How sleep impacts your mental health, Ogden, UT

Sleep is one of the most important factors that contribute to overall well-being because it influences both physical health and mental stability. Research has suggested that there is a strong connection between sleep and mental health, showing how poor sleep can lead to or exacerbate mental health issues. This blog will dive into how sleep impacts your mental health, discussing both the negative effects of poor sleep and the benefits of good sleep hygiene. We’ll also give you some practical tips for improving sleep quality to support better mental health.

The Science of Sleep

Sleep is a complex biological process comprising several stages, broadly categorized into REM and non-REM sleep. Non-REM sleep is further divided into three stages, each progressively deeper. The first stage is light sleep, where the body starts to relax. The second stage involves a further drop in body temperature and heart rate as the body prepares for deep sleep. The third stage is deep sleep, which is crucial for physical restoration and immune function. REM sleep, characterized by rapid eye movements and vivid dreams, is essential for cognitive functions like memory consolidation, learning, and emotional processing.

Both the quality and quantity of sleep are important. Quality sleep means progressing through the various sleep cycles without frequent disruptions to ensure restorative benefits. Quantity refers to getting enough hours of sleep, typically 7-9 hours for adults. Insufficient or poor-quality sleep can lead to cognitive impairments, mood disorders, and increased risk of mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Because of this, prioritizing good sleep hygiene is essential for maintaining optimal mental health.

Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Mental Health

Sleep deprivation can lead to mood swings and irritability, making everyday interactions more challenging. It also impairs cognitive function and concentration which reduces productivity and decision-making abilities. Additionally, lack of sleep increases stress and anxiety levels, exacerbating feelings of unease and tension.

Chronic sleep deprivation significantly raises the risk of developing anxiety disorders and depression. It can lead to impaired memory and learning abilities, hindering personal and professional growth. Persistent sleep issues can also increase the risk of substance abuse as individuals seek ways to cope with their mental health struggles.

Sleep and Specific Mental Health Conditions

Here is a more detailed look at how sleep affects specific mental health conditions:

Anxiety Disorders: Sleep disturbances can worsen anxiety symptoms, leading to a vicious cycle of increased anxiety and insomnia. Poor sleep exacerbates worry and stress which makes it harder to cope with daily challenges.

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Depression: Depressive symptoms are closely linked to disrupted sleep patterns, including insomnia and hypersomnia. Improving sleep quality can help manage and reduce depressive symptoms to offer a natural aid in treatment.

Bipolar Disorder: Sleep impacts mood stability in bipolar disorder, with irregular sleep often triggering mood swings and manic episodes. Maintaining regular sleep patterns is crucial for managing this condition effectively.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): PTSD is often accompanied by sleep disturbances, including insomnia and nightmares. These disruptions degrade overall sleep quality, making it harder to recover and manage PTSD symptoms.

Tips for Improving Sleep Hygiene

Establish a Sleep Routine

Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends, helps regulate your body’s internal clock, which makes it easier to fall asleep and wake up naturally. Developing a calming pre-sleep ritual, such as reading, taking a warm bath, or practicing relaxation exercises, signals to your body that it’s time to wind down.

Optimize the Sleep Environment

Keep the bedroom cool, dark, and quiet. You can use blackout curtains, earplugs, or white noise machines if necessary to create a conducive sleep environment. Invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows, and choose bedding that feels good against your sin and keeps you at a comfortable temperature throughout the night.

Lifestyle Changes

Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and enjoy deeper sleep. However, avoid vigorous exercise close to bedtime. You should also eat a balanced diet and avoid heavy meals before bed. Reduce consumption of caffeine and alcohol, especially in the hours leading up to bedtime, as both substances can disrupt sleep patterns and decrease sleep quality.

You can also try to limit exposure to screens from TVs, computers, and smartphones at least an hour before bed. The blue light emitted by screens can interfere with the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone.

Seeking Professional Help

If you continue to have trouble sleeping despite following good sleep hygiene practices, it may be time to seek help from a sleep specialist. They can diagnose and treat underlying sleep disorders. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and, if necessary, medications can be effective treatments for chronic sleep problems. A healthcare provider can help determine the best course of action for your specific situation.

Find Help With Ogden Psychological Services

If you are looking for professional help with your mental health, Ogden Psychological Services provides a wide range of services to effectively address and treat concerns. We know that suffering with poor mental health affects every aspect of life. Contact us to start your journey of finding relief with our professional services.

With ever-changing workplaces, setting boundaries for your physical and mental health is even more important. Setting healthy boundaries can be helpful for you, your coworkers, and the business you work for. Boundaries can help you leave work at work, so you can enjoy your off time and focus on the people in your life. Specific boundaries can also keep you safe when working in a new place or a job where you feel outnumbered.

Ogden Psychological Services wants to help our patients and others understand the need for boundaries. Healthy boundaries can help in relationships, workplaces, and how you spend your time. Boundaries are the best way to keep your mental sanity and spend your time wisely.

1- Taking A Solo Lunch

One boundary that may seem small but that can make a large impact on your mental well-being is taking your lunch each day at work. Working while eating your lunch may not seem like that big of a deal, but having a small break during the middle of the workday can help you stay motivated. Spending your lunch alone can help you decompress, reset your brain, and give you time to read, scroll, or call a loved one.

2- Delegate Work To Others Who Are Capable

Sharing the workload is another boundary that can help you from feeling stressed or burnt out. Splitting up work among co-workers can help everyone feel needed and prevent one employee from being overwhelmed. Delegating small tasks to other employees will help you focus on more important tasks and from needing to work outside of your designated hours to complete the work.

