{"id":155,"date":"2019-05-17T11:29:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T18:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/?p=155"},"modified":"2019-05-17T11:29:08","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T18:29:08","slug":"sleep-found-to-be-crucial-contributor-to-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/2019\/05\/17\/sleep-found-to-be-crucial-contributor-to-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleep found to be crucial contributor to mental health"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-156 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/files\/2019\/05\/sleep-clock-sleeping-woman-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"734\" height=\"489\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to understanding how diet and exercise each impact our<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2017\/sep\/06\/lack-of-sleep-could-contribute-to-mental-health-problems-researchers-reveal\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">overall health<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, to say that there is an overwhelmingly body of research and understanding, would be putting it mildly. However, there is not nearly as much information out there in regards to the impact that<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/nomanazish\/2019\/01\/01\/five-easy-ways-to-boost-your-mental-health-in-2019\/#5ceafcc22430\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">quality of sleep<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has on an individual\u2019s<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/daviddisalvo\/2018\/08\/26\/what-is-the-connection-between-sleep-and-loneliness-new-research-reveals-how-one-affects-the-other\/#6bca47c529f6\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mental health<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Over recent years, it has become more and more obvious that mental health is just as important as physical health or emotional health, but even still, the reasons behind mental health risk are still heavily debated and not entirely agreed upon across the board.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Mental health linked to sleep quality<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Essentially, the consensus most widely accepted these days is that mental health issues can be caused by an array of contributing factors. For some individuals, it is being around negative people, or existing in negative spaces. For others, it is a specific place, or a trauma they are struggling to overcome. And for some people, it is (at least partially) their sleeping pattern that has the most significant effect on their mental health. It sounds surprising to some people, but sleep has been proven, in multiple recent research studies, to have a genuine and sometimes profound impact on an individual\u2019s mental state. Essentially, when we do not get enough sleep, our bodies are fatigued, and as a result our brains do not function to their usual standard. This results in a type of mental fog that leaves us unfocused and unlike ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Understanding when the warning signs are glaring<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, no matter how much we would like to think we are in control of our health, we simply are not. And sometimes, it is more difficult than one might initially think to even realise that there is a problem in the first place. These days, people are busier than ever. Because of the busy lifestyles many of us lead today, not everyone has the time in their average day to slow down enough and consider how their sleeping pattern may actually be affecting their mental health. It is important to take a step back when you feel unbalanced, and do the work to understand why and what you need to do to get back on track \u2013 even if that takes more time than expected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>How to combat the problem of wavering sleep<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The unfortunate truth is that sometimes, getting a good night\u2019s sleep is easier said than done.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Natural remedies like<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhc.com\/essential-oils\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">essential oils<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or music are a great way to help ease yourself to sleep at night. However, if the problem persists and proves to be more severe, it is time to consider other methods of treatment. Sometimes it takes more than some pleasant oils or a new mattress to right this ship. It is not at all uncommon for people to seek out professional healthcare assistance to remedy their sleeping issues, and it has proven to be incredibly beneficial to many people over time. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to understanding how diet and exercise each impact our overall health, to say that there is an overwhelmingly body of research and understanding, would be putting it mildly. However, there is not nearly as much information out there in regards to the impact that quality of sleep has on an individual\u2019s mental [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48857,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1814,1484],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-mental-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48857"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions\/157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/healthx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}