportunity to get deep rest at your bedtime.

Something I couldn’t find in a lot of these sleep articles is a note about boundaries- sometimes all of this sounds great, but as a parent or partner it can get impeded by others. So check in with yourself, are there any boundaries that you need to set that would help you with this goal of better sleep? Maybe it is requesting no loud tv shows at bedtime, or creating sleep hygiene habits for the kiddos too. It could be that your partner and you switch off days for putting your kids to bed. Or getting an eye mask so if your partner likes to read with a nightlight you can still have darkness to slip into deep sleep. Whatever your answer was, try to be consistent with your boundaries and you will see results from them.

If You Can’t Fall Asleep

The Sleep Foundation suggests trying some mindfulness tools, not ruminating about not being able to sleep, keeping a log of your sleep cycles to see if any patterns are hindering your sleep, or checking in with a sleep specialist if the issue continues to hinder your rest.

If you can’t sleep because of anxious rumination, think about keeping a notepad near your bed so you can write out your worries. Another option is to talk to your mental health professional about specific prompts or skills that can help you slowly work on de-escalating your anxious thoughts at bedtime. This is a natural time people see worries start to creep in, because it is generally the one time of day when you are completely alone and in the quiet.

Try some in bed yoga moves, these are low impact movements that help your body slow down for the night. Or you can find helpful meditations on apps such as Headspace specifically for sleep.

This Is Your Life

If you continue to have difficulty with sleep or believe you may have a sleep related disorder, talk to your doctor about a referral for a sleep study. Getting more data on what is causing these barriers to deep sleep could help you find the path to implementing changes that allow you to work on your sleep cycle.

*Please note that these are generalized tips and do not reflect specific medical advice. Always check in with your medical providers to find tools, skills, and diagnosis that reflect your unique situation.