Sleep is such an important thing that we all do (hopefully) every day, and that is crucial to sustain human life and to boost productivity and happiness. Welcome to our deep dive into why that is and what you can do to benefit your sleep.
This is the amount of sleep recommended for each age group.
Effects of Sleep
Physically:
Sleep makes you less tired. This is probably the most well-known and recognized fact about sleep because it's something we all experience every day. The biological reason for this is that "Adenosine levels increase throughout the day as you become more tired, and then the body breaks down this compound during sleep."(Sleep Foundation)
Pretty straightforward, right? But there are more complex and destructive effects of lack of sleep than just being tired:
"lack of sleep has been linked to a higher risk for certain diseases and medical conditions. These include obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, poor mental health, and early death." (Sleep Foundation)
Healthline supports this by showing a strong connection, proven by a review of 15 studies, between lack of sleep and heart disease, stroke, prediabetes (which can occur in as little as 6 days of sleep deprivation), type 2 diabetes, and a bad immune system (sleep helps fight the common cold).
Weight gain:
"short sleep duration is one of the strongest risk factors for obesity.", by 89 and 55% for kids and adults, respectively. The amount of sleep you get is a factor in how many "hunger hormones" are released, which leads to well-rested people eating fewer calories. (Healthline)
Brain:
"Good sleep can maximize problem-solving skills and enhance memory. Poor sleep has been shown to impair brain function [to a similar degree as alcohol intoxication]" (Healthline).
Don't be tired-drunk all day! Get your sleep!
And next time you're wondering if you should pull an all-nighter to study for that test tomorrow, think about this- what you need most during that time is the ability to focus, think clearly and critically, and remember what you studied or learned before. The most important thing for all of those things is sleeping, not just cramming your brain and reading over the same notes 10 different times with stuff you'll forget in an hour.
Sports/Exercise:
"In a study on basketball players, longer sleep was shown to significantly improve speed, accuracy, reaction times, and mental well-being." Contrastly, poor sleep has been associated with reduced ability in physical and exercise performance. (Healthline)
Mental and Social Health:
Sleep and mental health have a bi-directional relationship- that means that, as far as we can tell, mental health affects sleep and sleep affects mental health.
How mental health affects sleep:
Chronic sleep problems affect SIGNIFICANTLY more people with mental health problems (specifically those in psychiatric practices) than the general population. (Harvard Health)
"Mental health issues, such as depression, are strongly linked to poor sleep quality and sleeping disorders. It’s been estimated that 90% of people with depression complain about sleep quality." (Healthline)
How sleep affects mental health:
"Poor sleep, including insomnia, can be a contributing factor to the initiation and worsening of mental health problems." (Sleep Foundation 2)
"Poor sleep is even associated with an increased risk of death by suicide.
Those with sleeping disorders like insomnia or obstructive sleep apnea also report significantly higher rates of depression than those without."
Sleep loss reduces your ability to interact socially, such as reducing your ability to recognize expressions of anger and happiness, discern important social cues, and process emotional information. (Healthline)
Sleep is very important in storing memories, and so lack of sleep is "harmful to the consolidation of positive emotional" memories which can "influence mood and emotional reactivity". (Sleep Foundation 2)
Tolerance:
"It’s also been suggested that people can develop a sort of tolerance to chronic sleep deprivation. Even though their brains and bodies struggle due to lack of sleep, they may not be aware of their own deficiencies because less sleep feels normal to them." (Sleep Foundation)
This is to all of you who think being tired and foggy all the time is okay and normal because it's been too long since you got the right amount of sleep- it's not! You're not supposed to be this tired! However, one night of 13 hours of sleep is not enough to set you back on track and make you feel less tired again- you need to set a consistent sleep schedule that plans for 7-10 hours of sleep per night.
This is how to make your sleep schedule better
Sleep environment
Minimize noise, light, and excessive hot and cold temperatures where you sleep
Make sure you have a comfortable sleep environment – including your mattress, pillows, and sheets.
Getting regular exercise and natural light exposure during the daytime
Establish a realistic bedtime and stick to it every night, even on the weekends- the key is consistency. The same goes with the amount of sleep you get, try to keep it consistent (wake up and go to sleep around the same time, within a 30 min time window is recommended, every day)
Before bedtime
Dimming lights and putting away electronic devices for an hour before bed
Abstain from caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco for 4-6 hours before bedtime. Avoid heavy/large meals right before bedtime.
Find ways to wind down, such as with relaxation techniques, meditation, deep breathing, etc as part of a standard routine before bedtime
Sleep meditation, bedtime stories, and background sounds- Calm (app/website/youtube) or Slumber (app) (** this is not sponsored)
If you're having trouble sleeping, therapy could be very helpful due to the connection between sleep and mental health detailed above (Therapy Info Packet)
(Sleep Foundation, Sleep Foundation 2, and American Psychological Association)
Circadian rhythm:
In short, the circadian rhythm is our body's 24-hour clock cycle. Its patterns are largely based on light exposure because light is supposed to tell your body when it's supposed to be awake or asleep.
"The brain contains a special region... which processes signals when the eyes are exposed to natural or artificial light. These signals help the brain determine whether it is day or night.
As natural light disappears in the evening, the body will release melatonin, a hormone that induces drowsiness. When the sun rises in the morning, the body will release the hormone known as cortisol that promotes energy and alertness." (Sleep Foundation)
The reason why the "artificial light" part is important is because of blue light, the kind that is released from modern technology such as our phones and computers. Many of us spend all day on them, and then scroll through Instagram or watch shows or type a last-minute essay right before bed. The use of electronics before bed is harmful to our circadian rhythm because that blue light makes our body think it's still awake-time, and blocks the release of melatonin, so when we do try to fall asleep it is significantly more difficult. The easiest way to make sure this doesn't happen is to stay off of your devices for at least an hour, if not more, before bed. We know we sound like your mother, and we know its difficult to do especially nowadays when a lot of our social lives revolve around social media, so here are some tips to actively do that:
Plug your phone in to charge across the room from your bed, and put it on silent
Have a night-time routine such as a skin-care routine, journaling, sleep meditation as suggested above, showering, or something of the kind (this is an ideal time to do something self-care related to wind down and end your day well)
Check out our Stress blog to learn about time management techniques, which can help you to not procrastinate as much and to ensure you actually have that time before bed to wind down and be off devices without rushing to finish your work.
Thank you for reading, and hopefully, we've informed you on how to sleep better! DM us on Instagram or go to our "Contact Us" page to let us know if it was helpful, what we can do better, or any other topics you'd like to see discussed.
Additional resources:
If you'd like to print out this info packet, the easiest way is to print this google doc! FYI: It doesn't have all the links and related info that are on the online versions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y91eGFH8XP1q-FLsTjO77tJYpgR7IoyhFtcNk3s888Y/edit
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