Stress happens to be an emotional and physical response to the different challenges of life. It is normal to feel stressed at certain times and present in the right amounts, it can be quite helpful. As an example if you are in danger or in need of motivation, stress will activate your body and prepare you for action. Stress can be either chronic or acute, with acute stress being short term stress and chronic stress lasting a long time and being more debilitating. One of the effects of stress is difficulty in falling asleep and many different sleep disorders.
Signs of stress
Some common signs of stress are sleep problems, anxiety, tension, depression, poor concentration, mistakes at work and apathy. There may be physical symptoms like upset stomach, loss of appetite, headaches, back, neck and chest pain. You have to understand that if your high stress levels are not managed in a proper manner, both your health as well as your sense of wellbeing will be threatened.
How does stress affect sleep?
There are two ways on how does stress affect sleep. If not managed properly stress will lead to sleep loss. Conversely, sleep loss can also lead to increase in stress. The relationship between sleep and stress is quite complex, and here are the effects of stress on sleep as demonstrated by research:
- Difficulty in falling asleep: Stress in most cases will increase the time taken for you to fall asleep. If you have a high level of stress, as in chronic stress, you might experience insomnia, which is a pretty common sleep disorder, where you stay awake the whole night. This happens as a response to prolonged periods of stress.
- Sleep architecture alters: The structure of sleep is described by sleep architecture. While the effects of stress on sleep architecture are still being studied, prima facie evidence shows that stress will reduce slow-wave sleep, which is a type of sleep. This slow wave sleep is very important for maintenance of mental and physical health. Stress also has an effect on REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, where research has shown that REM sleep either increases or decreases with stress.
- Awakening during the nighttime: If you feel stressed, you are more likely to wake from sleep at night more often.
- Stress dreams: Your dreams can be affected by stress. Stress will increase the frequency as well as the severity of a nightmare.
Insomnia is not the only disorder related to sleeping that stress induces. Sleep bruxism is a sleep disorder where nighttime grinding and clenching of teeth occurs. Both muscle tension and chronic stress have a role to play in sleep bruxism. But if you take recourse to a healthy coping mechanism, incidences of sleep bruxism will slowly wane away.
You have to understand that occasional stress will be there at the time of going to sleep, because it is the nature of our existence and our fast paced lives. You need to pay attention to stress, and recognize its signs. Of course this is easier said than done, but when you recognize the signs of stress, you can plan how to tackle it. Additionally, improvement in daytime habits, creation of a nightly routine, and learning relaxation techniques along with getting medical and psychological support will help to improve the quality of your sleep.