3- Establish And Stick To Your Work Hours

Setting your working hours is a boundary that many people struggle to stick to. Working a full-time job can take up a good chunk of your time, so working extra hours without compensation can damage your mental health and relationships. Once you set your work hours, it is important to stick to them unless it is an emergency. Some ways to stick to this boundary are:

Don’t answer emails on weekends or late at night
Don’t work on vacation
Only work 40 hours a week if you are not getting paid overtime
Don’t answer work calls outside of your work hours
Prioritize tasks that you are getting paid or compensated for
Communicate to your boss or managers before you plan to be out of town

4- Take Time Off

Many full-time employees are allotted a certain number of PTO days that must be used before the end of the year. If these days don’t get used, you often forfeit them and lose out on these vacation days. Using all your PTO time and taking mental health days when necessary is a healthy work boundary. Don’t stress about missing work to take a family vacation, take a mental rest day, or attend to a sick family member. Achieving a better work-life balance is only possible when you take time away from the workplace.

5- Ask For Advice

Learning to set boundaries can be difficult and takes practice. If you are struggling with your current work situation and want to set better boundaries, ask for advice. It may look like a conversation with your HR rep or talking with a therapist. Setting boundaries gets a little bit easier each time you do it, so taking the first step will make the next time feel less daunting.

It can also be helpful to ask your coworkers or friends what their work boundaries are. This may give you some ideas on what you want to set for yourself or how to bring these up to your boss.

6- Respect Others Boundaries As Well

If you are setting work boundaries, you should also respect everyone else’s boundaries as well. Respecting others’ work hours and time off is a good place to start, but taking on delegating tasks or helping others out with projects can be a great way to help meet everyone’s expectations. Your work environment will only improve if you respect your boundaries as well as others.

Therapy With Ogden Psychological Services

Setting work boundaries, therapy in Ogden, UT

Our team at Ogden Psychological Services works to help you develop coping skills and learn how to set boundaries. Our therapists can work with people of all ages and mental illnesses to help them have a better mental state. No matter where you are on your mental health journey, we will welcome you to our OPS family. Contact us to learn more about our therapists and schedule an appointment.

Eating specific foods with rich nutrients can help those with mental health disorders reduce their symptoms. There are many common and tasty foods for depression. You have probably been taught that a colorful plate is the best way to keep yourself healthy. This is true when it comes to keeping your brain functional.

Vitamins and minerals in foods can help improve your hormone production and give you chemicals your body needs to perform its proper functions. Altering your diet to include more fresh and whole foods has been shown to improve mood and reduce anxiety in many patients. While food is not going to cure your mental illness, it can help make symptoms more manageable while also elevating your emotional and physical stamina.

These foods listed below can help improve your mental well-being with vitamins and specific nutrients.

1- Leafy And Collard Greens

Leafy greens like lettuce, kale, cabbage, spinach, and more all contain folate which is a chemical your brain needs to function. This is also known as B9 and is often added by food companies to other processed foods like pasta or rice. Some lentils and even asparagus can raise your folate levels and help you manage depression.

Collard greens contain magnesium, which has been proven to help with anxiety, stress, and depression. Including more fruits and vegetables in your diet will help you feel your best.

2- Foods With Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a mood-boosting vitamin that can be found in a lot of popular foods. Most people get their Vitamin D from the sunlight, but that may not be enough to keep you feeling good when you have depression.

Foods that include high levels of Vitamin D include oily fish, fortified dairy, eggs, beef liver, cheese, and some mushrooms. If you can’t get enough Vitamin D from your diet, including supplements in your routine (especially during the winter) can help depression symptoms.

3- Nuts And Seeds

Brazil nuts, almonds, flaxseeds, and chia seeds are all good sources of magnesium, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids. These vitamins are needed in your diet daily because zinc helps your body to absorb magnesium more efficiently. Zinc and magnesium are crucial to brain function and reducing stress.

Brazil nuts also contain something called selenium, which protects your body from free radicals and helps improve depression symptoms. Other foods that contain selenium include brown rice, sunflower seeds, and some seafood.

4- Turkey

Tryptophan is used in the body to make serotonin. Eating turkey will help you gain more tryptophan and thus boost your serotonin levels. Serotonin is crucial to improving depression because many drugs work to target the way the brain produces the chemical. Mood-boosting effects (on a temporary scale) can come from eating turkey, chicken, and soybeans. Adding more of these white meats to your diet can help elevate your production of serotonin.

5- Antioxidants

Berries, nuts and seeds, and colorful vegetables are all good sources of antioxidants. Antioxidants have shown results in helping those with depression and lowered the risk of developing further symptoms. Antioxidants also help improve other aspects of your health like inflammation, heart health, and eye health. Combining more fruits and vegetables into meals will help you improve in mind and body.

6- Foods With Probiotics

Yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, or probiotic supplements can help improve your gut health. While you may not think your gut health has anything to do with mental health, inflammation, and gut bacteria are linked to mental well-being. Disruptions in your gut bacteria can cause issues with the signals to your brain and lead to lower mental health. Taking the proper strains of probiotics can be helpful to your health in more ways than one.

Combining Food With Therapy For Depression

Depending on your symptoms, using food, medication, and therapy in combination can significantly reduce your depression symptoms. Working with a licensed therapist can give you a better perspective on why your symptoms are presenting and how to limit triggers in your everyday life.
Ogden Psychological Services knows that every patient is unique. We want all of our clients to explore options that will help them take better care of their mental and physical health. If you feel that therapy is right for you, we have a friendly team that is ready to help you get started. Reach out to us to schedule an appointment today!

How Sleep Impacts Your Mental Health: 4 Tips to Improve Sleep Quality