Mental health is dependent on the degree of sleep you get every night. Sleep deprivation can cause many psychological disorders, mood swings, anxiety, depression and lack of interest in daily life. Depression can affect a person’s professional life to a great extent where your job profile demands complete focus and concentration for more than nine hours a day. 

Most of them simply push through the working hours when they are depressed. This can massively affect work efficiency and productivity as a team member. In this article, we will learn more about the correlation between sleep, mental health and productivity and how to manage stress in the working environment.

Depression is considered the most important mental health issue that affects work efficiency. It can be treated with lifestyle changes and medication. Treatment for two months can effectively treat your depression and make you more productive. 

There are more than seventy types of sleep disorders according to researchers. Type of disorder, its prevalence and impact vary from person to person. However, all these conditions are expected to share common biological roots. Insomnia and other sleep disorders multiples the risk of depression. Depressed patients with persisting sleep disorders are likely to develop suicidal attempts than depressed patients who can sleep well.

In bipolar depression, some people experience hypersomnia and others insomnia or restless sleep. Insomnia and restless sleep triggers mania and contributes to a relapse of bipolar disorder.

Studies reveal that people with anxiety disorder take a long time to fall asleep and they won't get deep sleep. Insomnia worsens the situation and recovery from anxiety disorder becomes difficult.

ADHD is commonly seen in children and makes it difficult for them to fall asleep. They experience disrupted and shorter sleep cycles. This condition makes them hyperactive, less attentive, and emotionally unstable.

Your mental health is as important as your career. To be professionally successful, you shall have the mental stability to deal with different challenges in the working environment. Meetings and project deadlines can make you sleep deprived. They shouldn’t be given priority over your physical and mental well-being. Do not try to achieve someone else's unrealistic expectations at the cost of your health. Be clear with your fellow-workers and higher-ups about your potential from the very beginning and if necessary take help from the HR team to get a flexible and understanding team to work with.

Bring an action plan that can suit the time of depression. Split the big project into simple manageable tasks that can be easily completed. Don’t forget to take a break from work after completing each task. This will help you manage stress successfully. When you need to work for extended hours, use pillows or cushions that provide you enough back support. It will be held tightly in position by its elastic band and contours to your body. It is very user-friendly and gives maximum comfort to your body.

When you are depressed, you tend to eat more. You will crave calorie-dense foods like chocolates, cookies, candy and so on. This will harm your blood glucose levels and make you more anxious. Hence it is advised to munch on fruits and veggies, yogurt, and whole-grain crackers to control your blood glucose level and keep you in a stable mood. 

Aerobic exercises, jogging and Zumba releases feel-good hormones, endorphins to stabilize our mood swings. It can effectively beat stress and calm you down at times of anxiety and depression. Regular physical activities will help to fall asleep faster, get deeper and undisrupted sleep for a prolonged time.

When you are depressed, the approaching project deadlines add on the pressure to your work atmosphere. Yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises can counteract anxiety and stress. Whenever you are exhausted at work, take a deep breath, or move out from your desk and walk for some time. It can help you release some stress. Regular practice of meditation and yoga is very helpful in managing work stress.

Sleep-deprived people are likely to be preoccupied with negative thoughts. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps to boost confidence and helps improve sleep.

Experts say that good sleep hygiene can induce sound sleep. This includes following a regular sleep and wake schedule, keeping the bedroom surroundings dark, keeping the television, computer, and other electronic gadgets away from the bedroom, and using the bedroom only for sleep. Some also suggest retraining your sleep that stays awake for a longer time so that you will get a restful good night's sleep. 

Mattress's choice plays a key role in getting good sleep. Choosing the right kind of mattress will help you improve sleep-related issues. Using a memory foam mattress has many health benefits compared to other types of mattresses. It has special features to relieve pressure points by distributing the body weight evenly on the mattress surface. The memory foam contours to your body thus give additional support to your lower back. Those who suffer from lower back pain due to extended working hours and sedentary lifestyles are advised to sleep on a memory foam mattress. It also provides neutral spine alignment and enough back support. The foam mattress is a perfect solution for different sleeping positions. In today's busy world each person in the family will have a different sleeping schedule. This can affect the sleep of a partner when the other person wakes up in between or rolls over the bed especially among couples having different sleep schedules. This can be resolved to a great extent by the use of a memory foam mattress. Hence couples can enjoy sleeping on them for no motion transfer.

Lifestyle changes also include avoiding caffeinated drinks, nicotine, and alcohol. All these will help you stay awake. Alcohol can depress your nervous system initially and make you fall asleep. But after a few hours, you will be awakened. Whereas nicotine and caffeine are stimulants that speed up heart rate and stimulate thinking. Hence these items shall be given up before bedtime to get good night’s sleep.