Stress and Sleep: How They Affect Your Health, and What Helps

Short answer: Stress keeps the body on alert, which makes it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep, and poor sleep in turn makes stress, mood and health worse. Regular sleep times, less caffeine and alcohol, daily activity and talking to someone can help break the cycle. If low mood, worry or sleeplessness lasts more than two weeks or affects daily life, see a clinician.

It's 2 a.m. The house is quiet, but your mind isn't: school fees due next week, a parent unwell upcountry, a business that has been slow for months. You check your phone, then check it again. By the time the cockerel crows you have slept three hours, and the day ahead feels heavier. Almost everyone knows a night like this. When it becomes most nights, it is worth paying attention.

How does stress affect sleep and health?

When you are stressed, the body releases hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol that keep you alert. That helps in a crisis, but not at bedtime. Over time, ongoing stress and poor sleep can:

• Make it harder to concentrate, remember things and make decisions
• Leave you irritable, low or anxious
• Add to the risk of high blood pressure, weight gain and diabetes
• Make you more likely to catch infections
• Cause headaches, stomach upsets and tense, aching muscles
• Raise the risk of accidents on the road, at work or on the shamba

Which sleep habits help?

What helps with stress?

• Talk to someone you trust: a friend, family member, faith leader or a member of your chama. Saying a worry out loud often makes it smaller.
• Move every day. A brisk walk, work on the shamba, football or dancing all count. Aim for about 30 minutes on most days.
• Slow your breathing. Breathe in through your nose for a count of four and out for a count of six, for a few minutes.
• Break big problems into small steps. Write down what is worrying you and one thing you can do about it tomorrow.
• Limit alcohol and avoid drugs. They may seem to help in the moment, but they make anxiety and sleep worse.
• Eat regular meals and drink enough water.
• Take breaks from news and social media, especially late at night.

Could it be depression or anxiety?

Sometimes stress and poor sleep are signs of depression or anxiety. Both are common, and both can be treated. See a clinician if, for two weeks or more, you have had several of these:

Signs of depression

• Low mood, sadness or emptiness most of the day
• Losing interest in things you used to enjoy
• Sleeping much less or much more than usual
• Changes in appetite or weight
• Tiredness and low energy
• Feeling worthless, hopeless or guilty
• Thoughts of death or of harming yourself

Signs of anxiety

• Constant worry that is hard to control
• Feeling restless or on edge
• A racing heart, sweating or shaking, or sudden panic attacks
• Tense muscles and trouble sleeping

Poor sleep can also have physical causes, such as loud snoring with pauses in breathing, pain, heartburn, waking often to pass urine, or side effects of medicines. A clinician can check for these.

When to seek help

See a clinician if:

• Sleep problems, low mood or worry have lasted more than two weeks
• You are struggling to work, look after your family or manage daily life
• You are using alcohol, drugs or sleeping pills to cope

Seek help now if you or someone you know has thoughts of self-harm or suicide. For free support, call the Kenya Red Cross toll-free line, 1199. If someone is in immediate danger or has harmed themselves, call 999 or 112 or go to the nearest health facility. Primegala is open 24 hours. Don't leave a person at risk on their own.

How Primegala can help

Our clinicians at Maili Sita, on the Nakuru–Nyahururu Road, can talk through what is going on in confidence, check for physical causes of poor sleep, such as pain or blood pressure and blood sugar problems, and refer you for counselling or specialist mental health care where needed. Walk in at any hour or book a visit to our general outpatient clinic.