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The Connection Between Poor Sleep and Mental Health
- Dr Titilayo Akinsola
- 12 hours ago
- 4 min read
Introduction
Sleep is often treated as a passive necessity—something we either “get” or we don’t. But in fact, sleep plays a critical, active role in your brain’s capacity to regulate mood, process emotions, and maintain mental-health stability. At Favor Mental Health we emphasise that poor sleep isn’t just a symptom—it’s often a contributor or even a trigger for mood and anxiety disorders. In this blog post we’ll explore why poor sleep undermines mental health, how it shows up in lived experience, and what you can do (and how we help) to treat sleep as a mental-health intervention, not just a “nice to have”.
Why Sleep Matters for Mental Health
1. Sleep supports emotional regulation & brain recovery
According to the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, inadequate or poor-quality sleep undermines brain functions needed to cope with stressors, regulate emotions and think clearly. (columbiapsychiatry.org)
Deep sleep and the REM stage help your brain process emotional memories and restore neural efficiency. Without sufficient sleep your brain’s capacity to absorb, recover and respond gets compromised. (University of Michigan Health)
For example: “Sleep deprivation studies show that otherwise healthy people can experience increased anxiety and distress.”
2. Poor sleep = increased risk of mental-health conditions
People with below-average sleep quality were three times as likely to rate their mental health as “poor or very poor”. (Sleep Foundation)
Research from Brazil found that individuals with “poor/very poor” sleep quality had more than double the risk of developing depression compared to those with good sleep quality. (PubMed)
A UK study found that adults sleeping fewer than five hours per night had significantly worse memory, higher anxiety/depression risk, suggesting that sleep deprivation should be a public-health priority. (Faculty of Medicine and Health)
3. The vicious cycle: sleep ↔ mental health
Poor sleep can trigger or worsen mental-health symptoms. Conversely, anxiety, depression or stress often disrupt sleep. This gives rise to a “cycle” where poor sleep worsens mood → worsened mood further disturbs sleep. (University of Michigan Health)
For clients with existing mental-health issues, untreated sleep problems may hamper recovery and increase relapse risk.
How Poor Sleep Presents and Affects You
Here are common patterns, signs and impacts:
Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or waking unrefreshed: Insomnia or sleep fragmentation often accompany mood/anxiety problems.
Reduced sleep duration or poor quality: E.g., sleeping 6.3 hours vs ~7.2 hours in those with good mental-health ratings.
Daytime cognitive and emotional impairment: Struggling with concentration, memory, decision-making, irritability, low frustration tolerance.
Heightened emotional reactivity: With less sleep your brain is less resilient; minor stressors may trigger disproportionate responses.
Worsened treatment outcomes: If you’re already engaging in therapy or medication for mood/anxiety and your sleep remains sub-optimal, your overall progress may plateau.
What You Can Do — A Sleep-Focused Strategy
At Favor Mental Health we integrate sleep-health into our mental-health treatment plans, because we know it’s not optional—it’s foundational.
Step 1: Assess your sleep
Track for 1-2 weeks: when you go to bed, when you wake, how often you wake up, how you feel on waking, your thirst/hunger, light exposure, screen use.
Identify sleep quality issues (restlessness, awakenings, unrefreshing sleep) not just duration.
Consider whether sleep issues are primary (insomnia, apnea) or secondary (anxiety/worry at night, shift work, lifestyle disruption).
Step 2: Address lifestyle contributors
Establish consistent sleep-wake times—even on weekends—to stabilise your circadian rhythm.
Reduce screen time (blue light) and stimulant intake (caffeine, nicotine) in the hours before bed.
Ensure your sleep environment is dark, cool, and quiet.
Encourage physical activity—but not too late in the evening as it may stimulate rather than relax.
Manage stress/worry: Use relaxation, journaling (for your reflection prompts), or therapy to off-load thoughts before bed.
Step 3: Integrate sleep into your mental-health treatment
During your therapy/medication sessions we’ll review sleep as a vital vital vital variable. Ask: how is sleep, how many awakenings, how you feel on waking.
If sleep is significantly disturbed (insomnia, sleep-apnea signs) we may refer to a sleep specialist or integrate sleep-specific therapy (e.g., CBT for insomnia). (University of Michigan Health)
Set realistic goals: For example: “I will reduce awakenings from 3→1 per night within 8 weeks”, or “I will wake feeling refreshed on at least 5/7 nights”.
Why Focusing on Sleep Accelerates Recovery
Improving sleep often reduces anxiety and depressive symptoms even before medication or intensive therapy kicks in.
Better sleep boosts cognitive function and emotional regulation—making your therapy sessions or skills work more effective.
Sleep improvement reduces relapse risk by stabilising brain and body systems.
Addressing sleep shows clients and providers that we treat your whole system—not just symptoms.
Call to Action — Let’s Optimize Your Sleep & Your Mind
If you’ve been managing mood or anxiety issues and your sleep still feels sub-optimal, this may be the missing piece. Schedule a paid consultation with Favor Mental Health. During this session we will:
Review your sleep history alongside your mood/mental‐health history
Identify sleep-related contributors to your symptoms
Build a sleep-health plan integrated with your therapy/medication plan (or if you’re not yet on one, set it up)
Monitor progress explicitly: sleep metrics and mood metrics linked together
Your mind, your mood, your sleep—they're all connected. Let’s work together to restore the foundation so you don’t just feel better—you function better.
Closing
Sleep is not a “luxury” or optional add-on—it’s a cornerstone of mental-health. How you sleep influences how you think, feel, respond, cope, and recover. At Favor Mental Health we believe that lasting mental-health results require treating sleep as a primary target. Let’s rebuild your sleep, reclaim your emotional resilience and move you toward a more stable, purposeful life.
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