The mood mechanic and the work of sleep

Have you ever snapped someone's head off simply because you are a sleepy head? Our fuses can get pretty short when we're sleep deprived. We need dream time therapy to hit reset on our emotions. And without it, look out. Sleep is so much more than rest. You and those around you can appreciate the benefits of good sleep on emotions and mood.
Sleep is so much more than rest. You and those around you can appreciate the benefits of good sleep on emotions and mood.
I'm Dr. Vickie Petz Kasper, I help you make changes that make a difference. Healthy Looks Great On You podcast takes you to mini medical school so you can learn the power of lifestyle medicine.
Sleep is hard work. And I don't mean getting to sleep and staying asleep is hard work, though it often is. I mean, there's a lot of work that goes on while you sleep. Sleep rebuilds your mental landscape. What happens when you sleep affects your emotions while you're awake. The brain undergoes active processing and healing while you're getting your Z's.
You need sleep for emotional maintenance. The physiology is absolutely fascinating. So let's start right off the bat by going to mini medical school and learning about how sleep affects mood. Now, don't worry. I'll make it fun so you don't sleep through class. Let's start with sleep cycle basics. There are two primary types of sleep that alternate in cycles throughout the night.
And those are REM and non REM. That probably already sounds familiar. REM stands for rapid eye movement and they each have different functions. Non REM does the work of physical restoration and recovery, while REM does the emotional processing and cognitive maintenance. It's divided into three stages.
Now this is going to be super easy to remember because the stages are called N1, N2, and N3. But let's peek under the covers and explore each of them a little more. Stage N1 is light sleep. And this is a transition between being asleep and being awake, and it only lasts about 5 or 10 minutes. In this stage, your muscle activity slows down, though you might twitch occasionally, and you can be easily awakened and even somewhat aware of your surroundings. You're actually asleep, but you're just in that lightest stage of sleep. Stage N2 is moderate sleep, and this accounts for about 50 percent of total sleep time. During stage N2 sleep, your body cools down. The temperature actually gets lower, and your heart rate slows, and your brain waves slow down, and this is so important for memory consolidation.
In fact, stage N2 sleep has a huge impact on your ability to learn, remember, and retain new information. The cognitive impact also includes decision making skills. Without adequate stage in to sleep, Memories don't get consolidated, and processing speed is slowed down, and so this causes increased difficulty with complex cognitive tasks.
Lack of adequate sleep doesn't just affect your cognitive ability, though. It also affects mood. It makes us more susceptible to the effects of stress, both physically and emotionally. And emotionally. Poor sleep disrupts emotional regulation, so we're more reactive. The next time someone's voice goes up a couple of octaves in response to something you said, maybe, just maybe, They didn't sleep well last night.
I don't recommend mentioning it. Even more serious than becoming a soprano during a conversation, without good sleep, people have an increased risk of mood disorders like depression and anxiety. And at the very least, the symptoms of anxiety are heightened without adequate shut eye. And listen, everyone reacts to having their buttons pushed, but when the work of sleep is on strike, our emotional resilience is kaput.
And the fruit of the spirit just goes right out the window. No peace, no patience, no kindness, no goodness, and definitely no gentleness. Now, emotional reactions can be dangerous, but the physical health consequences of poor sleep can be deadly. Without good quality sleep, the immune system is weaker, metabolism is wrecked, Inflammation skyrockets and even hormones get out of whack.
We need sleep for healing and recovery every single time the earth revolves around the sun. Think of your brain as a computer. You know, it has to be charged in order to function. Without recharging through sleep, there are several neurologic effects on your brain. Those grouchy neurons in your head quit communicating effectively.
This leads to impaired synaptic plasticity. The dampening of the pathways in the brain to adapt and rewire themselves. It causes the brain to filter and organize information much less effectively. This leads to decreased productivity, more errors, and accidents.
This process is crucial for emotional learning, adaptation, and developing resilience to emotional challenges. And don't we all have emotional challenges? Stage N2 sleep is critical for overall cognitive and physical restoration. Chronic deficiency can lead to cumulative ne...