How does Sleep affect your Mental Health?

"Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, When I wake up, I am reborn."

                                                                                            - Mahatma Gandhi

Sleep? Is it that important?

Sleep! A small word with a lot of dimension and diversity to it. Sleep is a repair/recharge mode for the body and mind. Repair for every cell, tissue, and muscle for the body and Recharge for the "Brain-Drain" and the amount of energy used all day long. For infants and kids, sleep is the major part of their entire day, nothing much to do is there? But being an adult as we are, a span of 24 hours a day seems less to achieve everything we want to, that respective day. To get most of the work done in the same day as planned, we tend to adjust or "Shorten" the sleep time reducing it to 4-5 hours of sleep a day. 

Compromising with the health, disturbing the balance of body and mind, the sleep cycle, will cause nothing but a gradual loss of stability of life in total. Sleeplessness, mainly found in adults who work several shifts, in a day or who have changes in the shifts of work, people who travel a lot and who have poor working schedule. There are several other reasons for disturbance in sleep cycle, which we will discuss further.

Let's explore the scientific reasons of sleep -

Melatonin and Circadian Rhythm - How does these work?

Melatonin, a hormone in the body that regulates the whole "sleep-wake" cycle of an individual. Melatonin levels in infants are the highest, as a infant grows into a teenager the melatonin production delays, (for some obvious reasons) resulting in the disturbance of the cycle. The rhythm (often called as Circadian Rhythm) weakens and the production of melatonin decreases as a person ages. 

Lack of sleep means?

Sleep is surely the recharge button for your body, Body has its own little ways to indicate that it needs a recharge, just as a mobile phone, a notification pops up asking to charge the phone or it might stop working or to be simple, it'll die. Same goes for the body too, the body sends signals and indications to the mind that it is time to rest, recharge and revive again.

Often mislead and ignored by the individual, the indications are the Warning signs that the body might be prone to some internal damages or it might just simply give up!

Signs the body shouts for sleep!!

Our body has unique ways of shouting for sleep, for a quick or a long recharge time, the body shows signs/side effects of the lack of sleep, which is widely known as Sleep Deprivation, a state where the body suffers from the insufficient sleep commonly called Sleeplessness, and the side effects are -

• Lack of Focus, Concentration power;
• Effects the quality of Memory;
• Aids in the Increase of weight;
• Sleeping for less than 5 hours, increases the risk of High Blood Pressure;
• Stress and overthinking plays a vital role in sleep deprivation;
• Risk of Diabetes;
• Poor Balance of the body;
• Increased risk of a Heart Disease or Heart Attacks;
• Causes Fatigue, Weakness, Nausea;
• Aids in other Sleep Disorders;

Different types of sleeping disorders -

• Insomnia - Is a type of sleep disorder where a person finds it difficult or nearly impossible to fall/stay asleep, cannot enjoy an Uninterrupted sleep. Insomnia is caused by Anxiety, Stress, Irregular travel or work schedule or so.

• Sleep Apnea - Sleep Apnea is a serious medical condition where a person pauses the breathing process in his/her sleep, causing the body to take less amount of oxygen during sleep.

• Parasomnias - It is on the more common side of the sleep disorders, where a person make abnormal movements and show abnormal behavior such as - Sleep-walking, Sleep-talking, Snoring, Nightmares, Jaw clenching etc.

• Narcolepsy - Narcolepsy is characterized or defined as "Sleep attacks". It is a long term neurological disorder where a person has decreased or no ability (in certain Chronic cases) to regulate the sleep-wake cycles.

The above explained sleep disorders have a fatal effect on the mental health of a certain individual, as all these disorders have adverse affect on the mind of a person as compared to the body, physically.

Getting the adequate amount of sleep is vital, just as consuming the right amount of food to keep the body (the system of the body) working. 

Inadequate amount of sleep or disturbed sleep cycle affects the mental, physical and emotional conditions of an individual. Lack of sleep causes a lot of side effects on the body, making a person unable to work on their own, having a busy schedule is no excuse for skipping the sleep it reducing the span of sleep, as "Health is Wealth" meaning health comes first and it should be the top priority.

Why is sleep so vital? Benefits of sleeping

Firstly, sleeping does NOT mean sleeping an hour or two, it means giving time to the body to recharge itself, a stretch of 7-9 hours of sleep is what your body demands, a Nap of 15-30 minutes in between the day is also essential to the body, called as a Power Nap, a power nap is nothing but a boost of energy given to the body, by giving it the right amount of rest.

Sleep is important because it proves to be the ONLY way for the body to repair itself from all the brain-drain and energy utilized the whole day some reasons of why sleep is so important are -

• Boosts up the concentration and focal power;
• Sleep helps boost up the immunity system of the body;
• Sleep helps you maintain the healthy lifestyle;
• Stabilizes the mental state;
• Reduces the risks of heart diseases and diabetes;
• Inner healthy glow, shows up to the skin;
• Balances the war between Mind and Body;

Have no shame in sleeping for long hours, instead, sleep like a baby! the peaceful and happy way of sleeping. When working for endless hours, your body needs to refuel itself, and one of the secrets of successful people - "Staying healthy form the inside out" which reflects in their work, most of successful people are Early Risers, who believes those extra hours helps them to Cease the entire day!

So Folks! Sleep peacefully, work the whole day to "deserve" the sleep you'll be getting at night. 

A healthy mind, makes a Successful person! Get that Beauty sleep of yours!

P.S. - I finished writing this blog at past midnight, Guess I should take my own advise seriously!😆

Until next time people! Stay Safe, Stay positive! and Stay True to Yourself!