All posts tagged: Insomnia

Regular exercise reduces anxiety and depression in people with chronic insomnia

Regular exercise reduces anxiety and depression in people with chronic insomnia

Published by José Betancourt

Regular physical activity provides evidence of being an effective way to relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression in people who struggle with chronic insomnia. A recent review of multiple independent studies suggests that exercise also improves overall sleep quality and reduces the severity of sleep disruptions. These findings were recently published in the journal Physiology & Behavior. Insomnia is a highly common condition where people have persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. This lack of rest frequently leads to severe daytime impairments, affecting a person’s social life, occupational functioning, and overall well-being. People diagnosed with this sleep disorder often experience high levels of psychological distress. This distress frequently shows up as symptoms of anxiety and depression. Medical professionals notice that insomnia, anxiety, and depression often feed into each other. Poor sleep worsens mood, and negative mood disrupts sleep, creating a cycle that is notoriously difficult to treat. Some evidence suggests that improving sleep quality can lead to better mental health, and improving mental health can lead to better sleep. Scientists wanted to explore non-drug …

Trust Nature’s Medicine: A New Perspective on Insomnia

Trust Nature’s Medicine: A New Perspective on Insomnia

Published by Jenni Sidey

Written by Helen Macdonald We’ve all been there—staring at the ceiling, calculating how many hours of sleep we’ll get if we fall asleep right now, and feeling the mounting anxiety of being exhausted all day tomorrow if we don’t. In a world increasingly obsessed with productivity and healthy lifestyles, sleep has become a source of stress rather than the restorative process it’s meant to be. But what if the secret to better sleep isn’t trying harder, but rather learning to trust an automated biological process? Sleep Is a “Switch-On” Button Contrary to the popular belief that sleep is a “switch-off” button or a period of simple oblivion, it is actually a highly active state, some might say a “switch-on” button. That is because while you are “out of the way” sleeping, your brain is busy performing vital repair work, regenerating cells, clearing toxic waste, regulating emotions, and consolidating memories. This complex process of sleep includes both REM (dreaming) sleep and non-REM sleep, each serving distinct functions for our cognitive and physical recovery. Modern wearable technology …

Insomnia Tips: How to Stop Waking Up in the Middle of the Night

Insomnia Tips: How to Stop Waking Up in the Middle of the Night

Published by Jenni Sidey

Waking up in the middle of the night? Think you have insomnia? The truth is that pretty much everyone wakes up several times per night. The only difference is that good sleepers fall back asleep without noticing. Then there’s the other lot. Many people assume that if they’re wide-eyed at 3 a.m., something’s gone wrong with their sleep. Often, this is less about being “bad at sleeping” and more about what’s going on in the moment—plus how well you prime your mind and body for rest long before you hit the hay. The good news: Most middle-of-the-night wake-ups follow predictable patterns. And once you know what they are, they’re surprisingly fixable. We asked experts to break down the most common causes of insomnia and how to fix them. Drinking too much before bed Drinking before bed is one of the most common reasons why men wake up in the middle of the night. Waking once to pee isn’t unusual, says Justin Houman, MD, a board-certified urologist and men’s health specialist at Tower Urology at Cedars-Sinai …

Slept 8 hours but STILL woke up exhausted? You may have ‘paradoxical insomnia’

Slept 8 hours but STILL woke up exhausted? You may have ‘paradoxical insomnia’

Published by Sam Flores

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The spikiness secret: can acupressure mats help with pain, stress and insomnia? | Health & wellbeing

The spikiness secret: can acupressure mats help with pain, stress and insomnia? | Health & wellbeing

Published by Sam Flores

Ever since Keith, 39, from Kansas, was in a car accident in 2023, he has lived with “pretty much constant mid-back and shoulder pain”. Over-the-counter treatments didn’t touch the sides and he didn’t want to resort to opiates. “Having exhausted everything there was solid science for with no satisfaction, I delved into acupressure,” he says. He bought an acupressure mat made of lightly padded fabric, studded all over with tiny plastic spikes, to lay his back on, and was surprised to find that it actually helped. Acupressure mats, also known as Shakti mats, are inspired by the beds of nails that Indian gurus used for meditation and healing more than 1,000 years ago. While today’s mats have the nonthreatening sheen of a luxury wellbeing product, the spikes are no joke. In fact, the internet serves up a plethora of images of flaming, dented backs after their use – although you’re unlikely to seriously injure yourself using them. While the mats have been widely available for more than a decade, there has been a recent surge …

4 ways to overcome the sleep anxiety of insomnia : NPR

4 ways to overcome the sleep anxiety of insomnia : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Clinical psychologist Steve Orma was in his early 40s when he developed insomnia — difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. He couldn’t stop fixating on it. “I started getting into the frame of mind most people get sucked into. I worried, ‘What’s going on? Is there something wrong with me?’” he says. That fear of not being able to sleep is a phenomenon called “sleep anxiety,” says Orma, who went on to become a specialist in insomnia treatment. Left untreated, that anxiety can prevent people from actually falling asleep. “The more you focus on it, the less chance you’ll sleep, which then makes you more anxious. That’s the cycle that spins,” he says. One of the most powerful ways to overcome sleep anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). It’s well studied, doesn’t rely on sleep drugs and has been shown to be effective for clinical insomnia. Orma used this treatment to heal his sleep, and it’s now the main focus of his therapy practice. Typically, a CBT-I program lasts about six to eight …

Sleep apnea’s hidden link to depression and mental health problems

Sleep apnea’s hidden link to depression and mental health problems

Published by Jenni Sidey

You can live for years with obstructive sleep apnea and never know it. The condition repeatedly narrows your upper airway during sleep. That can break up your rest, strain your body, and lower oxygen levels overnight. Researchers have long suspected that this kind of disrupted sleep can affect your mental health, too. To test that idea at scale, research teams from the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, working with the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging looked at whether people at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea also faced higher odds of anxiety, depression, and psychological distress over time. The analysis was reviewed through ethics approvals that included the Hamilton Integrated Research Ethics Board, using CLSA data from a national, community-based cohort of middle-aged and older adults. The results point to a consistent pattern. When you show signs that place you at high risk for sleep apnea, you are more likely to report poor mental health at the same time. You are also more likely to report new mental health problems a …

The hidden health costs of artificial nighttime light

The hidden health costs of artificial nighttime light

Published by Jenni Sidey

In a quiet lab nestled in the mountains of West Virginia, one scientist is changing how the world thinks about light. For over a decade, Dr. Randy J. Nelson, Chair of Neuroscience at West Virginia University, has been uncovering the surprising ways artificial light reshapes the brain and body. His work doesn’t just explain why sleep matters. It shows how modern lighting—especially at night—might be a hidden trigger behind rising rates of disease, mood disorders, and poor health. In a sweeping new interview published in Brain Medicine, Dr. Nelson offers a glimpse into the science behind our body’s internal clock and why keeping it on track could be a life-saver. But this story begins far from any lab bench. From Factory Floors to Scientific Breakthroughs Dr. Nelson didn’t follow the usual path to neuroscience. His first jobs were far from glamorous—gutting turkeys on night shifts and assisting with autopsies at two Cleveland hospitals. Those intense experiences, far removed from classrooms and textbooks, became his gateway into human biology. Dr. Randy Nelson. (CREDIT: West Virginia University) …