Sleep has a strong effect on mood. When you don't get enough sleep, your depression symptoms will be worse. Sleep deprivation exacerbates irritability, moodiness, sadness, and fatigue. Make sure you're getting enough sleep each night. Very few people do well on less than seven hours a night. Aim for somewhere between seven to nine hours each night.
When you are busy, cutting back on sleep may seem like the only answer. Sacrificing an hour or two of rest in order to get more done can sound like a reasonable trade-off. But the truth is that even minimal sleep loss takes a toll on your mood, energy, mental sharpness, and ability to handle stress. And over the long-term, chronic sleep loss wreaks havoc on your health.
By understanding your nightly sleep needs and what you can do to bounce back from sleep loss, you can finally get on a healthy amount of sleep.
What you can do
- Figure out how many hours of sleep you need each night
- Recognize signs that indicate you're not getting enough sleep
- Understand the effects of chronic lack of sleep
- Discover how you can get the sleep that you need
