The effects of sleep pattern disturbance you are not aware of

It is a common knowledge that sleep is essential for human beings. 6-7 hours of daily sleep is necessary because sleep helps in keeping the heart healthy, it reduces stress and also helps in improving memory. However, sometimes, people have a difficulty in falling asleep for the adequate amount of time every day. They may sleep for very short period or for too long. This is known as sleep pattern disturbance, and can be caused due to several reasons.

Sleep Disorder Causes

Due to the modern-day lifestyle, stress has become an integral part of people's lives. Stress is the number one cause of disturbances in sleep patterns in people. Increasing anxiety and stress, people have difficulty in falling asleep every day. Along with stress and anxiety, fear, depression or any illness can also cause disturbances in sleep.

Consumption of caffeine containing products like coffee, sodas also lead to insomnia or lack of sleep.

There are several sleep disorders that can cause disturbance in the sleeping pattern. For e.g., disorders like insomnia, parasomnia, dyspnoea, can also be the potential causes for this condition. Therefore, we observe that this condition can be caused by as simple a condition as lack of physical activity, disturbances in the environment; or due to complex disorders like side effects of certain medication, illness or anxiety.

It should also be noted that sleep pattern and depression are related to each other. Depression can be one of the major causes if a person suffers from sleep disorders for a long time, without any known abnormality.

Sleep Disorder Symptoms

Difficulty in falling asleep is the most common and obvious symptom of sleeping disorders. The person may also wake up very early than usual, feeling of exhausted. These symptoms are accompanied by several other symptoms like feeling sleepy during the day, irritability, lethargy, fatigue, weakness, disorientation, inability to concentrate, frequent yawning and having dark circles under eyes. They look exhausted, have a blank expression on their face; and may show short temper and agitation.

Sleep disorders can also give rise to symptoms like bed wetting, sleep talking, sleepwalking in toddlers.

Sleep Disorder Treatment

It is essential to find out the root cause of sleep disorder in order to look for proper treatment. In case, the disorder is found only in one or two instances, there is nothing to worry about. On the other hand, if it appears frequently, one should surely look for professional help to treat it.

Sleep pattern disturbance related to pain or illness can be treated by treating the underlying illness itself with proper medical help. Other sleep disorders can also be treated with the help of medications and therapy. It is advised that people should not go for sleep medications without prescription, as they can be addictive and cause several side effects.

Self-help Methods

• Stress, anxiety, fear, should be reduced by following proper relaxation techniques. Techniques like yoga and meditation help in the same.
• People should avoid having caffeine containing products like coffee as they are related to insomnia. Similarly, smoking and drinking should also be reduced and avoided before bedtime.
• You should carry out at least one physical activity every day or exercise regularly to have sound sleep.
• You should follow a proper sleeping pattern or schedule, and avoid sleeping for long hours during the day.
• Lastly, you should note that the bedroom should be peaceful and quiet so as to avoid any disturbance while sleeping.

Proper sleep is essential for overall well-being. Therefore, you should treat sleep disorders with proper methods or professional help at the earliest.

How Mental Health Affects Physical Health

There is an inextricable linkage between your physical and mental health. Many people still tend to ignore the plain truth that our body's physical health is interlinked to our mental health, and both cannot be separated. A decline in one of them causes disruption to the other. Whenever you are stressed, disturbed, or feeling emotionally low, you suffer from physical ailments that make you inactive and unhealthy. There are hundreds of studies that have demonstrated this strong connection.

Effects of Poor Mental Health on Your Physical Well-being

• According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, poor mental health reduces the immunity of your body, making you more vulnerable to physical ailments.
• Lifestyle changes have increased stress, and other mental health problems are taking its toll on the overall well-being and health of the population. Stress has been linked to many diseases and physical ailments. Negative feelings as well as poor mental health aggravates any physical discomfort experienced by the body.
• Stress, anxiety, and depression can lead to hordes of disturbances in your physical health, such as sleep disruptions, digestion problems, back pain, headache, fatigue, etc. Stress hormones are released in the body, which may increase blood pressure and trigger anger, aggressiveness, fear, or any negative feelings. If this continues for a long time, the persistent high level of stress hormones in the body causes changes in the brain chemistry. This could culminate into heart diseases, stroke, sleep problems, headaches, and other chronic illnesses.
• Obesity is prevalent among children and adults alike, which makes them inactive, lazy, and more vulnerable to various diseases and infections. Again, if you are physically unfit, your mood changes, which makes you irritable and cranky and affect your general well-being and health.
• Intense emotions, breakups, loss of a loved one, etc., make you feel low. These stressful situations leave you depressed. If you bottle up your feelings, they tend to come out in the form of aggression, anger, rejection, etc. A person with a mental health condition is more likely to indulge in risky and unsafe actions, like substance abuse, violence, self-destruction, or suicide.
• People with chronic pain are thrice at a risk of developing a mental health condition and those suffering bouts of depression are three times more at a risk of developing continuing long-term pain.

Hence, it is very important to take care of your emotions, and preserve a balance between your physical and mental health.

How to maintain balance between mental and physical health

• Taking care of yourself is vital in the first place. Our body gives out signals to convey that all is not well with it. Look out for these signs. Do not ignore them as they are ways of communication between you and your body.
• Venting out your feelings and indulging in an activity to relax and soothe your nerves is extremely essential. Exercising and yoga are ways through which you can keep stress at bay. Exercise reduces stress, increases blood circulation, and improves immunity.
• Crying is also an excellent way of dealing with stress, grief, and other negative emotions. The emotional tears contain higher amounts of the stress hormones, which are eliminated from the body. This is the reason why crying makes you feel good.
• Indulging in your favourite hobby, like reading, travelling, trekking, cycling, etc., which you thoroughly enjoy doing, will help keep stress at bay. It will help you relax and rejuvenate.

Therefore, your mental health also plays a critical role to keep you physically fit. Keep a positive attitude. Learn and inculcate effective ways to cope with the negative feelings, and adopt a healthy lifestyle, which will not only improve your overall health, but will keep you fit as a fiddle to overcome all the obstacles in life.