Americans are chronically sleep-deprived: One-third of adults in the United States say they get less than seven hours a night. Teenagers fare even worse: About 70% of high school students don't get enough sleep on school nights.
And it is having a profound effect on mental health.
An analysis of 19 studies found that while sleep deprivation worsened a person's ability to think clearly or perform certain tasks, it had a greater negative effect on mood. And when the National Sleep Foundation conducted a survey in 2022, half of those who said they slept less than seven hours each weekday also reported having depressive symptoms.
So what happens to our mental health if we aren't getting enough sleep, and what can be done about it?
When people have trouble sleeping, it changes how they experience stress and negative emotions, said Aric Prather, a sleep researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who treats patients with insomnia. "And for some, this can have a feed-forward effect — feeling bad, ruminating, feeling stressed can bleed into our nights."
Carly Demler, 40, a stay-at-home mother in North Carolina, said she went to bed one night and never fell asleep. From that point onward, she would be up at least once a week until 3 or 4 a.m. It continued for more than a year.
She became irritable, less patient and far more anxious.
Hormone blood work and a sleep study in a university lab offered her no answers. Even after taking Ambien, she stayed up most of the night.
"It was like my anxiety was a fire that somehow jumped the fence and somehow ended up expanding into my nights," she said.
In the end, it was cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia that brought Demler the most relief. She learned not to "lay in bed and freak out." Instead, she gets up and reads, which she does in another room so as not to associate her bedroom with anxiety. She returns to bed when she's tired.
"The feeling of gratitude that I have every morning, when I wake up and feel well rested, I don't think will ever go away," she said.
Adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep a night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teenagers and young children need even more.
It's not just about quantity. The quality of your sleep also is important. If it takes more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, for example, or if you regularly wake up in the middle of the night, it is harder to feel rested, regardless of the number of hours you spend in bed.
But some people "have a tendency to think they're functioning well even if they're sleepy during the day or having a harder time focusing," said Lynn Bufka, a clinical psychologist and spokesperson for the American Psychological Association.
Ask yourself how you feel during the day: Do you find that you're more impatient or quick to anger? Are you having more negative thoughts or do you feel more anxious or depressed? Do you find it harder to cope with stress? Do you find it difficult to do your work efficiently?
If so, it's time to take action.
