From the CEO: The Impact of Sleep on Mental Wellbeing

Despite the importance of a good night’s sleep, too many people fail to recognize that it represents a solid foundation for our wellbeing.

Research shows more than 1 in 3 adults and nearly 8 out of 10 teens don’t get enough sleep. Many people know that poor sleep causes fatigue and poor concentration, according to Joe Parks, M.D., codirector of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s Medical Director Institute.

“What is less appreciated is how profoundly sleep affects judgment, perception, metabolism, immunity, emotions, pain and even social interactions,” he told me.

Over the next several months, I plan to revisit the topic of sleep, because we’re learning so much about its connection to wellbeing. For instance, sleep can influence brain health, a topic I addressed recently. Brain health should concern all of us, because how we live—including how we sleep—has a direct impact on our mental wellbeing.

A report by the Milken Institute found that “the trajectory of brain diseases is not inevitable. […] Evidence shows that up to 45% of dementia cases, 80% of disability-adjusted life years lost to stroke, and 21% of major depression may be linked to modifiable factors such as diet, sleep and exercise.”

Sleep deprivation has many tangible effects on a person’s wellbeing, according to researchers. Here are just a few that the Medical Director Institute pointed out.

How Sleep Deprivation Amplifies Pain

The authors of “The Pain of Sleep Loss” note that poor sleep lowers one’s pain threshold, and a chronic sleep deficit can:

• Worsen back pain
• Increase arthritis symptoms
• Exacerbate headaches
• Intensify neuropathic pain

Sometimes improving sleep reduces pain more effectively than increasing analgesics, researchers found.

Sleep and Immune System Function

One night of severe sleep restriction can increase inflammatory markers, according to the authors of “The Sleep-Immune Crosstalk in Health and Disease,” and poor sleep is associated with:

• Increased susceptibility to respiratory infections
• Reduced vaccine response
• Delayed wound healing

The Glymphatic System: Sleep’s Role in Brain Health

During deep sleep, the brain’s glymphatic system—the system that removes “waste” in the brain—becomes much more active. According to The Brain Docs, “In 2013, researchers discovered that the spaces between brain cells expand by about 60% during deep sleep, allowing this flushing to work more efficiently. In 2026, a human trial confirmed for the first time that normal sleep increases the clearance of these Alzheimer’s-linked proteins into the bloodstream, and that sleep deprivation blocks this process.”

There is some great research on this topic, and two groundbreaking studies in this space—one from Science and another from Science Translational Medicine—show that during this flushing process, the glymphatic system removes beta-amyloid, tau proteins and metabolic waste products, but poor sleep appears to impair the process.

Recognizing Sleep Deprivation’s Hidden Effects

One of the strangest findings in sleep research is that people who are chronically sleep deprived become poor judges of how impaired they are, according to a groundbreaking study on the topic. A person sleeping five to six hours nightly for weeks may feel adapted to the schedule, the researchers found, yet objective testing demonstrates substantial deficits in attention, memory, reaction time, decision-making and emotional regulation.

In other words, the researchers determined that one of the first things poor sleep takes away is the ability to recognize how significantly sleep deprivation affects wellbeing.

For all those reasons, sleep is a fascinating topic worthy of discussion, and we’re planning to delve into this subject. We’re establishing a cross-sector coalition to elevate sleep health as a national priority, with a focus on its connection to mental health and substance use outcomes. We’ll share more information once we finalize the details, including the partners involved in this important effort.

Is our field paying enough attention to sleep and its connection to mental wellbeing? To me, this connection is vital, because mental wellbeing is a state of thriving. It is the foundation of living a strong, healthy and fulfilling life. We believe that mental wellbeing is achievable for everyone—including individuals living with or recovering from a mental health or substance use challenge.

Please share and repost this column so others can stay informed about our work. And expect more columns on this topic because I never grow tired of talking about sleep.