Sleep & Mental Health: The Ultimate Guide

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Everyone knows that to have optimum mental health, you need a decent night's sleep, every night. Of course, the problem is that when you are struggling with a mental health difficulty, rest can become an issue in itself. In fact, you can end up sleeping too much or not being able to nod off at the end of the day at all. Luckily, you can find out more about sleep issues, how they interact with mental health, and how to improve your sleep below.

Struggling to get to sleep

If you struggle to get off to sleep each night, you may be suffering from insomnia. Of course, many underlying conditions can cause this issue. The most common of which is anxiety. In fact, when your body is flooded with panic hormones that stimulate your nervous system and send thoughts racing around your mind, getting to sleep can seem an almost impossible task.

Happily, there are some things you can do to give yourself of getting the best night's sleep, even when anxious. The first is to do some aerobic exercise during the day, for at least 30 mins. The reason being that not only does it help to process those anxiety chemicals in your body and get them to disperse quicker, but also tires you out more too. Something that can make nodding off so much easier.

Additionally, it's well worth investing some time into making sure you have the best environment in which to sleep. Of course, this means that your bed and bedding need to be as comfy as possible.

It also means that you need to block out any light and sound that will disturb you as well. The latter being a task you can achieve by using earplugs at night. You can even learn more about the different types available by clicking the link. Something that can help you an environment much more conducive to sleep each night.

Struggling to stay asleep

For some folks, getting to sleep is easy. Instead, they struggled with staying asleep for an entire night. This being something that can have a significant impact on sleep quality and so mental health as well.

One reason for this may be sleep apnea, a condition where the sufferer actually stops breathing for a short amount of time, and it can be very dangerous. Happily, there are treatments available for this, including using a CPAP machine. Something that you need to ask your doctor about ASAP if you are concerned you may have this condition.

Getting too much sleep

Lastly, when it comes to sleep, some people have too much. We're not talking about an occasional lay-in here either, but sleeping for 11-18 hours a day regularly. This is what is known as hypersomnia, and it can often be a symptom of depression and other mental and physical health concerns.

To that end, if you notice a pattern of hypersomnia in yourself or a love done, it is best to get this checked out by your doctor. Someone that can help identify any underlying issues and get those treated as well. Which should, in turn, help you to improve both your sleep and your mental health.