Sleeplessness and Emotional Health: What’s The Relationship?

Sleep is vital in maintaining good physical and emotional health. Sleep deprivation can, in fact, do unhealthy things to the human body. You are blessed if you can sleep like a baby, meaning you can pleasantly sleep the whole night through undisturbed. Millions of Americans are not as lucky. According to the National Institute of Health, “More than 40 million Americans wrestle with chronic, long-term sleep disorders, and an additional 20 million report sleeping problems occasionally…”

People with poor overall emotional health, or those with emotional conditions, are more vulnerable to sleeplessness or insomnia. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), “Chronic sleep problems affect 50% to 80% of patients in a typical psychiatric practice, compared with 10% to 18% of adults in the general U.S. population.”  Traditionally, insomnia has always been considered to be a symptom of emotional issues, such as anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, etc.

Recent studies, however, are revealing that insomnia and other sleep problems may not only be a symptom. It may also cause or increase the risk or directly contribute to the development of certain emotional conditions. This finding has clinical relevance. It underscores the value of seeking professional help and resolving sleeplessness, as it may also treat a co-occurring emotional health issue.

The Insomnia-Emotional Health Link

“The relationship between insomnia and emotional issues is bidirectional,” says Jo Abbott, from the Swinburne University of Technology. This is the essence of what the growing body of scientific information indicates.  In figures, this means that “about 50 percent of adults with insomnia have emotional health issues, while up to 90 percent of adults with depression experience sleep problems.”  The insomnia-emotional regulation difficulties link is well supported by many studies.

The study undertaken at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine showed that indeed sleep deprivation may significantly contribute to the onset, development and/or complication of emotional conditions. It was specifically observed that subjects with insomnia had dysfunctional activity in the amygdala, the brain area that is responsible for the processing and regulation of feelings.

In another study, brain scans revealed that efforts to diminish the activity can only lead to increased reactivity to negative imageries with unpleasant emotional connotations. Several other studies support that sleeplessness may impair the brain’s capacity to effectively process unpleasant emotions. A research undertaken in the United Kingdom reveals how insomnia can impair emotional regulation as it “lowered inhibition and increased impulsivity to negative stimuli.”

These findings suggest that emotional regulation, specifically processing feelings and responding fittingly to unpleasant emotions, can be more difficult with insomnia.  These findings are proof that insomnia can cause, contribute and/or complicate emotional conditions.

An Emotional Condition and Insomnia: Which Comes First?

“Either one,” says ADAA. Dr. Charles L. Raison, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, concurs. In his speech during the Psych Congress Regional Meeting held in Chicago, he said, “Sleep difficulties can both cause and result from psychiatric disorders, and clinicians must be sure to treat the conditions simultaneously.”

This implies that an emotional disorder can come first, triggering sleeplessness. It can also be the other way around. Sleep deprivation can affect the brain center, so that its ability to process feelings and react to unpleasant experiences is dulled or slowed down. Research proves that insomnia is generally present in almost all emotional conditions. For instance, “anxiety causes sleeping problems, and new research suggests sleep deprivation can cause an anxiety disorder.”

Further evidence that the two are linked is apparent in the slow recovery from emotional conditions in people experiencing severe sleeplessness. Sleep deprivation can cause them to be less responsive and uncooperative or less compliant to therapeutic interventions. The possibility of relapse or the recurrence of episodes is also higher when someone has problems sleeping.

The discovery of the link between insomnia and emotional conditions is relatively new. The relationship has been underrecognized and underestimated for so long, being viewed as a mere symptom of other emotional health conditions. So, it is the condition that receives attention or treatment, but not the insomnia. Thus, many of those struggling don’t seek treatment or professional help. Experts are now recognizing that sleeplessness can be part of the multifaceted package of causes for emotional health challenges.

Risks and Relevance of the Link

There are health risks involved when you are sleep deprived. These may extend way beyond fatigue, weariness and drowsiness. Lack of sleep can result in a drop in your academic performance or work habits, pose higher risks for accidents and injury, and more health issues. Your physical health can weaken as you become more vulnerable to medical conditions, such as heart disease, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, etc. Because insomnia is linked to having robust emotional health, you can also have a higher risk for mood disorders, anxiety and other related conditions.

The fact that sleep can play a role in emotional health underscores the value of treating sleep disorders resulting from sleeplessness. The link provides experts a fresh perspective in the treatment of emotional conditions. Understanding the relationship, sorting out and addressing sleep issues can be an important step in treating and resolving the deeper emotional issues. Similarly, because of the connection, treatment of emotional conditions can also be important in addressing the complicating insomnia.

If you have a genetic predisposition, you are likely to ask: can emotional conditions be prevented by treating insomnia? Research is invigorating its efforts by studying if the treatment of sleeplessness can also improve the outcome for depression, anxiety, mood disorders, ADHD, etc. In fact, the results of a study undertaken in Australia suggest that treatment of sleeplessness can ease depressive symptoms. In another study using cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), the participants manifested a decreased incidence of depressive symptoms more so than those who were not given any insomnia treatment.

Resolving Sleeplessness and Emotional Issues Side by Side

Considering the association between insomnia and emotional conditions, it is important that you do not trivialize going without sleep. If you are having difficulty getting enough hours of sleep on a nightly basis for weeks on end, seek help without delay. Your sleep issues can be resolved, not only by taking sleep medicines. There are other treatment options available for the sleep deprived, such as therapy. Therapy can help in the identification and modification of behaviors that may reinforce and perpetuate alleviating your sleeping challenges.

Seeing a behavioral health professional is a wise decision. You can find an experienced therapist from Carolina Counseling Services – Sanford, NC. An independent and experienced therapist contracted with CCS can help you resolve your emotional issues and loss of sleep side by side, using behavioral interventions, such as CBT and talk therapy. Experts believe that these interventions should be at the core of an insomnia treatment program. These can have a vigorous impact on your sleep quality. With regular treatment and reinforcement, the improvements can be sustained.

If you are gripped by an emotional condition, insomnia may not be too far away. Your physical health is as much at stake, if you will let these two wreak havoc on your health, without treatment. Call Carolina Counseling Services – Sanford, NC, so your symptoms can be assessed, and your issues resolved, the sooner the better. Current studies are supporting that therapy can improve, not only the quality of your sleep, but the symptoms of your emotional difficulties. Call today!

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