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Shakell James
2024 Managing Editor
As we all know, mental health is an essential part of our lives. The only thing about mental health is, there are many different ways to prioritize it, but some ways are more preferred than others.
Some ways include taking care of your health, spending time outside, journaling, surrounding yourself around positive people, and taking mental health screenings.
My personal favorite would have to be sleeping. It may sound cliche, but sleep is one of the most overlooked steps. When I can’t go to sleep instantly, I watch ASMR videos.
ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) in shorter terms, are relaxation tactics, or triggers. This tingly feeling travels from your head downward, which I love.
My favorite triggers would have to be tapping and whispering. Of course, there are many other triggers, but those two triggers hit differently for me.
Proper sleep for students is important because sometimes we forget to put ourselves first. Whether that be assignments, organizations that we are involved in, or anything else that’s productive.
An article from sleepfoundation.org reports that sleep is connected to depression and anxiety. There’s a reason it’s said that someone in a bad mood “woke up on the wrong side of the bed”.
Your brain activity plays a crucial part during sleep, each stage depending on the fluency. The various stages are the light sleep stage (n1 & n2), the deep sleep stage (n3), and vivid dreaming (REM).
I discovered that sleep is a crucial part of your health in high school when someone told me rain sounds help them sleep. Rain sounds weren’t really doing the trick for me, which is where the ASMR videos came in.
Each stage plays a role in brain health, allowing activity in different parts of the brain to ramp up or down and enabling better thinking, learning, and memory. The article stated the REM stage helps establish emotional information.
The brain functions in order to evaluate and remember thoughts and memories, and it appears that a lack of sleep is especially harmful to the consolidation of positive emotional content. This can influence mood and emotional reactivity and is tied to mental health disorders and their severity, including the risk of suicidal ideas or behaviors.
I can admit that I’ve felt my best after watching those videos. It’s like you get a newfound energy about yourself. Suddenly, anything can be achieved and you wouldn’t have to stress about it.
That indicates sleep problems were a symptom of mental health disorders, and are increasingly being called into question. Instead, it is becoming clear that there is a relationship between sleep and mental health in which sleeping problems may be both a cause and consequence of mental health problems.
Without proper rest, sleep apnea can occur. This condition pauses breathing, reducing sleep and body oxygen levels.
According to the article, depression is one of the downfalls from inadequate sleep. Over 300 million people have depression. Seventy-five percent of that portion show symptoms of insomnia. While getting enough sleep is important, getting too much sleep also isn’t sufficient. Either way, sleep is nothing to neglect.
Sleep is so important that the article reports that anxiety and sleep go hand-in-hand, making the atmosphere intolerable. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) also has a strong connection towards sleep.
It is clear that getting enough sleep is important to your mental health. This is why I recommend that as you prioritize what is important in your life, make sure sleep is among the most important. A lack of it, could mess everything up.
