Have you ever noticed that the world looks different after a bad night's sleep?
Things that wouldn't normally bother you suddenly affect you more. A small concern seems big. Patience disappears.
What actually happens is that lack of sleep changes the way the brain processes emotions.
When you're sleep deprived, the emotional areas of the brain become more reactive, while the systems that usually help regulate emotions function more poorly.
This makes you feel more stressed, more sensitive, more anxious, and less able to recover from negative situations.
What's interesting is that poor sleep not only increases negative emotions, but can also decrease positive emotions like motivation, enthusiasm, optimism, and joy.
This doesn't mean that sleep is the solution to every mental health problem, but it shows how much its lack affects the way we think, feel, and react every day.
