Psychological stress and sleep
Sleep is a naturally recurring state of mind and body, characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity, and inhibition of nearly all voluntary muscles during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep,[1] and reduced interactions with surroundings.
[15] These correlating statistics reveal an epidemic that is being created with stress and an increased risk of chronic sleep deprivation.
Unfortunately, this troubling cycle also causes an increased risk for the potential impacts of sleep deprivation and excessive stress, including many physical and mental health issues.
Long-term/chronic psychosocial stress is known to cause depression symptoms but the effect of chronic stress on sleep can lead to a ripple effect of further damage including poor emotional stability, lowered attention span and self-control, and worse performance on cognitive tasks.
[4] Early life sleep disruption caused by stressors may affect neuroplasticity and synaptic connectivity potentially leading to the development of mood disorders.
One study found that auditory stimulation stressors act similarly by inhibiting the cholinergic reduction of REM sleep.
Within the pedunculopontine tegmentum region, in the brainstem, reduced GABA imbibition of cholinergic neurons acts again in the same way in increasing REM sleep duration.
[4] The neuroendocrine hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is a system of hormones that culminates in the release of cortisol from the adrenal glands in response to acute stress and is also seen to regulate sleep patterns.
[7] During early childhood development, the child's brain is particularly sensitive to adverse events such as family conflict, maternal postnatal depression, or abuse.
In a laboratory setting, individuals exposed to psychological stressors have had raised IL-6 (an acute-phase protein CRP) measured especially in those who displayed anger or anxiety in response to the stressful stimulus.
Thought to be discrete and different from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), these war syndromes have a range of physical symptoms but commonly feature sleep disturbances, tiredness, poor concentration, and nightmares.
[6] When studied against controls, however, little difference was measured in the quality of sleep suggesting paradoxical insomnia along with physiological H-P-A axis involvement and "fight or flight responses".
This suggests that significant stress can trigger vivid or disturbing dreams, even if the current situation isn't directly traumatic.
This common type of PTSD dream involves reliving a traumatic event, often accompanied by intense emotions like fear, anger, or anxiety upon waking.
[18] When individuals experience high levels of stress and insufficient amounts of sleep their mental and physical health is jeopardized.
Irregular schedules, especially night shifts, disrupt daily routines and interfere with the body's natural sleep-wake cycle.
These conflicts create hostile work environments, impacting employee morale, productivity, and overall job satisfaction.
People who consistently lack sleep are more susceptible to heart disease, diabetes, and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
Employers can create healthier work environments by managing workloads, setting clear expectations, and fostering a supportive atmosphere.
Practicing simple self-care routines and setting aside time for the things that one enjoys will aid in minimizing the levels of stress that employees experience.
In addition to cognitive performance, sleep deprivation can cause a decreased attention span on specific tasks at hand.
Both excessive stress and sleep deprivation cause physical health impacts that may affect a person short-term or long-term.
These impacts range in severity and it is important to be aware of the increased risk of health issues that may arise due to the stress-sleep cycle.
Although these impacts are both short-term, they can last for days, weeks, or even months if the stress continues to overwhelm a person and cause them to struggle to fall and stay asleep.
Long-term effects can result from years of persistent feelings of excessive levels of stress and consequently getting a consistent lack of sleep.
Excessive stress and sleep deprivation can cause cardiovascular issues, such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
Prolongation of this stress on the body can cause plaque buildup in the artery walls which impedes blood flow and results in a much higher likelihood of major cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke.
As a result, someone with a consistent lack of sleep has higher blood pressure levels for longer periods of time.
