Stressed to the max? Deep sleep can rewire the anxious brain

Learn how the brain controls stress. 

A sleepless night can trigger up to a 30 percent rise in emotional

stress levels, new study shows

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November 4, 2019:

University of California - Berkeley

Researchers have found that the type of sleep most apt to calm and reset the anxious brain
is deep sleep, also known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) slow-wave sleep, a state in
which neural oscillations become highly synchronized, and heart rates and blood pressure drop.

Deep sleep concept (stock image).

Credit: © stokkete / Adobe Stock

When it comes to managing anxiety disorders, William Shakespeare's
Macbeth had it right when he referred to sleep as the "balm of hurt minds."
While a full night of slumber stabilizes emotions, a sleepless night can trigger
up to a 30% rise in anxiety levels, according to new research from the
University of California, Berkeley.

UC Berkeley researchers have found that the type of sleep most apt to calm and reset
the anxious brain is deep sleep, also known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) slow-wave
sleep, a state in which neural oscillations become highly synchronized, and heart rates and
blood pressure drop.

"We have identified a new function of deep sleep, one that decreases anxiety overnight
by reorganizing connections in the brain," said study senior author Matthew Walker,
a UC Berkeley professor of neuroscience and psychology. "Deep sleep seems to be a
natural anxiolytic (anxiety inhibitor), so long as we get it each and every night."

The findings, published today, Nov. 4, in the journal Nature Human Behaviour,
provide one of the strongest neural links between sleep and anxiety to date. They
also point to sleep as a natural, non-pharmaceutical remedy for anxiety disorders,
which have been diagnosed in some 40 million American adults and are rising among
children and teens.

"Our study strongly suggests that insufficient sleep amplifies levels of anxiety and,
conversely, that deep sleep helps reduce such stress," said study lead author
Eti Ben Simon, a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Human Sleep Science at UC Berkeley.

In a series of experiments using functional MRI and polysomnography, among other measures,
Simon and fellow researchers scanned the brains of 18 young adults as they viewed
emotionally stirring video clips after a full night of sleep, and again after a sleepless night.
Anxiety levels were measured following each session via a questionnaire known as the
state-trait anxiety inventory.

After a night of no sleep, brain scans showed a shutdown of the
medial prefrontal cortex, which normally helps keep our anxiety in check,
while the brain's deeper emotional centers were overactive.

"Without sleep, it's almost as if the brain is too heavy on the emotional accelerator
pedal, without enough brake," Walker said.

After a full night of sleep, during which participants' brain waves were
measured via electrodes placed on their heads, the results showed their anxiety
levels declined significantly, especially for those who experienced more slow-wave
NREM sleep.

"Deep sleep had restored the brain's prefrontal mechanism that regulates our emotions,
lowering emotional and physiological reactivity and preventing the escalation of anxiety,"
Simon said.

Beyond gauging the sleep-anxiety connection in the 18 original study participants,
the researchers replicated the results in a study of another 30 participants.

Across all the participants, the results again showed that those who got more
nighttime deep sleep experienced the lowest levels of anxiety the next day.

Moreover, in addition to the lab experiments, the researchers conducted an
online study in which they tracked 280 people of all ages about how both their sleep and
anxiety levels changed over four consecutive days.

The results showed that the amount and quality of sleep the participants got from
one night to the next predicted how anxious they would feel the next day. Even subtle
nightly changes in sleep affected their anxiety levels.

"People with anxiety disorders routinely report having disturbed sleep, but rarely is
sleep improvement considered as a clinical recommendation for lowering anxiety,"
Simon said.

Learn how the brain controls stress. 

"Our study not only establishes a causal connection between sleep and anxiety, but it
identifies the kind of deep NREM sleep we need to calm the overanxious brain."

On a societal level, "the findings suggest that the decimation of
sleep throughout most industrialized nations and the marked escalation in anxiety
disorders in these same countries is perhaps not coincidental, but causally related,"
Walker said. "The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night of sleep."

Co-authors of the study are Aubrey Rossi and Allison Harvey, both at UC Berkeley.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of California - Berkeley. Original written by Yasmin Anwar.

Fear in Hawaii: The Biology of Stress

Residents and visitors in Hawaii were sent into a panic after officials accidentally sent an emergency alert warning of a "ballistic missile threat." It took officials 30 minutes to send a correction.

What happens in your brain...in clear, concise language.

What could people have been feeling?

From Healing the Brain: "Wounds that Time Alone Won’t Heal The Biology of Stress."

Imagine you are a zebra grazing on the plains of Africa. It's midday. The sun is bright, the food is plentiful.

Suddenly you sense an attack. A lion is chasing you. Its fight or flight in action.

