Sleep and Stress Management

Sleep and Stress Management

Stress can come in many different forms and can be brought on by many different forces. Work, family, school, and relationships are among a few stressors people face everyday. The body can react to these stressors with head or stomach aches, loss of appetite, and little or no sleep. Although people may not realize it, managing good sleeping habits is a key factor in controlling underlying stress problems. To a certain degree, some level of stress is good to have in your everyday life. It keeps you alert and forces you to think on your feet, providing a stimulant to maybe look at the situation from a different perspective. Lack of sleep, overindulgence, and stress undermine the body's immune system, leaving it vulnerable to illness. Sleep is an important aspect of stress management and without it, we as functioning adults will have trouble managing not only our work lives, but personal lives as well.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, overscheduled daily calendars and job stress/demands are the top two sources of stress for people ages 22-55 (Bradley). Aside from a person's natural reaction to stress of a pounding headache or upset stomach, stress will often come in the form of troubled sleep. Often time, we will have trouble sleeping because we are up all night worrying about our problems and the stressors that cause them. For example, most of us have sat up in bed late at night thinking about that big meeting tomorrow at work. ‘Am I prepared for it?' ‘What if the boss calls on me?' ‘What if my alarm clock doesn't go off?' The problem is not in the actual worrying, but the effects that a poor sleep has on one's body in the following days. Research shows that sleep deprivation hinders brain function, leaving you at a higher risk for accidents in the car and at home (Sykes).