Research shows that lack of sleep increases the risk of obesity, heart disease and infections. Research funded by the NHLBI found that adults who regularly sleep 7 to 8 hours a night have a lower risk of obesity and high blood pressure. Other NHLBI-funded research found that untreated sleep disorders increase the risk of heart problems and problems during pregnancy, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Anxiety and depression can interfere with the ability to fall asleep, as well as with quality and duration.
Conversely, lack of sleep can lead to higher levels of stress, frustration, depression, and anxiety. Sleep deprivation can lead to higher levels of stress, frustration, depression and anxiety. Members of Generation X and millennials are the most likely to say that lack of sleep makes them irritable (49 percent and 47 percent, respectively, compared to between 41 and 56% of people who suffered sleep disorders during the COVID-19 outbreak), according to recent studies published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Sheila, a Boston district attorney and mother, was left sleepless due to the conflicting demands of a full-time job and caring for her young children.
In particular, millennials are more likely to say that they don't sleep at least eight hours because they stay up too late (52 percent compared to 36 percent of Gen Xers, 29 percent of baby boomers and 22 percent of adults). Ninety percent of teens who reported low levels of stress during the last school year say they get enough sleep, compared to less than half (48 percent) of teens with high stress levels reported during the previous school year. Getting enough sleep at the right times can help protect your mental and physical health, quality of life and safety. 39 percent of teens with reported higher stress levels (eight, nine, or 10 on a 10-point scale) during the last school year feel even more stressed if they don't get enough sleep, while only 3 percent of teens with reported lower stress levels (one, two, or three on a 10-point scale) during the previous school year say the same.
It can affect people from all sectors of work, including healthcare workers, pilots, students, lawyers, mechanics, and assembly line workers. When she managed to get her two children to have a consistent sleep schedule, she herself began to sleep an average of seven to eight hours a night and her mood improved considerably. American adults report that they sleep an average of 6.7 hours a night less than the minimum recommendation of seven to nine hours. In addition, meditation, relaxing music, guided relaxation, self-reflection, and deep breathing techniques can improve mental health.
Teens with high levels of stress reported during the last school year are more likely to say that they have trouble sleeping well. 43 percent say they don't get enough sleep because their minds accelerate, compared to 9 percent of teens with low stress who say the same. When Sheila, a busy assistant district attorney and mother of two, began to sleep better, her mood and quality of life improved. He talked to us about the role of sleep in the midst of stress and how better sleep practices can help us overcome the late hours of the night.
