Sleep: Now More than Ever
Sleep: Now More than Ever
Guest Contribution by Susan Doktor
If you’re getting less sleep these days, you’re not alone. Extensive research demonstrates that depression and anxiety are among the leading causes of sleep problems. And with the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, a corollary anxiety pandemic is fast on its heels. The fear, human separation, and financial uncertainty that have accompanied the virus are taking their toll on our mental health and likely our sleep patterns, too.
But insomnia is hardly a new or uncommon phenomenon. As a nation, the US is getting less sleep now than we were a hundred years ago. Most of us will experience short bouts of it in our lifetimes but some 20% of Americans suffer from chronic sleep disorders that present with insomnia as a primary symptom.
Curing any disorder that causes insomnia is the ultimate goal of sleep specialists. But in the absence of a cure—or when insomnia is the disorder itself—insomnia sufferers can take many steps towards getting a better night’s sleep. Let’s take a look at some of the habits, techniques, and products that can help us fall asleep faster and sleep longer and deeper once we do.
Practice Meditation
Meditation is a simple, safe technique that’s available to everyone. It costs nothing and you can learn how to do it without leaving home. All of the “side effects’ associated with meditation are positive, including reduced inflammation, improved cognition, increased immune function, and more.
Focus on Comfort
Our bodies are dynamic. The sleep-related choices you made and habits you adopted years ago may not be serving you well right now. So take an inventory of your bedtime rituals and “equipment.” Perhaps you’ve been sleeping on the same mattress for a decade. The best mattress for your body may not be the one you’re sleeping on, now that you’ve aged ten years.
How do you know if it’s time for a change? While many mattresses carry longer warranties, experts recommend replacing your mattress every eight to ten years. Obvious sagging is one clue that your mattress is past its prime. If you suffer from allergies and they get worse at night, your mattress may be the culprit. And in general, if you wake with more pain than you went to sleep with, that’s a good reason to consider buying a new mattress.
If you’ve become a hot sleeper—which can happen due to changes in your age, your health, hormone fluctuations, or the medicines you take—it may be time to look into bedding products designed to keep you cool. Choose natural fibers for your sheets and pillows. You may also want to avoid sleeping on a memory foam mattress, which conforms more closely to your body and traps heat in your bed.
Avoid Substances that Can Disturb Sleep
It’s common sense to avoid using stimulants before going to bed. Coffee and cigarettes fall into that category, as do a host of dangerous illegal substances. But don’t imagine that a glass of wine is going to help you get the shut-eye you need, either. Alcohol may induce drowsiness initially but it disrupts circadian rhythms, prevents you from entering the REM phase of sleeping, and can aggravate breathing problems. Some prescription medications, including those commonly prescribed for hypertension and depression, can also adversely affect sleep. Before taking any medication, ask your physician whether it has the potential to keep you awake and whether you’re better off taking it in the daytime.
Get Some Exercise Every Day
Scientists continue to study the specific benefits that daily (and even occasional) exercise can bestow on insomniacs. Evidence strongly suggests that if you experience sleep apnea or other breathing-related sleep problem, exercise can reduce the severity of your symptoms. But like sleep, exercise has restorative powers of its own. Fit in into your routine and you’ll feel better throughout the day.
Shut it Down
The time we spend engaged with our electronic devices continues to grow. Our work has become more technology-driven. We’re spending more of our leisure time on social media. But the blue light emitted by computer and smartphone screens has been demonstrated to disrupt our sleep cycles, particularly when we’re exposed to it before bed time. You’ll sleep more if you surf less. And don’t just put your phone away. Turn it off. That way the dings that signal your night-owl friends’ Facebook posts won’t wake you either. Whatever it is, it can wait til morning.
Stressed to the max? Deep sleep can rewire the anxious brain
A sleepless night can trigger up to a 30 percent rise in emotional stress levels, new study shows
https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2019/11/191104124140_1_540x360.jpg 11-8
Deep sleep concept (stock image). Credit: © stokkete / Adobe Stock
November 4, 2019
Science Daily/University of California - Berkeley
Researchers have found that the type of sleep most apt to calm and reset the anxious brain is deep sleep, also known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) slow-wave sleep, a state in which neural oscillations become highly synchronized, and heart rates and blood pressure drop.
When it comes to managing anxiety disorders, William Shakespeare's Macbeth had it right when he referred to sleep as the "balm of hurt minds." While a full night of slumber stabilizes emotions, a sleepless night can trigger up to a 30% rise in anxiety levels, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley.
UC Berkeley researchers have found that the type of sleep most apt to calm and reset the anxious brain is deep sleep, also known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) slow-wave sleep, a state in which neural oscillations become highly synchronized, and heart rates and blood pressure drop.
"We have identified a new function of deep sleep, one that decreases anxiety overnight by reorganizing connections in the brain," said study senior author Matthew Walker, a UC Berkeley professor of neuroscience and psychology. "Deep sleep seems to be a natural anxiolytic (anxiety inhibitor), so long as we get it each and every night."
The findings, published today, Nov. 4, in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, provide one of the strongest neural links between sleep and anxiety to date. They also point to sleep as a natural, non-pharmaceutical remedy for anxiety disorders, which have been diagnosed in some 40 million American adults and are rising among children and teens.
"Our study strongly suggests that insufficient sleep amplifies levels of anxiety and, conversely, that deep sleep helps reduce such stress," said study lead author Eti Ben Simon, a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Human Sleep Science at UC Berkeley.
In a series of experiments using functional MRI and polysomnography, among other measures, Simon and fellow researchers scanned the brains of 18 young adults as they viewed emotionally stirring video clips after a full night of sleep, and again after a sleepless night. Anxiety levels were measured following each session via a questionnaire known as the state-trait anxiety inventory.
After a night of no sleep, brain scans showed a shutdown of the medial prefrontal cortex, which normally helps keep our anxiety in check, while the brain's deeper emotional centers were overactive.
"Without sleep, it's almost as if the brain is too heavy on the emotional accelerator pedal, without enough brake," Walker said.
After a full night of sleep, during which participants' brain waves were measured via electrodes placed on their heads, the results showed their anxiety levels declined significantly, especially for those who experienced more slow-wave NREM sleep.
"Deep sleep had restored the brain's prefrontal mechanism that regulates our emotions, lowering emotional and physiological reactivity and preventing the escalation of anxiety," Simon said.
Beyond gauging the sleep-anxiety connection in the 18 original study participants, the researchers replicated the results in a study of another 30 participants. Across all the participants, the results again showed that those who got more nighttime deep sleep experienced the lowest levels of anxiety the next day.
Moreover, in addition to the lab experiments, the researchers conducted an online study in which they tracked 280 people of all ages about how both their sleep and anxiety levels changed over four consecutive days.
The results showed that the amount and quality of sleep the participants got from one night to the next predicted how anxious they would feel the next day. Even subtle nightly changes in sleep affected their anxiety levels.
"People with anxiety disorders routinely report having disturbed sleep, but rarely is sleep improvement considered as a clinical recommendation for lowering anxiety," Simon said. "Our study not only establishes a causal connection between sleep and anxiety, but it identifies the kind of deep NREM sleep we need to calm the overanxious brain."
On a societal level, "the findings suggest that the decimation of sleep throughout most industrialized nations and the marked escalation in anxiety disorders in these same countries is perhaps not coincidental, but causally related," Walker said. "The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night of sleep."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191104124140.htm