This content was originally produced for audio. Certain elements such as tone, sound effects, and music, may not fully capture the intended experience in textual representation. Therefore, the following transcription has been modified for clarity. We recognize not everyone can access the audio podcast. However, for those who can, we encourage subscribing and listening to the original content for a more engaging and immersive experience.
All thoughts and opinions expressed by hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views held by the institutions with which they are affiliated.
The Stress鈥揝leep Cycle
Interviewer: Sleep is so critically important for both physical and mental health, and during times of stress and uncertainty, you might find that you're not able to sleep, which then starts the cycle of worrying about not sleeping, which then leads to more sleepless nights, which then can impact your physical and mental health.
It's a big circle, and Dr. Kelly Baron is a sleep expert at 麻豆学生精品版, and she's here to help us start sleeping better again. So Kelly, what can a person do when they're experiencing stress to the point that it's impacting their sleep?
Stress Disrupts Sleep
Dr. Baron: Stress and sleep are really known to have a bidirectional or two-way relationship. So, if you're under stress, it affects your sleep. And so that sort of feeling of being under threat impacts how deeply you sleep, because if you think about it, we're really not supposed to sleep deeply when we're under stress. That's a basic survival mechanism that organisms have. You know, you would be someone's lunch if you're a little mouse in your hole and you're sleeping deeply and there's a fox outside. That's what I explain to my patients. It's just not normal to sleep under stress.
And now that things are changing, they change so rapidly. I know... it leaves you feeling frazzled. I think in two ways. First of all, it's affecting my sleep that I'm home more, and I'm actually... I think I'm sleeping a little more because I'm making an effort to wind things down. I've got more time to do the little things at home that I normally don't have time to do, like just put everything away, to get my laundry done. So I have a little bit more time to sleep because I'm not commuting, and my work day is kind of chopped up in a weird way that it just leaves me a little more time to unwind and go to sleep.
The other thing, though, is these like notifications and constant vigilance that I think we're all experiencing right now, I find that that's impacting my sleep because I wake up in the night and I think, you know, "What's going on, what's going to change today?" or, there's certainly a sense of anxiety.
Sleeplessness Fuels Stress
The other direction, though, is that if you're not sleeping, that affects how you perceive stress. There's actually a lot more data showing that if you sleep poorly or if you don't sleep enough, you interpret stress differently. You're affected by it differently. It makes you more emotional. You handle it worse. I don't know if you've felt like that before, but even in a normal day, if I sleep poorly, I'm more easily irritated by things that don't normally get under my skin, or I might get more emotional when something happens during the day.
On the other hand, if you sleep better, you can go more with the flow. We're kind of getting wound down. You know, over time, we're getting more and more sleepless and stressed. That can lead to just a cascade, really, of effects.
Interviewer: So, are there two kinds of concerns when it comes to sleep when you're stressed, one not being able to fall asleep at all, and two, you might fall asleep, but you're just not getting that deep sleep?
Dr. Baron: Stress can affect your sleep by either trouble getting to sleep, because you're thinking, you're ruminating, or maybe you're doing things to prepare, you're working later, or trying to get things done, like behaviorally. It can cause awakenings during the night. It can also cause people to feel like their sleep is less restful. So even if you aren't up for large periods of time, perhaps you're not sleeping as deeply as you normally would, or you're more restless in your sleep. Also, people do have early morning awakenings. So that means you're waking up an hour or two before you intend to wake up, and you're struggling to get back to sleep.
Practical Ways to Sleep Better
Interviewer: What is the solution if somebody is having difficulty sleeping or feeling like perhaps they're not getting the sleep that they need?
Dr. Baron: The first thing that I talk about with my patients is that it's normal to have some disruption to your sleep. That's a normal human thing. So being stressed about being stressed is never going to help anyone. So, just accepting that some people are more vulnerable to having stress-induced sleep disruption. That's just a characteristic of who you are. I tend to be one of those people who was, you know, having trouble sleeping before my first day of school or those sorts of things. I mean, that's just a feature that some individuals are more sensitive to than others.
But then on top of it, you know, if you can't sleep, we say don't force yourself to sleep. Wind down, turn off the news, give yourself a good hour to relax before you go to sleep. If you're not ready to fall asleep, then do some reading, do some other things, but don't get stressed about not sleeping.
The Role of Routine, Diet, and Exercise
The other thing to think about, too, is that we're all off of our schedules, our schedules for eating, for exercise, for sleeping. You know, our routines are totally shooken up, and that can have a big implication for sleep. And so I recommend that people stay on a routine, and kids as well, to have a consistent bedtime, rise time, to make sure that you're having a regular eating pattern, and then also getting physical activity during the day.
Now that I'm working from home, especially, I'm trying to intersperse that throughout my day. So I'm getting up and working out as I normally would in the morning before work, and then also trying to get a little lunchtime walk and get a walk in the evening with the kids so we're all getting some activity, some sunlight, some stress relief, that sort of thing.
Interviewer: Yeah. I like that because keeping that routine can be so important, and I never considered that exercise and eating could also contribute to an inability to get the kind of sleep that you need. And during stressful times, a lot of times we don't have an appetite, or we decide, "Oh, I don't have time to work out." And I guess it's in times like that that you really should almost double down on those things and just really commit to them.
Dr. Baron: Or the appetite can go the other way. You know, being home, I have more availability of snack foods and things like that. You know, and some people might have a tendency to graze. So I made sure to position my office on the far other side of the house from the kitchen so I'm not tempted to go in there for the Fruit Roll-Ups or other things we got for the kids so they could help themselves while we're working.
But on the other hand, you know, when you're under stress, you do have more of a craving sometimes for these comfort foods. You know, if your sleep is off, your eating is off, you know, it can just lead to generally feeling worn down and stressed out. And so, trying to pay attention to these routines, healthy eating. You know, people should really focus on getting a healthy diet.
Again, you have a little bit more time if you're not commuting, so focusing on these routines of having regular meal times, healthy foods, and getting adequate time in bed, it's actually an opportunity for some people.
Accepting Disrupted Sleep Without Adding More Stress
But I don't want to be insensitive to the fact that there are some people who are being extremely disrupted right now. In those situations, we really talk about trying to, you know, make sure that you're getting through the day, kind of stay in the moment.
Interviewer: So managing stress, those types of skills, mindfulness during the day, trying as much as possible not to, you know, I guess not let it affect you, is not the right word, and then just accepting that maybe you might not sleep as well as you should, and that's okay. Don't get stressed. Don't add that to the stress, because then that just is that vicious circle. Is that a fair summary?
Dr. Baron: That is a fair summary. It's an extremely stressful time for a lot of people right now, and it's going to understandably affect your sleep.
updated: August 28, 2025
originally published: March 30, 2020
Breaking the Stress鈥揝leep Cycle: How to Rest Better in Difficult Times
Stress and sleep have a two-way relationship: stress makes it harder to sleep, and poor sleep makes it harder to handle stress. Learn about strategies to manage stress, improve sleep, and protect both your mental and physical health.
