BBC随身英语｜糟糕的睡眠如何影响你的心理健康？

How does bad sleep affect your mental health?

How much sleep do you need? Do you find that if you don't get enough shut-eye and wake up feeling dopey, you spend the rest of the day in a bad mood? I certainly need my eight hours a night and that's important according to research, because bad sleep isn't good for our health.

We all need a good night's rest to recharge our batteries, but according to the Sleep Council in the UK, the average Briton gets six-and-a-half hours sleep a night, which for most people is not enough. It's tempting to cut back on the sleep we get, after all there are plenty of other more fun or useful things to be doing.

Sometimes the pressure of work or a long commute means that our head hits the pillow much later than it should. But lots of studies have shown that cutting back on sleep, deliberately or otherwise, can have a serious impact on our bodies.

Studies have proved that sleep deprivation has a negative effect on our bodies but it can also have an effect on our mental health. A BBC programme called Trust Me, I'm a Doctor ran an experiment with the University of Oxford and was surprised to discover how quickly the mood of the people they were testing changed when their sleep was restricted to four hours a night for just three nights.

Doctoral student, Sarah Reeve, who ran the experiment, said: "There were increases in anxiety, depression and stress, also increases in paranoia and feelings of mistrust about other people".

This and other research into the mental health of students, has found that the lack of sleep increases our negative emotions. I know that when I'm sleep-deprived, it is harder to feel positive about things or even think straight!

Daniel Freeman, professor of clinical psychology at Oxford University, agrees that insomnia is bad for our brain. He says: "We have more negative thoughts when we're sleep-deprived and we get stuck in them".

Bad sleep doesn't automatically mean you'll get mental health issues, but other studies have shown that depriving people of enough sleep for only a few nights in a row can be enough to put healthy adults into a pre-diabetic state.

So with all this evidence maybe we should concentrate on sleeping well. This means going to bed at a sensible time and creating the right environment in the bedroom to relax and sleep in.

There's also the modern distraction of using smartphones and tablets at bedtime, tempting us to stay awake. The blue light emitted by electronic devices makes us feel less sleepy. And using them stimulates our brain when it should be winding down.

词汇表
shut-eye [ˈʃʌt aɪ] n. 睡眠，睡觉，合眼
dopey [ˈdəʊpi] adj. 昏昏沉沉的，迟钝的，迷迷糊糊的
recharge one's batteries [ˌriːˈtʃɑːdʒ wʌnz ˈbætriɪz] 养精蓄锐，恢复精力
Briton [ˈbrɪtn] n. 英国人，不列颠人
tempting [ˈtemptɪŋ] adj. 诱人的，有吸引力的
commute [kəˈmjuːt] n. 上下班路程，通勤
head hits the pillow 头挨枕头，倒头就睡，入睡
cut back on 削减，减少，缩减
deliberately [dɪˈlɪbərətli] adv. 故意地，有意地，蓄意地
sleep deprivation [ˌdeprɪˈveɪʃn] n. 睡眠剥夺，睡眠不足
paranoia [ˌpærəˈnɔɪə] n. 偏执，多疑，妄想症
mistrust [ˌmɪsˈtrʌst] n. 不信任，怀疑
sleep-deprived [ˌsliːp dɪˈpraɪvd] adj. 睡眠不足的，剥夺了睡眠的
think straight 清晰思考，理清思路，正常思考
insomnia [ɪnˈsɒmniə] n. 失眠，失眠症
get stuck in 陷入，卡住，困在
in a row [rəʊ] 连续地，接连不断地
pre-diabetic state [ˌpriː daɪəˈbetɪk] 糖尿病前期状态
sensible [ˈsensəbl] adj. 明智的，理智的，合理的
tablet [ˈtæblət] n. 平板电脑
emit [iˈmɪt] vt. 发出，射出，散发（光、热、声等）
stimulate [ˈstɪmjuleɪt] vt. 刺激，激励，使兴奋
wind down [wɪnd] 放松，平静下来

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