Your brain tells your body to prepare for a fight or take flight. The body responds by preparing extra hormones to create more energy and by increasing the rate the heart pumps blood to the muscles. For most animals, this stress reaction lasts for just a short time and it saves lives.  

As a body is preparing for fight or flight, however, practically all systems, such as digestion, physical growth, and warding off diseases are placed on hold. This means that people for whom stress has become a way of life are endangering their overall health. Researchers have learned by studying primates whose systems are similar to human beings that those who learn to have control over their lives and are able to reduce or avoid stress live longer and healthier lives.

Are zebras better equipped to deal with stress than humans? No. However, according to Dr. Robert Sapolsky, author of ​Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, "For a zebra, stress is three minutes of some screaming terror running from a lion. After the chase, either it's over or they are." On the other hand humans, he says, have constructed a network of social stressors. Since we are obliged to live in this framework, stress builds up.

How do the brain and the body react to stress? Stress, such as the threat of attack, forces various changes in the body. First, adrenaline causes an increase in heart rate and blood pressure so that blood can be sent to muscles faster. Second, the brain’s hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland to stimulate the adrenal gland (specifically the adrenal cortex) to produce cortisol.

This stress hormone, a longer-acting steroid, helps the body to mobilize energy. However, prolonged exposure to cortisol can damage virtually every part of the body. Chronic high blood pressure can cause blood vessel damage and the long-term shutdown of digestion can lead to ulcers.  

One Month After: 'Fear of Trump' Is Making Some Youth Physically Sick

One month after Trump's 'election,' many adults anecdotally and many children, documented, express more fear and anxiety about Donald Trump. In this excerpt from an article published by Common Dreams, we look at 'fear of Trump.'

To find more detailed information about fear, our most powerful emotion, get our book, Healing the Brain.

After a campaign built on xenophobic remarks, a pledge to construct a massive wall across the southern border, and promises to form "a deportation force" to rid the nation of millions of undocumented immigrants, it's not surprising the psychological impact of Donald Trump's rhetoric would be most sharply felt among those living within those communities.

"People worry their families will be broken up, that parents will be deported and children will end up in foster care, on a scale that we’ve never seen before. The feeling out there is one of great fear." —Marielena Hincapié, National Immigration Law Center

And now, with the reality setting in that Trump will soon by the President of the United States, the Guardian reports Friday how pediatricians serving in communities with large populations of undocumented immigrants are seeing a spike in anxiety-related physical illnesses, most notably among children expressing worry that they, their parents, or other loved ones will soon be arrested or deported.

As the Guardian's Andrew Gumbel reports:

One little boy in North Carolina has been suffering crippling stomach aches in class because he’s afraid he might return home to find his parents gone. In California, many families are reporting that their children are leaving school in tears because their classmates have told them they are going to be thrown out of the country.
Children are showing up in emergency rooms alone because their parents are afraid of being picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they show their faces. Even American-born children are suffering – one boy in the south-east asked a doctor for Prozac because he was worried about his undocumented friend.

"It’s as though a volcano erupted. It’s been awful," said Mimi Lind, director of behavioral health at the Venice Family Clinic, one of the largest providers of healthcare to low-income families in southern California. "People who don’t have a history of anxiety and depression are coming forward with symptoms they’ve never had before. And people who had those symptoms already are getting much worse."

It’s too soon to put precise figures on the wave of Trump-related anxiety, but health professionals and immigrant rights groups say it is unmistakable. "People worry their families will be broken up, that parents will be deported and children will end up in foster care, on a scale that we’ve never seen before. The feeling out there is one of great fear," said Marielena Hincapié of the National Immigration Law Center.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ANXIETY AND FEAR IN OUR NEW BOOK.

Depressed post-Trump? Know the signs.

Depressed after the recent election? Many Americans are. When does just having the "blues" turn into something serious, worthy of medical attention? Read this excerpt from our new book, Healing the Brain.

Scientists have long acknowledged the brain’s circuitry and biochemical processes as integral aspects of depression, specifically as these processes control neurotransmitters that control mood. Beginning in the 1970s, neuroimaging technologies rapidly advanced the study of how brains function – or fail to function. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which became available to researchers over the past 20 years, gives cognitive neuroscientists a 3-D view of neural activity within the brain.

Studies using this technology demonstrate the role of neurotransmitters serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine as they regulate mood in the human body. Scientists still aren’t exactly sure why individuals with depression have low amounts of these neurotransmitters, yet they do know that for some, antidepressants that specifically target how the brain balances these these neurotransmitters are an effective therapeutic intervention.

Studies show the benefits of combining medication and psychotherapy.

