Credit: Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock
Without the proper amount of sleep, your brain can’t
function properly, which could lead to an increased risk of mental health
disorders.
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Three o’clock in the morning — for some people, it’s the
most anxiety-producing time. It’s when they wake up after just a few hours of
shut-eye and then fail to fall back asleep.
For other people, it’s the dreaded hour when they realize
they have yet to fall asleep. The clock is ticking toward their wake-up time,
and they haven’t even hit a dream cycle.
Missing sleep can lead to more than just a sluggish day.
Sleep medicine scientists have established that poor sleep is related to poor
health. And in more recent years, sleep medicine researchers have also gained a
greater understanding of how a lack of sleep can jeopardize mental health.
Scientists and advocates are calling for more research and
attention into what they warn is a growing public health concern.
Why We Need Sleep
The body needs sleep, but not everyone is able to sleep
well. Sleep medicine researchers say this is akin to not having clean air,
nutritious food, or fresh water.
“Sleep is not just something we do because we like it or
because it’s good for you. Sleep is a biological requirement for human life.
It’s non-negotiable,” says Michael A. Grandner, an associate professor of
psychiatry and the director of the Sleep & Health Research Program and the
Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic at the University of Arizona College of
Medicine.
After the Industrial Revolution, Grandner says disorders
like insomnia became romanticized and seen as part of a work culture in which
people who slept less were admired for being strong, devoted, and capable of working
more. He says that standards are changing, and people are beginning to
recognize that a lack of sleep impacts a person’s physical and mental health.
“We are in this period of change in how our society looks at
sleep health in general,” he says.
Read More: The
Importance of Sleep for Your Body
How Sleep Affects Mental Health
Part of the change in how people view their own sleep health
is due to a growing understanding of the relationship
between sleep and psychiatric disorders. Sleep disorders like insomnia are
a risk factor for mental health issues such as anxiety or depression.
Researchers are still learning about the relationship, but
they are increasingly seeing how sleep disorders can predict the development of
a psychiatric disorder.
Sleep and Memory
Although scientists are still examining the relationship
between sleep and psychiatric disorders, Grandner says there are several
theories, and one involves memory. When a person sleeps, their brain
processes and stores memories. Sleep disorders like insomnia disturb
this process, and the person may miss out on memory consolidation.
Thus, these memories may be missing when a person needs to
interpret social situations. Grandner gives the example of a person seeing
someone frown in their direction. Past memories could help the person see the
scowl as a part of the other person’s bad day, which could spark empathy. But
without those memories, the frown could seem personal. This could cause the
person to feel anxious or threatened.
“Memory and emotion are at the core of a lot of common
mental health issues,” Grandner says.
Sleep and Suicide Risk
Another theory considers how the brain functions in the
middle of the night when the body is meant to be asleep. The Mind After Midnight hypothesis holds
that in the overnight hours, a tired brain that is unable to sleep is not
functioning optimally — a risk factor for more extreme behavior.
The brain should be asleep and performing maintenance tasks
like memory processing and storage or emotional regulation. Instead, it’s being
forced into action mode when “cognitive capacity and mood regulation are
diminished.”
During the overnight hours, self-harm, thoughts of suicide,
and violent crime spike. Unhealthy behaviors like substance abuse or poor food
choices are also likely. The hypothesis holds that it’s during these
sleep-deprived times that a stage is set for future psychiatric disorders.
“When your body wants to be asleep, you don’t make good
choices,” Grandner says.
Read More: This
Is Your Brain Without Sleep
The 5 Sleep Disorders
The International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD) is a diagnostic manual that puts sleep
disorders into seven main groups.
There are insomnia disorders, which relate to the inability
to fall asleep or stay asleep. Sleep-breathing disorders involve conditions
like sleep apnea, in which a person stops breathing. The third group, central
disorders of hypersomnolence, include narcolepsy and other forms of excessive
sleepiness. Circadian
rhythm sleep-wake disorders consist of disorders in which a
person’s sleep-wake cycle is out of sync.
The fifth group, parasomnia, entails abnormal movements such
as walking, talking, or eating. This group also includes nightmares, night
terrors, and sleep
paralysis. Parasomnia is distinct from the sixth group, sleep-related
movement disorders, which are characterized by movements that disturb sleep,
like restless leg syndrome. Lastly, the ICSD has an “other” category for
disorders that do not fit into the other groups.
Read More: What
Really Happens During Sleep Paralysis and How to Stop It
Which Sleep Disorder Is Most Common?
Insomnia is likely the most common sleep disorder. But
scientists can’t say with certainty how many people suffer from it.
“We actually don’t know the prevalence in the population of
most sleep disorders,” Grandner says.
Part of the problem is that sleep studies are needed to
diagnose disorders like sleep apnea, Grandner says. For some people, this can
mean an overnight stay in a sleep clinic or wearing diagnostic equipment at
home. These barriers keep people from seeking out a diagnosis and prevent
scientists from fully knowing the epidemiology.
Read More: Irregular
Sleep Schedules Can Lead to Health Risks
Studying Sleep Disorders
Scientists who study sleep medicine say that more research
is needed. In the spring of 2024, almost three dozen members of Congress signed a letter supporting funding for
sleep health research, which would possibly allow agencies like the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to study sleep disorders in the American
population and get a better sense of the epidemiology.
“It’s something that’s getting voted on that those of us in
the community are advocating for — we’re saying, ‘Please, we need this
information,’” Grandner says.
Read More: Can
Animals Have Sleep Disorders?
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed
studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for
scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for
this article:
- Neurologic
clinics. Psychiatric disorders and sleep
- Frontiers
in Network Physiology. The Mind After Midnight: Nocturnal Wakefulness,
Behavioral Dysregulation, and Psychopathology
- American
Academy of Sleep Medicine. The AASM International Classification of Sleep
Disorders – Third Edition, Text Revision (ICSD-3-TR)
- American
family physician. Common Sleep Disorders in Adults: Diagnosis and
Management
- Sleep
Review. Congress Members Rally Behind Sleep Health Funding and
Awareness
