How A Good Night's Sleep Improves Your Mental Health

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Circadian Rhythm, Sleep, And Mood

Our bodies, finely tuned machines that they are, have different control centers to regulate what we do and when we do it. Probably the most well-known of these biological rhythms is the circadian rhythm. When the circadian rhythm is disturbed, sleep disorders and major physiological disturbances can happen. Sleep problems can mean cognitive impairments, such as a decrease in learning and attention capabilities, long-term memory, language development and emotions. These can take the form of insomnia, various waking times, and longer sleep times—all of which tend to be linked with psychiatric disorders.

How Good Sleep Helps The Brain

Your brain transfers this information chemically through a series of brain cell sites called synapses. These connections get overloaded after a while. Think about if you’re ever felt mentally drained. Most likely it’s because your brain cells and their synapses were firing fast and furious. “Although there is still uncertainty about the function of sleep, it seems likely to involve restoration of the function of synapses,” Professor Goodwin says. So besides helping to synchronize all the clocks in the body, sleep appears to be a state in which memories can be consolidated and stored, and instinctual behaviors can be rehearsed. Part of what we encode is emotion—anxiety, distress, reward.

Making A Good Night’s Sleep A Reality

The circadian rhythm is also tuned into a 24-hour cycle. But, for many who live with mental health issues, they are not. Social rhythm therapy supports the implementation of regular, daily routines that can help recover the biological circadian rhythm process—and as it so happens, sleep is an important part of this. This type of therapy has also been successful in treating anxiety, OCD, bipolar disorder, and other mental health issues.

Behaviors such as retiring and waking at the same time each night or doing a relaxing activity, such as reading, before bed are all possible ways to help get into a groove and reset the daily (as well as the circadian) rhythm."

Read the complete article at Psycom!

Reflection:

Do you have a regular sleeping schedule/routine?

#Sleep #Mood #MentalHealth