Sleep and mental wellbeing: exploring the links

Sleep is influenced by a host of biological and lifestyle factors. For example, sleep pressure and the circadian rhythm (i.e. body clock) impact sleep. Sleep need changes as age increases, and adolescents have a biological tendency to go to bed later and sleep in. Lifestyle factors (e.g. caffeine consumption) are behavioural so they can usually be modified to improve sleep and mental wellbeing. The main focus of this review will be on behavioural factors that can be altered (e.g. not hereditary processes or pharmacological interventions). The main two sleep disorders discussed will be insomnia (among other criteria, difficulty falling asleep/maintaining sleep) and delayed sleep wake phase disorder (DSWPD; among other criteria, falling asleep and waking up at a later time than meets societal requirements). Sleep disturbance will also be examined; that is, problematic sleep that does not meet criteria for a sleep disorder.