It is known that a lack of sleep causes stress and stress causes a lack of sleep. A survey conducted by Stress in America™ shows that 42 percent of Americans report that their sleep quality is fair or poor, and 43 percent report that stress has caused them to lie awake at night in the past month. Additionally, 21 percent of adults reported that they felt more stressed when they did not get enough sleep and this percentage went up for adults who reported higher average stress levels. This cyclical form of causation between stress and lack of sleep is known as the sleep-stress cycle. This cycle also greatly affects teens as well. From the same survey, 35 percent of teens reported that stress caused them to lay awake at night at least once in the past month. Additionally, 39 percent of teens reported that during the school year, they felt more stressed when they didn’t get enough sleep. The reason why stress affects sleep so greatly is because it causes alert responses in the brain, reducing the ability to sleep. Sleep can affect stress in many ways, one of which is that lower levels of sleep can increase blood pressure, leading to more stress. A lack of sleep also leads to the release of the hormone cortisol, which is the hormone responsible for your body's fight or flight response.
Tips to adopt good sleep habits:
