Sleep is often thought of as a time when the brain and body switch off.
But sleep is not passive.
Neuroscience shows sleep isn’t downtime — it’s when your brain gets to work.
During sleep we cycle through different sleep stages with fluctuating brain activity. Good quality sleep is important to strengthen memory, consolidate learning, and regulate emotions. This helps our overall wellbeing.
Did you know, when we sleep our incredible brain activates its own waste clearance system? This is called the Glymphatic System. This helps flush out metabolic byproducts on a nightly clean.
If the brain was likened to the coastal rock pools.
High tide = restorative sleep. This is when the water is cleaned, debris flushed out, water refreshed and the ecosystem balanced. We can deal better with emotions and stress, and have increased resilience to life’s challenges.
Poor sleep = stagnant water. This is reflected by stress accumulation, memory difficulties, difficulties with focus, brain fog, irritability, and can affect how we relate to others.
Neuroimaging like functional MRI brain scans show that sleep changes biology. Poor or disrupted sleep affects the prefrontal cortex which affects emotional control and cognition (our ability to think, reason, learn and interact with the world around us).
Our body’s response to stress is affected by sleep by way of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, with poor sleep resulting in increased cortisol levels, inflammation, and increased anxiety and depression symptoms.
Sleep and mental health are closely intertwined. They are termed bidirectional meaning they can affect each other from each way. Mental health disorders like depression, anxiety and PTSD can affect sleep. Sleep disorders can also increase the risk of developing mental health issues. Supporting sleep is thus a highly valuable part of mental health treatment.
Improving sleep quality is less about trying to control your nights and more about supporting and nurturing your body and brain during the day. Incorporating science-based lifestyle adjustments and cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia can help. Researchers are also exploring auditory sleep modulation techniques that may further enhance sleep quality.
In Lifestyle medicine restorative sleep is an important pillar. It is not viewed in isolation but as an important component of the whole person; impacted by many factors such as the environment, nutrition, alcohol, light exposure, routines, movement and emotional wellbeing.
With you at the centre, a cohesive team approach can tailor support to optimise and protect your sleep. Achieving better sleep isn’t about forcing the tide at night. It is about shaping calmer rock pools during the day.
Dr. Phoebe Slape
BSc (Biomed). MBBS. FAFRM. FASLM.
Clinical Lead
Lifestyle Medicine Physician
WORKING DAYS
Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays
STATUS
Accepting appointments
