Getting enough sleep is important for your mental health. It can improve your mood, memory and ability to manage stress, while poor sleep can have the opposite effect.
If you're struggling to sleep and feeling the impact the next day, you're not alone.
This page explains the link between sleep and mental health, and shares practical tips to help you sleep better and improve your wellbeing.
Caring for your body supports your mind. When you sleep well and move regularly, you build a bigger tank of energy to draw on each day.
You might have heard the saying, “the difference between hope and despair is a good night’s sleep.”
It rings true because a lack of sleep can make each day feel much harder, while good sleep helps you:
Make clearer decisions and solve problems
Research shows most people need at least seven hours of sleep a night to gain these benefits.
When stress takes over, try to redirect your attention.
For example, you could list five things you’re grateful for or do a quick puzzle. This can help you break through negative thoughts.
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Many things can impact how well you sleep at night. But there are some simple strategies you can follow that make good sleep much more likely.
To help improve your sleep, here's a quick and easy interactive checklist we've designed to help you identify which habits and activities you can start doing to increases your chances of a restful night's sleep.
Each 'rule' has a set of strategies that help get your mind and body ready for sleep. Look at the list below and select how often you use these rules.
When you're done, look over your answers and, this week, try putting a few of the strategies you marked as ‘I rarely or never do this’ into practice.
Lack of sleep over time can lead to significant health risks, including cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, and mental health conditions.
Having a poor night’s sleep happens to everyone from time-to-time.
But when you don't sleep well for an extended period of time, you may experience the following:
Many things can impact how well you sleep at night.
But there are some things that are outside of your control that can cause a negative impact on your sleep, such as:
To learn more about the common causes of poor sleep and mental health, visit life factors that can shape mental health.
Studies show that people who don’t get enough sleep are around ten times more likely to experience depression than those who sleep well.
Sleep and mental health are two sides of the same coin – each influences the other. Getting enough sleep is a great way to support your mental health and can reduce the risk of anxiety or depression.
Conversely, poor sleep can also exacerbate underlying mental health conditions
You may find that your anxiety is worse at night and that you get stuck in a cycle. Where, at first, you're anxious about not being able to sleep, and then you can’t sleep because you feel anxious.
Struggling to fall asleep, difficulty staying asleep and oversleeping can also be symptoms of anxiety or depression.
If you're concerned that poor sleep could be a symptom of anxiety or depression, our Anxiety and Depression Test (K10) can help you understand what kind of support you might need right now.
By giving our body and mind the chance to calm down and relax, we give sleep a better chance of showing up.
While getting a good night’s sleep is important, research shows we can cope pretty well with the occasional bad night’s sleep. One rough night won’t undo your wellbeing.
Watch this video to learn how your beliefs about sleep can shape how easily you get to sleep, and how sometimes the best way to deal with wakefulness is to stop fighting it.
If you’ve been trying to sleep for 30 minutes, but don’t feel sleepy, get up and do a relaxing activity. Try to avoid looking at your phone or watching TV.
Go back to bed once you’re feeling sleepy again.
Taking clocks out of the room can help reduce your stress. It’s will prevent the counting down of hours until morning, adding to your anxiety.
It can help to remind yourself that you’ve managed on poor sleep before. This can also help you relax which makes sleep more likely.
