The impact sleep has on mental health

With the hustle and bustle of life, between work, interpersonal relationship and other responsibilities - it’s easy to neglect sleep. Sleep is easily to rationalize as something worth sacrificing over completing other tasks because it is often seen as a “passive” activity.

In other words, many of us look at sleep as lack of doing productive rather than doing something productive when the reality is sleep is not “passive” nor is it “non-productive”. The research on sleep is plentiful and all evidence points to the positive correlation between sleep and mental health.

The other point worth considering is that sleep is not “made up” the way one might think. Sleep can only be made up by maintaining a consistent, plentiful sleep schedule. Binging extra sleep on the weekends, while it may feel good in the moment, is not an effective way to make up sleep.

Going to bed and waking up at the same time every night/day without exception ca be a great starting point in developing and maintaining healthy sleep habits.

If you find it hard to pull yourself away from the tasks you need to do to get ample sleep, it might be beneficial to consider that sleep is not only a “task” but it is one that can have a significant impact on your ability to regulate your emotions and in effect, your ability to complete your other tasks and responsibilities.

Sometimes, sleep can be impacted by symptoms of anxiety, depression, rumination or insomina. If this is the case, therapy can help!

If you are struggling with sleep, Philadelphia therapist Noam Dinovitz works with clients who are looking to develop healthier sleep habits. Please feel free to reach out at Noam@Dinovitzcounseling.com or 484 424 7722