How Stress Affects Your Sleep Cycle and Rest

How Stress Affects Your Sleep Cycle and Rest

In today’s fast paced society, life is chalked full of stress and anxiety.

Everyone has experienced stress at one time or another. Prolonged stress can have terrible effects on all your body’s major systems. Sleep is an important resource that keeps your mind and body healthy and mentally sharp. Stress can seriously affect a person’s health by interrupting their sleep cycle.

Stress affects the human body psychologically and physically. When we are stressed, our body’s think we are in danger. Its natural defense system goes into action once stress is detected. This automatic response is known as the “fight or flight reaction.” During the “fight or flight reaction,” our body begins to produce increased amounts of adrenaline and cortisol. This pumps up your heart rate and quickens your blood flow. Digestion is slowed in attempt to protect the body.

Most people feel the effects of stress on a daily basis. How it affects your rest and sleep cycle can vary from person to person. Acute stressors such as a death in the family, lost job, marital problems or a big test tomorrow can prevent people from getting a proper amount of quality sleep.

Sometimes it affects your sleep cycle by causing you to toss and turn throughout the night. Many times acute stessors can lead to more serious medical conditions like depression and anxiety. The number one cause of insomnia is stress. When an individual becomes stressed, they become tense and blood begins to flow at a quicker pace. It is this response that disrupts your sleep cycle.

Stress can also have an opposite affect on your sleep cycle. It can make you want to sleep all the time. This type of stress affects your sleep cycle by giving you to much sleep. Normally, sleep helps you to process your problems, but too much or too little of something is never good.

Your body depends on getting a healthy amount of rest. While you sleep, your brain restores cells and replenishes your body. Sleep allows your mind to reset and prepare for the next day. If stress is preventing you from getting an adequate amount of sleep, your body suffers. Without regular sleep, you will feel tired all the time. Lack of sleep lowers your body’s immune system and increases the risk of illness. Managing and reducing daily stress is a key aspect to being able to achieve a healthy night’s rest.