Is stress keeping you awake at night?
Stress can do double damage to you, keeping you from getting needed sleep and then waking you up from that hard-earned sleep.
“High levels of stress impair sleep by prolonging how long it takes to fall asleep and fragmenting sleep,” said Dr. Annise Wilson, a sleep expert at Baylor College of Medicine. “Sleep loss triggers our body’s stress response system, leading to an elevation in stress hormones, namely cortisol, which further disrupts sleep.”
Stress can strike people of any age, from teens worried about school to adults concerned about job prospects, from senior citizens fretting about health problems to children concerned about bullies in the neighborhood.
That pressure can haunt you through the night and affect your performance at work and at home, said Wilson, who studies how stress affects sleep quality.
“Research has shown that sleep plays an important role in learning and memory. Chronic sleep deprivation also has been associated with decreased metabolism and endocrine dysfunction,” said Wilson, an assistant professor of neurology and of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine.
Solutions
She and other sleep authorities recommend several steps that can improve the quality of your sleep:
• keep the same sleeping schedule on weekends and weekdays.
• jot down worries before going to bed.
• avoid caffeine late in the day.
• stop watching television or using electronic devices two hours before going to bed.
Insomnia’s toll
The Cleveland Clinic says chronic insomnia or sleep anxiety raises your risk of numerous long-term problems.
They include diabetes, heart attack, heart disease, heart failure, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, obesity and stroke.
To read more from Dr. Wilson, go to www.bcm.edu/news/how-stress-can-affect-your-sleep
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