Stress and Sleep
Troy Sebastian is the manager of Banner Thunderbird Medical Center’s Sleep Disorder Center.
Question: With today's economy there is a lot to be stressed out about. How does stress affect my sleep and what can I do about it?
Answer: Sleep is nourishment for the mind and body, and in today’s environment of financial problems; people losing their 401Ks, jobs, homes to foreclosure, having to pick up a second job, these stressors are causing sleepless nights – defined as stress induced insomnia. This stress induced insomnia can either be short term (transient) or long term (chronic).
The increasing financial stress, often leading to transient insomnia or stress induced insomnia causing sleep deprivation, is quickly growing to be one of the leading causes of memory lapses, mood changes, poor personal and business decisions, as well as increasing motor vehicle accidents. This type of insomnia is coined transient insomnia because with proper course of action, transient insomnia should be resolved in two to three weeks.
Question: What happens when I can’t sleep?
Answer: There are three states of existence: wake, NREM and REM. Close to 80 percent of a night’s sleep is spent in NREM. In NREM, sleep certain hormones are being replenished, the muscle tissue is being restored. REM sleep is also known as paradoxical sleep, because the brain is active, but the body is paralyzed. The paralysis of the voluntary muscles is a natural process so we don’t act out our dreams in REM sleep. With the growing stress of the economy, there are increasing numbers of people afflicted with REM behavior disorder. One of the causes of REM behavior disorder, psychological stress, RBD is when people act out their dreams; punching, kicking, leaping and running causing non-restorative sleep.
Most people need approximately seven to eight hours of sleep per night. Enough sleep enables people to function competently during prolonged, monotonous, quiet situations without struggling with sleepiness. Sleep studies have shown that even after one sleepless night, mood, creativity and performance deteriorates.
Question: How do I treat my insomnia issues, or how do I improve my sleep?
Answer: One answer is proper sleep hygiene. Some proper sleep hygiene guidelines are: A person should stay in bed for as long as sleep is needed but no longer. Maintain regular bed times as well as wake up times.
People should avoid coffee, caffeine containing soft drinks, tea and chocolate because it may take up to eight hours to completely metabolize those substances. Tobacco is also a stimulant and should be avoided near bedtime. Relaxation and sleep are promoted by quiet activities, such as reading, watching television or listening to music.
