5 Ways Stress Makes Sleeping Difficult

Amy Taylor September 24, 2014

Stress – it’s something we all experience from time to time. At home, at work, in the road – we encounter stressful situations. And just in case you don’t know, stress is a silent killer. You never know it has already taken toll on your health until it’s too late.

You know that stress affects your mood. It literally makes you grumpy and irritable. It depletes your energy, which in turn affects your day to day activities. But aside from wrecking your mood and well-being, stress also wrecks your sleep. Study after study shows that a good night sleep is effective in combating stress. But what do you do if you are too stressed to fall asleep?

Sleep and Stress

Wondering what happens to your brain when you are stressed and you sleep? Instead of shutting down, your mind races with thoughts instead. So it doesn’t really get rested, which in turn, affects areas of your brain responsible for memory, muscle repair and mood. And when you don’t get enough quality slumber, your defence line against diseases (known as the immune system), weakens. And more bad things happen.

Here are five sure-fire ways stress prevents you from having a good night sleep.

It robs you of adequate time to sleep.

Stress has a way of making you toss and turn for quite some time before finally falling asleep. In one US study, 43 per cent of adults say that stress causes them to lie awake at night, and more than 50 per cent of adults report feeling sluggish after a night of little sleep. While experts are still on a debate regarding the exact number of hours we should spend sleeping each night, researchers suggest individuals could be happier if they can get additional 60 to 90 minutes per night.

Stress ups your insomnia risk.

Stress doesn’t just rob you off a few minutes or hours of sleep. It could rob off your sleep entirely! According to a study published in the journal SLEEP, people who experience on-going stress are more susceptible to insomnia, and each additional stressor increases the risk for the disorder by 19 per cent.

Stress leads to poor sleep quality.

Because you mind is racing in thoughts, you are less likely to experience a deep, restful slumber. Nearly 42 per cent of adults report getting only fair or poor quality sleep when they’re stressed, according to the same study in the journal SLEEP, conducted by the researchers from Henry Ford Hospital.

Excessive cortisol disrupts your sleeping pattern.

Cortisol is among the stress hormones responsible for the fight or flight response – that jolt of energy you get when you feel stressed or threatened that enables you to respond. Unfortunately, chronic stress can lead to excessive levels of cortisol, and this can disrupt healthy sleep patterns.

Stress induces you to think more.

During sleep, your body switches from its active sympathetic nervous system to the calmer parasympathetic nervous system. However, this gets interrupted with stress. When you’re overly worried, the sympathetic nervous system doesn’t shut down, and your brain remains hyperactive, so you find it hard to fall asleep.

Paying attention to your stress levels is important if you’re looking to establish healthy sleep patterns. There are many relaxation techniques you can incorporate into your daily life, such as yoga, meditation, tai-chi and more. You can also seek therapy to improve your physical and mental responses to stress.