Improving Sleep and Reducing Stress
Sleep is essential for health and well-being. Stress similarly has important effects on both. Thus, taking control over both sleep and stress is important in leading a healthy, happy and productive life. Unfortunately, getting enough sleep and reducing stress have become very difficult for many people in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Do you experience the following symptoms of stress?
- Feeling irritable or angry
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Lacking interest, motivation or energy at work or school
- Losing patience with colleagues
- Yelling at your children
- Skipping exercise
- Difficulty sleeping because your mind stays active
According to research by the American Psychological Association, highly stressed individuals are also more likely to feel the following effects of getting too little sleep over people with low stress:
- Feeling sluggish or lazy
- Irritability
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling more stress compared to days when they’ve had enough stress
- Feeling sad or depressed
Each of us have different stressors at home, work or school. We feel exhausted handling the many responsibilities we have. We cannot sleep long enough because we have many things to do with so little time. Sometimes, we cannot sleep soundly because we think too much of the things we need to attend to, or obsess over the things that went wrong or did not get done during the day.
Whatever the root cause, making lifestyle adjustments can significantly reduce your stress to a manageable level and help you achieve sound sleep for the requisite 7 to 9 hours that most adults need to function at their best.
The articles here will help you understand the root causes of stress and insomnia and give you practical tips on how to address them. You don’t have to simply accept that a daily cycle of exhaustion and sleeplessness are part of your life. You can take control by reducing stress through getting enough sleep, and vice versa!