“Be the most regulated person in the room”. This is a personal mantra I repeat in tough circumstances. As I listened recently to a Cornell lecture regarding how sleep deprivation can impact mood regulation I was very intrigued.
According to Better Health studies show people who are sleep deprived report increases in negative moods (anger, frustration, irritability, sadness) and decreases in positive moods. Sleeplessness is often a symptom of mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety. It can also raise the risk of, and even contribute to, developing some mood disorders.
Similarly, the American Heart Association states consistent sleep deprivation can lead to depression and cognitive decline. For this article most importantly quality sleep leads to better brain function including alertness decision-making, focus, learning, memory, reasoning and problem-solving.
Christopher Bergland highlights in Psychology Today that researchers found just one night of sleeplessness changes your ability to regulate emotions and allocate brain resources necessary for objective cognitive processing.
Although sleep deprivation causes a number of negative symptoms, I highlight mood regulation in this article as I’ve found it to be one of the least promoted effects but can be most public.
There are a number of recommendations to improve sleep, from wearables to changing your environment; my only suggestion is to track your sleep. I started tracking my sleep via journaling a few months ago and found it interesting to see patterns, and in some ways it triggers adjustments naturally. My first revelation was how little sleep I was getting on vacation…. Quite the opposite of my intent. There are a number of sleep trackers out there, and recommend you try a few different ones to see what works for you.
In peace,
Judith
References: Learn how sleep affects your health. Sleep loss disrupts emotional balance via the amygdala, The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington
