2023-06-23 09:59:50
June 23, 2023
Good sleep, restorative sleep, can reduce stress and even anxiety disorders. By what mechanisms? We take stock with Dr. Sylvie Royant-Parola, psychiatrist, sleep specialist.
Can sleep help reduce stress?
Dr. Sylvie Royant-Parola : Yes, and at different levels. Sleep has actions on the nervous system. At night, it rebalances, on an emotional level in particular, everything that happened during the day. During REM sleep, different processes are set up, reactivating everything that was involved in the day and dealing with these memories on an emotional level: is it a good or a bad memory, is it repressed? or on the contrary are we exacerbating it…? Once processed, it is stored in its memory. This is psychic rebalancing.
What regarding sleep duration?
The amount of sleep you need must be strictly adhered to. A person who does not respect his sleep time will not have time to carry out all the operations that I have just mentioned. This creates emotional instability that can lead to stress. In addition to duration, sleep follows the circadian rhythm. We know that if we don’t respect this rhythm, it will weaken the whole system. And there once more, at the emotional level, the repercussions of what happened during the day will not be able to be absorbed. The body reacts to aggression and not respecting its circadian rhythm is aggression. Thus, the body will secrete more norepinephrine and cortisol, which are the stress hormones. All this promotes sympathetic tone (a state of tension in the sympathetic nervous system) which directly generates a state of stress.
In your practice, do you recommend that your patients sleep well to combat stress?
Yes, we can indeed recommend that the person take care of his sleep. But since these are stressed people, who probably have difficulty managing their sleep, it will probably be difficult for them to control it. Of course, they are told to get enough sleep, to have regular bedtimes and wake up times, to regulate their rhythm by practicing sports regularly, to go outside to expose themselves to natural light as much as possible. It’s a whole series of good practices that you have to successfully put in place to sleep better and act on stress.
And does it also work for anxiety disorders?
Yes, stress and anxiety are closely related. Dysfunctions of neuromediators, such as norepinephrine, are common in stress and anxiety. Sleep tips for reducing stress are the same as for reducing anxiety. This is also true for depression.
Doesn’t being sleep deprived seem like a solid basis for fighting stress?
It’s essential ! But this necessarily implies knowing your sleep needs, which is not so obvious. Do we need 8 hours, 6 hours, 9 hours of sleep? The need for sleep is very relative and it is important for the person to know the typology of their sleep. It is also important to pay attention to your sleep rhythm and in this area, it is the wake-up schedule that synchronizes all the rhythms. Someone who gets up at very irregular times from day to day does not stabilize their clocks and in these people there is a breeding ground for stress, depression and anxiety. It is important on weekends not to get up more than two hours following your usual wake-up time.
Can some recommendations be useful for everyone to improve their sleep?
The transition from sleep to wakefulness and from wakefulness to sleep are important transitions to respect. It is necessary during these moments, to prepare for the world following. In the evening, at least an hour before going to bed, it is recommended to stop working, to carry out pleasant activities, to remove all screens. Above all, no phone in the bed or on his bedside table. You should go to bed only when you are sleepy. And if you can’t fall asleep, you have to get up and do something else while waiting for sleep to arrive. Ditto if you wake up at night. Thoughts quickly become anxiety-provoking and escalate. You have to get up and go back to bed regarding twenty minutes later. In the morning, we get up as soon as we wake up. It is also recommended not to take a nap or in any case very short ones, in case of a crash, and to practice regular physical activity, a little bit every day. You also need to make the most of daylight. This will allow everyone to sleep better and reduce stress.
For more information, visit the reseau-morphee.fr website.
Source: Interview with Dr. Sylvie Royant-Parola, June 16
Written by: Dorothée Duchemin – Edited by Emmanuel Ducreuzet
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