Importance of Quality Rest for Mental and Physical wellbeing
Sleep is a necessary part of our daily lives, and you spend around 30% of your time sleeping. Quality sleep is essential for survival as food and water, which should be attained at appropriate times of the day. You can't build and hold the pathways in your brain that will allow you to learn and make new memories, it is more difficult to focus and respond fast if you don't sleep.
Sleep also including the way nerve cells communicate with one another, is important to a whole range of brain functions. While you're sleeping, your brain and body are constantly functioning amazingly well. New evidence suggests that sleep is a way of cleaning up the toxins accumulating in your brain when you're awake.
It's all about sleep for everyone, but no one knows its biological purpose. Sleep affects nearly any kind of tissue and system in the body: brain, heart, liver, lung metabolism, immunity function, feelillance, or disease resistance. Research shows that a chronic lack of sleep or poor quality sleep increases the potential risk of disorders including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and obesity.
Sleep is seen as a dynamic process affecting how we function in many ways, and scientists are just starting to understand it. How your need for sleep is regulated, and what's going on in the brain when you fall asleep are described in this leaflet.
Anatomy of Sleep: Sleep involves several structures in the brain.
- There are groups of nerve cells in the hypothalamus, a peanut-sized structure deep within the brain, which acts as a control center for sleep and arousal.
- The brain stem, which is located at the center of the brain, communicates with the hypochostomus to regulate shifts in wake and sleep.
- The thalamus is a communications device for information from the senses to the cerebral cortex. The thalamus will quiet down during most of the phases of sleep and will allow you to tune out the outside world.
- The pineal gland, situated in the two hemispheres of your brain, takes signals from SCN and increases melatonin production to help you fall asleep as soon as the lights go out.
What is a Sleep Disorder?
Sleep disturbance disorder is a condition affecting the timing, quality, and amount of sleep which results in daytime fatigue and impaired functioning. Sleep disturbance disorders come along with other medical conditions as well as poor mental health conditions, such as stress, anxiety, depression, and even cognitive disorders. Sleep disturbance disorders occur in many different forms, the most common one is insomnia. Other sleep disturbance disorders include obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, parasomnias, and restless leg syndrome. Both physical and emotional problems are associated with sleep difficulties. Sleep problems can both add on to or aggravate mental health conditions as well as it can be a symptom of other mental health conditions.Insomnia
It is the most common sleep disturbance, which can make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. One in every fifth person is reporting some Insomnia symptoms and 15 to 20 percent report problems.
Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea, in which breathing is repeatedly stopped and restarted, could be a serious sleep disorder. You might have sleep apnea if your breathing becomes too loud and you start feeling tired after the whole night's sleep.
Sleep-related hypoventilation
It is the second most common disorder. People may face episodes of shallow breathing, elevated blood carbon dioxide levels, and low oxygen levels. It mostly occurs along with other medical conditions, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or substance use it can also be due to medications.
Sleep effects on mental health
Sleep has a direct effect on our physical human body and now there is a study which shows that sleep is critical to not only physical health but also our mental health. Insufficient sleep has been found to correlate with negative emotional responses, daily stressors in life, and decreased positive emotions.
Lack of sleep or poor quality sleep can increase the risk of developing psychiatric disorders. Insomnia can be a sign of psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression. However, sleep problems are now known to contribute to the development and exacerbation of various psychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts.
Research on sleep deprivation has shown that healthy individuals can experience increased levels of anxiety and distress after poor sleep. People with psychiatric disorders are more likely to develop chronic sleep problems. These sleep problems are more likely to worsen psychiatric symptoms and are more likely to increase the risk of suicide.
Fortunately, there are steps that can be taken to improve the quality and quantity of sleep. Therefore, it is essential to identify and address sleep problems in order to reduce the seriousness of psychiatric disorders.
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How to deal with a sleep disorder?
If you are diagnosed with a sleep disorder, you may have to consider having a team of mental health care professionals who can help you find a sleep solution according to your needs. At the initial state, you can go to primary care doctors, and then as the necessity of the concern you can go to a psychologist, psychiatrist, neurologist, sleep medicine specialist, or sleep technician.
Healthy good night tips.
- Fixed routine for good sleep.
- Enough amount of sleep per night.
- Do daily some basic exercise.
- Eating healthy and in appropriate proportions.
- Limit your screen timing.
- Avoid using your bed for any other things than sleep.
- Avoid caffeine consumption at least 3 hours before bed.
- Meditations.
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