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Stress and Sleep

Sleep is something all of us need to be healthy, focused and happy. Most people require between seven and nine hours of sleep each night, and it has to be quality sleep. Adequate time must be spent in each of the five sleep stages in order to wake up feeling refreshed.

Sleep deprivation can cause a number of problems, including:

aches
decrease in mental sharpness
fatigue
irritability
stress.

Types of Stress

One of the biggest obstacles to a good night's sleep is stress. Stress affects both the quantity and quality of sleep, making it difficult to fall asleep and causing repeated awakenings during the night. Types of stress that make it difficult to sleep include:

Anxiety: worrying about what might happen or what has happened
Over-Scheduling: a very full and hectic schedule with little or no down time
Over-Thinking: trying to solve problems and figure things out at bedtime.

Fight or Flight

In the early days of human development, stress was essential to our survival. In order to escape hungry predators and warring neighbors and to catch food, the chemical responses involved in stress helped us to be quick, strong and sharp in moments of danger.

During times of stress, the body responds by producing adrenaline and other stress hormones, which:

cause the mind to race
heighten alertness
increase pulse and blood pressure.

In today's world, most of the things that cause us stress do not involve immediate physical danger, and it is therefore difficult to discharge the stressful energy. When we worry or obsess about career, children, money, relationships and more, stress hormones produced make it difficult to relax and get a good night's sleep.

Sleep Deprivation and Stress: A Vicious Cycle

Sleep deprivation from stress creates even more stress, and this can become a vicious cycle. Stress from lack of sleep makes falling asleep and staying asleep much more difficult.

Sleep and stress are so closely related, it can be difficult to separate cause from effect, but the connection is clear. A study published in the journal Sleep concluded that people who suffered from insomnia were 17 times more likely to suffer from anxiety than those who were sound sleepers.

Breaking the Cycle

The best way to break the stress/sleep deprivation cycle is to manage your stress. Identifying your personal stress triggers is a great way to start. Common triggers include:

a rushed and hectic schedule
concerns over children
financial problems
health concerns
relationship troubles
traffic congestion
unpleasant job or co-workers.

Some stress triggers can be easily changed, and others cannot. Whether to make major or even minor life changes is a very personal decision that no one else can make for you. Any small way that you take control over the things that bring you stress will go a long way toward helping you sleep.

Managing Stress

To live with stress triggers that can't be changed, it helps to learn to manage stress and relax. Some excellent ways to beat stress and improve sleep quality include:

exercise (though not right before bed)
meditation
relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation
sexual activity
visualization
warm baths
yoga.

To help the mind and body unwind and prepare for sleep, a sleep routine can work wonders. Follow these tips:

Allow at least a half hour before bed each night for a quiet, calming activity such as reading, journal writing, stretching or listening to soft music.
Dim the lights when you begin to get ready for bed.
Don't eat or drink anything heavy right before bedtime.
Establish a ritual for preparing for sleep (brushing teeth, turning down the bed, washing up, etc.) to help your mind and body expect that it is time for sleep.
If you don't fall asleep after 15 minutes, get out of bed and return to a quiet and calming activity. When you start to feel sleepy, go back to bed.
Try to go to sleep and wake up at about the same time each day.

Resources

About, Inc. (2008). Stress, Anxiety and Sleep. Retrieved January 4, 2008, from the About.com Web site: http://sleepdisorders.about.com/cs/stressandanxiety/a/
nsfanxiety.htm.

Scott, Elizabeth, M.S. (2008). Getting Quality Sleep When Stressed. Retrieved January 4, 2008, from the About.com Web site: http://stress.about.com/od/unhealthybehaviors/a/

stress_sleep.htm.

Woolston, Chris (2006). Lifestyle and Wellness; How Stress Disrupts Sleep. Retrieved January 4, 2008, from the CVS Caremark Web site: http://healthresources.caremark.com/topic/stresssleep.

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