A weighted blanket. A white noise machine. Ear plugs and a body pillow, too. That's how I sleep, and it's the only way I have a chance at a good night's rest.
I'm not alone. According to the CDC, upwards of 70 million U.S. adults have a sleep disorder, which ranges from CPAP users and insomniacs to drowsy drivers and melatonin users. As daylight savings time creeps us on us, the issues become even more obvious. Deep, quality sleep can be hard to come by, but if you get it right, you'll realize just how much it benefits your day.
Better sleep means a reduced risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.
"A weakened mental awareness and sluggish cognitive ability will make for a fertile condition for depression." That's what Dr. John Weigel, MS, CAADC, licensed psychologist at Weigel Counseling in Lititz says. Higher quality sleep means a reduced risk of Major Depressive Disorder (Dr. Weigel says up to 90% of patients with depression have comorbid insomnia) as well as mental illnesses like anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and social phobias.
It also means improved efficiency.
Our natural sleep cycles fight against alarm clocks every day. That's what snooze buttons are for—but Dr. Weigel says a body clock works a lot better than a time clock. "As a society, we ignore the facts about sleep and force ourselves to push ahead," he says. Dr. Weigel says studies show high school students performed better with a later start to the school day. Adolescents ages 13–21 tend to experience changes in their circadian rhythm that favor later hours. For adults, it might feel more natural to wake up early. As long as you're getting adequate sleep, you could see better job performance. After all, the Sleep Foundation tells us that more than a quarter of workers report sleepiness as a common workday interference.
More sleep can lead to a reduced risk of cancer.
"Good sleep can even reduce our risk for cancer," says Dr. Weigel—thanks to natural melatonin. Your brain produces melatonin when you sleep, and melatonin is an antioxidant and antiinflammatory hormone. This protects your cells from damage that could otherwise become cancerous.
Sleep can also reduce the risk of other types of chronic disease.
"Consider groups that have notoriously poor sleep hygiene," says Dr. Andrew Neville, ND, chronic fatigue expert at Clymer Healing Center in Quakertown. Third-shift workers, health care workers, police, and firefighters often suffer from sleep deprivation or consistency. This leads to an increased risk of chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes. Extending sleep can help the body produce more insulin and keep blood pressure levels in the normal range.
Enjoy less stress and positive emotional consequences.
Overeating, alcoholism, and sedentary lifestyles are just some examples of how people might act out their emotions. "When stressed, we tend to drift towards high risk, high danger quick fixes for comfort and relief," says Dr. Weigel. Sleep and stress have a reverse correlation (meaning more sleep produces less stress and vice versa). With good sleep, you can muster the strength necessary to cope with life, all while keeping your own best interest in mind.
Your chronic pain may diminish.
Dr. Neville has observed what happens as the biological mechanisms of sleep heal in individuals. In addition to waking up feeling more refreshed with improved moods, he says, "Patients report waking without chronic pain." For example, studies suggest that when a group of volunteers becomes deprived of sleep for two weeks, fibromyalgia-like symptoms begin to emerge.
Not all sleep is created equal.
Short naps up to 20 minutes long during the day are helpful, but anything longer can interrupt your sleep drive at night. Plus, sleep consistency is just as important as the amount of sleep you get, so setting a fairly regular bedtime (with blue-light devices turned off at a certain hour) can go a long way.
