15 - Alexis A: Sleep Well, Stay Stable

Sleep is what ultimately keeps us grounded. Any troubles or stresses of our lives are put to rest in the hours that our mind is asleep. Whether we get more or less of it, we are familiar with habits that can make or break what we feel after a nightly slumber. Inevitably experiencing a lack of sleep affects our brain, which can explain the build-up of these unstable emotions.

Emotions are justified by our reactions. According to the Ted Talk, How lack of sleep affects your emotions, the part of the brain where our strong emotional reactions come from is the amygdala. Being sleep deprived does not result in an appropriate response due to a hyperactive amygdala. This deep emotional center of the brain produces irrationality, in which negative emotions occur from a lack of sleep. By taking a deeper look into this part of the brain, it uncovers why we act in a specific manner that isn’t our normal selves. 

With emotional reactions, there comes its process. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for controlling the amygdala. The amygdala becomes hyperactive because of its communication with the prefrontal cortex. The Ted Talk provides a good comparison of this relationship by describing an all-emotional accelerator pedal with very little regulatory control brake. Disrupting this process shows how sleep is essential to who we are, and why it can’t be taken away as it's uncovered.

Sleep is something that changes with time but we are all aware of it. Understanding why we sleep is in the parts of our brain keeping us emotionally centered. Sleep acts as our first aid for our feelings, and only a good nightly slumber is the key to staying stable.

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