Mental health is complex and can be linked to everything from sleep to diet to exercise. Of all these things, good quality sleep may be the best way to improve it.
In a new study, researchers surveyed 1
They found that sleep trumps exercise and diet as the main predictor of good mental health, but this wasn’t the only interesting tidbit. You’ve probably heard that you need a certain number of hours, but it’s the quality of your sleep that matters more when it comes to mental health.
In a statement in Today, Shay-Ruby Wickham, lead author of the study and a graduate student at Otago Medical School at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, explained, “ While we saw that both too little sleep – less than eight hours – and high sleep levels – more than 12 hours – were also associated with stronger depressive symptoms – sleep quality significantly exceeded sleep quantity in predicting mental health and well-being. “
If you want to read the entire study yourself, you can find it in Frontiers in Psychology.
