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The Sleep-Stress connection and what to do about it

Andrew Badham 2019-04-24 15:25:26

 

Sleep and Stress

It’s not uncommon for me to come to the end of a stress management course – talking over concepts like rumination, fight or flight responses, and other more cognitive causes of stress – only to find their distress is rooted in something far simpler: a lack of sleep.

Of course, sleep is not the only foundational element that can puppet your anxiety levels, food and exercise play massive roles as well, but sleep deserves a special mention.

The Cycle

When it comes to sleep and anxiety, the connection can be depressingly cyclical (pun very much intended). Anxiety is characterized by high cortisol levels (your alertness steroid-hormone) which makes it difficult to sleep, mostly because cortisol’s job is to wake you up. So, the next day your body has to produce more cortisol to keep you awake and alert, which then leads to a greater feeling of anxiousness.

If that destructive cycle makes you feel despondent, don’t let it, because just like most negative cycles, it can be pushed in the opposite direction. If you fix one part of the cycle, the other will follow. In other words, if you can fix the sleep component, you just might fix the stress as well. The only trouble is, how?

What to do

The overarching objective is to get those cortisol levels down before bed-time. Although obvious, you might know from experience how hard that can be, despite the fact that cortisol levels naturally dip towards bedtime. So, if our levels should be dropping naturally, why aren’t they? Here are two possible causes, our thoughts and our activities; their respective solutions, distraction and rescheduling.

Our thoughts

Our thoughts can simulate stressful scenarios, whether that’s an upcoming meeting, a fight with a friend, or just concerns for the future. We simulate these scenarios so well that our brain produces the same physical response as if we were actually in them. To stop this, we need to distract ourselves. Read a good book, listen to calming music, put together a puzzle, pick whatever distraction you like so long as it takes your mind away from the problem.

Eating and Exercise

Our activities can also spike our stress levels even good activities like eating and exercising. Eating well is critical for wellbeing but a large meal can boost your adrenaline levels simply to help you digest. Exercise is a wonderful way to de-stress, but your heart-rate will stay elevated for a few hours afterwards. So, the simple solution is to schedule those items slight earlier in your day. If you can exercise in the morning or eat a few hours before bed, you may be well on your way to having a more peaceful night’s sleep.

If that doesn’t work, there are still other solutions like cooling your bedroom or practising meditation before bed. Whatever solution you choose, you must prioritize it. Sleeping better will help, not only your health but your productivity at work as well. A recent study showed that losing as little as 16 minutes of sleep was associated with impaired cognition the following day. So, make sure you get that shut-eye.