Anxiety And Sleep Quality

3877 Words16 Pages
Sleep is a basic human necessity and one that is usually taken for granted. A large volume of research has been conducted on the importance of sleep for the optimal functioning in all areas of human life including, social, cognitive, physical, emotional, etc (Kajimura, 1998; Bieling, Antony and Swinson, 1998; Afkham-ebrahimi, Rasoulian, Taherifar and Zare, 2010; Gadberry, 2011). Contrary to popular belief, sleep is an active state and lack of quality sleep can have drastic consequences on one’s overall functioning (Afkham-Ebrahimi et. al, 2010). Pilcher, Ginter and Sadowsky (1997) found that sleep quality was more important than sleep quantity, implying that there is no set amount of sleep that is adequate but rather, it is essential to ensure the sleep you get is of a certain quality. Anxiety is defined as apprehension over an anticipated problem. Anxiety should be differentiated from fear as fear tends to be about a threat that is happening now while anxiety on the other hand tends to be caused by a perceived future threat (Kring, Johnson, Davison and Neale, 2010). Research indicates that anxiety harms the human body and may contribute significantly to coronary heart disease ( Gadberry, 2011). Anxiety is made up of two components; Trait anxiety and State anxiety. Each with its own distinguished aspects (Speilberger, 1989; Beiling, Antony, and Swinson, 1998). State anxiety is defined as the apprehension or tension one is experiencing in the present moment as opposed to it being a more permanent personality trait (Gadberry, 2011). Complaints about sleep quality are common in society with Buysse, Reynolds, Monk, Berman and Kupfer (1988) estimating the figure to be between 15-35% of adults. The main problems reported being frequent sleep quality disturbances; difficulty falling asleep and difficulty falling asleep. Sleep quality includes quantitative aspects of
Open Document