It’s important to understand the relationship between the adolescent brain and sleep disruption. Research has shown that suicidal planning, ideation and attempts is increased amongst teens that have disrupted sleep patterns.
Why Disrupted Sleep Patterns link to Higher Suicidal Rates in Teens:
Adolescents and teenagers are already in a developmentally chaotic time. They can be moody, and hard to manage and they also find themselves hard to manage too. It’s an already hormonally chaotic time without the added layer of a lack of sleep.
When there is a lack of sleep in an adolescent’s brain, it doesn’t pull the brain and mind into a negative mood space and hold them there. That’s not what happens even though it may look that way. Your adolescent will struggle more with the fluctuations of mood swings as a result of it. So the erraticness of their brains and moods, and their inability to feel calm within their own body is what causes the struggle in terms of starting to go down the path of hurting themselves.
This article is not intended to scare you. It does not mean that your teen is going to be feel suicidal if they had one night of bad sleep. It’s intended to help you understand that the research is pointing to the fact that a lack of sleep or disrupted sleep patterns amongst adolescents is linked to suicidal ideation, planning, and completion.
Why It Is Important To Have These Conversations:
The more sleep our adolescents get, the healthier their brains are and development is. They will also struggle less with the valence of mood swinging between positive and negative. Speak to your teenagers about the value of a healthy sleep routine. What that actually looks like, and what the value is to them of going to bed and waking up at similar timings each night and morning. The more you can role model this for them, the easier it will be for them to do the same.
Talk to someone now. If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the Lifeline network is available 24/7 across the United States.
