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Are you a Worry Wart? Do you also struggle to sleep on a regular schedule? A recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience has now clearly defined the relationship between anxiety and the effects of sleep deprivation.
“It’s been hard to tease out whether sleep loss is simply a byproduct of anxiety, or whether sleep disruption causes anxiety,” stated Andrea Goldstein, PhD student and lead author of the study.
This is what the study showed:
Lack of sleep activates worry centers in the brain, producing more anxiety than normal.
Normal communication between the amygdala and the frontal lobe of the brain is reduced with lack of sleep, which means you have less emotional control when you pull all-nighters, are fatigued, or suffer from insomnia.
Anxiety, and the anticipation of bad things/negative events are worsened with lack of sleep.
Sleep deprivation causes your memory to be more prone to negative events. In other words, you remember the bad things much more than the good things that happened when you’re fatigued. No wonder tired people are grouchy!
Worry Warts are harmed much more by sleep deprivation than people who worry less
This one is no surprise. During the experiments, people who were naturally worrisome had much higher levels of anxiety and stress when they were deprived of sleep. This is especially troubling since sleep deprivation makes you prone to only remembering negative things. More negative memories means more stress and worry, compounded by less emotional control from reduced communication between the amygdala and frontal lobe.
These discoveries show how essential sleep is to our mental health, so make sure to rest up collegiettes!
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons