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Psychology is the study of the human brain and behavior whereas sleep is that state of mind and body in which both are not in their proper consciousness or in the refreshing mode. So, sleep psychology is the study of the human brain and body when both are not in their proper consciousness.
There are various purposes for which psychologists have to study sleeping trends in humans. Understanding sleeping patterns can actually help psychologists to know more about sleep-related disorders, the significance of sleep for mind and body, causes of sleep disorders, how sleep affects mind and body, and many more.
The Significance of Sleep - Why Is It So Important?
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Sleep is not a desire but a necessity. Having a good sleep has nowadays become like a wish for many. In every way, sleep affects our life be it social, economic, cultural, or in terms of health. And the most affected aspect of our life due to terse sleep is nothing but health.
Having slept for a short duration or intermittently can have unbearable repercussions. These days people disturb their sleep patterns on their own which in turn causes sleep disorders.
Improper sleep affects health as it leads to obesity, heart diseases (strokes), diabetes due to glucose not getting absorbed with the help of insulin, may lead to mental illness like depression or anxiety and weaker immune system.
It also influences our behavior in the social domain as most of the time you feel drowsy, sleepy, restless, and lethargic. So, it impacts your social interactions. Moreover, people also have to face financial instability due to lack of sleep as they are not able to give their best due to lack of sleep.
As there are many studies showing that lesser sleep or lack of sleep reduces the creativity and productivity of a person. Not only this much but it can also affect your personal life as well.
Whenever your family wants to spend time with you, you already feel tired and zoned out due to lack of sleep so they also feel neglected and insignificant. So having a good sleep is not only important and healthier for you but also for your relationships.
Read about the different stages of Sleep here.
The Psychology behind Sleep Disorders
Disorders are the distortions or dysfunction in the regular processes of the human body that can severely affect any person physiologically and mentally. Any kind of disorder is problematic and even treacherous sometimes if not cured rightly at the right time. People suffering from any kind of disorder have to face a lot of social embarrassment also.
Sleep disorders are among the worst disorders. In them, the body badly needs sleep but the mind isn’t ready to go off. Somehow, we can say that the mind is not exactly able to understand the need for sleep for the body.
To know the causes and also to find out solutions for this disorder we need to study psychology or the mental state of a person suffering from the same. There are several factors responsible for sleep-related issues.
The first and foremost factor is our restless lifestyle. In this tech-savvy world, it is very hard to absolutely circumvent all the gadgets as they have got a crucial place in our lives. Electronic gadgets were made to make our lives easier and smoother so that we can save time and utilize it somewhere else.
But now we all have a great sense of dependency on all these electronic gadgets. Today the scenario is that it is affecting our health to a great extent. People use these gadgets at that time when they should have a sleep which actually disturbs the sleep patterns.
They keep on scrolling until they get tired. Physical illness can also be a disturbance in your sleep. Patients of asthma often get disturbed during their sleeping hours which disturb their sleep cycle.
Similarly, mental illness is also equally responsible for sleeping disorders. Depression, anxiety, and overthinking disturb the sleep cycle so badly. These kinds of mental states never let the person sleep which starts affecting his/her physical condition also. Sometimes, it is also genetically transmitted.
“Narcolepsy” is a genetically caused disease. Aging is also a considerable factor that affects sleep patterns. After the age of 65 most, people suffer from sleep disorders. Moreover, not getting a conducive environment and surroundings to sleep can also disturb your sleep patterns.
Conclusion
Sleep psychology is all about knowing more about usual and unusual patterns of sleep to find different methods for treating the same. These days people are more focused upon sound sleep which is emerging as the need of people today.
According to the concept of sound sleep, one should have quality sleep in one go, not intermittently what people are doing these days. We need to understand that we should return this body in the same condition in which it was given to the soul by mother nature. Have sleep to dream.
Written By - Vineet Kumar
Edited By - Umme-Aiman
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