Who’s stressed? Is there anyone who isn’t?? Three in four U.S. adults say they felt moderate to high stress levels in the last month, according to a 2009 stress questionnaire conducted by the American Psychological Association. Even teenagers find that school and family expenses are stressing them out, with nearly one half of teens interviewed saying their worries have gotten worse in the last year. The results? Most of us hit the bedding with our mind still churning, too wound up to sleep.

“No one sleeps well with worries,” says Joyce Walsleban, RN, PhD, associate professor of medicine at NYU’s School of Medicine. “They are too alerting. They will either keep you up or wake you up later on.”

Stress hormones shoulder part of the blame. When you’re stressed out, your adrenal glands release hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, which help you stay amped up and struggling to snooze.

Entirely eliminating anxiety and stress from your life isn’t realistic. But learning how you can place your worries high on a shelf for the evening can help you take care of them so they don’t ruin your sleep. To begin with, bar your work life — a common reason for stress — from the bedroom.

“We see people using BlackBerries and laptops in bed, replying to emails, and continuing to complete the work they generally do the entire day. For those who are afflicted by insomnia, that can perpetuate it,” says Alon Avidan, MD, associate professor of neurology and associate director of UCLA’s Sleep Disorders Program.

Walsleban suggests allowing your body time — an hour or so — to unwind before slipping into bed. Take a bath, read a good book (try fiction!), and learn to practice deep breathing and relaxation exercises to sooth nerves and promote a peaceful night’s sleep.

Insomnia and depression often go hand in hand, and it may be a challenge to figure out which came first. The fact is, research indicates that people with insomnia have 10 times the chance of developing depression as those who have enough sleep. And people who are depressed typically struggle with insomnia, exhibiting symptoms such as trouble going to sleep, staying asleep, or getting up feeling rested. The brain chemical serotonin, which affects mood, emotion, sleep, and hunger, according to Walsleban, is but one likely reason the two conditions travel in tandem.

Ironically, Avidan warns, a common class of medication used to treat depression — selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — at times causes sleep problems, like periodic limb movement disorder, which causes your legs to jerk while you sleep, or rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder, in which people act out their dreams, punching, kicking, or jumping from bed while still asleep. Check with your doctor regarding all possible medication unwanted side effects.

Stress is actually a regular part of life. Put another way, being human is to be stressed. Yet, stress doesn’t need to be overwhelming and intrude on your way of life. Read and learn more about stress, depression, and sleep at Control Stress.

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