Yet much controversy surrounds the issue of prescribing antidepressants, with some claiming that too often an individual is prescribed a pill without receiving the benefits of psychotherapy or talk therapy. Leigh Matthews, psychologist and director of Urban Psychology in Brisbane, Australia, treats adult clients for depression. There is an abundance of studies evidencing the efficacy of the combination of medication and psychotherapy.

But psychology, Matthews said, tries to first focus on treatment without medication, so it’s not always respected by other disciplines, such as general practice physicians or psychiatrists. But the process of psychotherapy and its outcomes last far longer than simply prescribing medication. Yet there are times when medication is absolutely essential, according to Matthews, who also supervises psychologists-in-training at the University of QLD, and those completing their internships through the Australian College of Applied Psychology.

She said when clients are so depressed that they can’t get out of bed, think rationally, or use any of the strategies proposed in session, then it’s time for medication. Or when clients verbalize suicidal ideation and intent indicating severe depression, then medication is absolutely required.

Also if an individual has a long history of depression, or a strong family history suggesting a genetic basis, then “perhaps they, like a diabetic requiring insulin, need long-term pharmacotherapy to rectify neurochemical imbalances.”

Read the Book!

 

PTSD: Wounds that Time Won't Heal

With many Americans in shock after this election, it's good to take a look at our stress response. Excerpted from Healing the Brain.

The Biology of Stress

Imagine you are a zebra grazing on the plains of Africa. It's midday. The sun is bright, the food is plentiful.

Suddenly you sense an attack. A lion is chasing you. Its fight or flight in action.

Your brain tells your body to prepare for a fight or take flight. The body responds by preparing extra hormones to create more energy and by increasing the rate the heart pumps blood to the muscles. For most animals, this stress reaction lasts for just a short time and it saves lives.

Wikimedia Commons

Why don’t zebras get ulcers? According to Dr. Robert Sapolsky, their stress is decidedly short term, not long term.

As a body is preparing for fight or flight, however, practically all systems, such as digestion, physical growth, and warding off diseases are placed on hold. This means that people for whom stress has become a way of life are endangering their overall health. Researchers have learned by studying primates whose systems are similar to human beings that those who learn to have control over their lives and are able to reduce or avoid stress live longer and healthier lives.

Are zebras better equipped to deal with stress than humans? No. However, according to Dr. Robert Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, "For a zebra, stress is three minutes of some screaming terror running from a lion. After the chase, either it's over or they are." On the other hand humans, he says, have constructed a network of social stressors. Since we are obliged to live in this framework, stress builds up.

Nature.com

While the stress response activates automatically, its duration and intensity relies on factors such as individual temperament.

How do the brain and the body react to stress? Stress, such as the threat of attack, forces various changes in the body. First, adrenaline causes an increase in heart rate and blood pressure so that blood can be sent to muscles faster. Second, the brain’s hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland to stimulate the adrenal gland (specifically the adrenal cortex) to produce cortisol.

This stress hormone, a longer-acting steroid, helps the body to mobilize energy. However, prolonged exposure to cortisol can damage virtually every part of the body. Chronic high blood pressure can cause blood vessel damage and the long-term shutdown of digestion can lead to ulcers.

SimplyPsychology.org

Stress, such as the threat of attack, forces changes in the body carried out by the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA).

Why do some people experience more stress than others? Individuals who feel they have control over their lives appear to experience less stress. It also depends on personality and temperament. Aggressive, competitive types are more likely to define a situation as stressful than a passive, accommodating personality. A universal stress producer seems to be social isolation.

PTSD: A Breakthrough in Diagnosis

In 1980 the mental health community established the diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, and revolutionized the way the field views the effects of stress. This change acknowledged that many of the symptoms people experience after exposure to trauma can be long-lasting, if not permanent. Before that shift, the field tended to view stress-related symptoms as a transient, normal response to an adverse life event, not requiring intensive treatment.

Furthermore, before 1980, people who did develop long-term symptoms following trauma were viewed as implicitly vulnerable; the role of the actual event in precipitating their symptoms was minimized. For a while, in a reversal of previous thinking, experts expected most trauma survivors to develop PTSD. More recent research has confirmed that only about 25 per cent of individuals who are exposed to trauma develop PTSD.

So who is likely to develop PTSD following a traumatic experience, and why? The answer is not yet clear, but it now appears that PTSD represents a failure of the body to extinguish or contain the normal nervous system response to stress. This failure is associated with many factors:

• the nature and severity of the traumatic event
• preexisting risk factors related to previous exposure to stress or trauma, particularly in childhood
• the individual’s history of psychological and behavioral problems, if any
• the person’s level of education, and other cognitive factors
• family history—whether parents or other relatives had anxiety, depression, or PTSD

People who develop PTSD are also more likely to develop other psychiatric disorders involving mood (depression, anxiety and panic, bipolar disorder), personality, eating, and substance dependence.

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