It can no longer be emphasized enough how important sleep is for people of all ages. Insufficient amount of sleep is detrimental not only to physical health but also to emotional and mental health. However, a study found that sleep problems for people suffering from anxiety and depression only makes the situation worse for them.

People who have been identified with anxiety and depression are the ones who are known to have chronic sleep problems, according to Harvard Health Publications. In fact, poor sleep affect 50 to 80 percent of those patients with anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

Because of this, these patients find it more difficult to cope with the stress and negative emotional responses.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have found that there is the area of the brain called dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, will have to work harder in order to modify negative emotional responses in patients who have difficulty sleeping, or the ones with anxiety or depression, Science Daily reported. In their study, they found that participants who had poorer sleep were seen to have less activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, compared to the ones who had better sleep.

The respondents were given a questionnaire to assess the amount of sleep they had the previous month and it was found that three out of four participants reported to suffer from sleep disturbance and the device called actigraph showed that most of them had insomnia.

The researchers explained that the higher activity in DACC means that it works harder to modify negative emotional responses. They also want to emphasize that sleep indeed play a significant role in regulating these negative feelings and emotions especially for the people who are suffering from anxiety and depression.

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Tags University of Illinois, Sleep, Anxiety, Depression