What effects can insomnia have on your mood?

2023-04-19 18:48:47

Surely, on more than one occasion, you have spent seasons in which you have not slept well. The motto of sleeping 8 hours a day is something very relative and is not valid for all cases. This is because the hours we need to sleep depend a lot on your lifestyle, your health, and even your age. If you experience insomnia, you should know that this will end up affecting your mood and this is something that you should be aware of in order to avoid it.

Main causes of insomnia

When experiencing insomnia, you spend hours tossing and turning without being able to fall asleep or waking up in the middle of the night and unable to get back to sleep. The reasons for having difficulty sleeping can be very diverse, although the most common include:

• Stress derived from concerns related to family, health, work or finances.
• Travel and schedule changes.
• Bad daily habits such as long naps or copious dinners.
• Chronic diseases.
• Use of certain drugs.

This is how sleep affects your mental health

Insomnia and poor sleep not only affect you physically but also have a serious impact on your emotions, mood and mental health. That is why if you suffer from insomnia, either temporarily or chronically, it is likely that you feel identified with the following situations:

• Irritability and bad mood.
• Worse management of your emotions and thoughts that you have during the day.
• Depressive attitude.
• Lack of concentration, mental agility and difficulty making decisions.
• Anxiety.

Habits to stop insomnia

If you notice that you present any of these situations in your day to day, you can put into practice some measures to stop insomnia. Some of the practices to keep in mind are:

• Carry the same sleep schedules every day.
• Performing physical exercise, especially at late hours, in order to fall exhausted in bed.
• Avoid naps.
• Turn your bedroom into a comfortable and peaceful place.
• Avoid doing stimulating tasks before going to sleep; among them: teleworking, making use of social networks, watching series and/or movies or playing video games.
• Some substances such as caffeine, alcohol or nicotine are stimulants and disturb your sleep. To eliminate insomnia you must reduce their use or eliminate them from your habits.