Stress can cause sleep problems by making it difficult for you to fall asleep and to stay asleep, and therefore affecting the quality of your sleep.
It also causes hyper-arousal, which can upset the balance between sleep and wakefulness.
Problems at work, death of a loved one, family or financial problems and other difficulties can interfere with healthy sleep.
If you have trouble sleeping which continues several weeks, it is probable that you have insomnia.
Stress is the body's reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response.
It will affect your ability to sleep and concentrate.
It can also increases the risk of accidents and illness.
Stress and other emotional factors can clearly play a large role in you having difficulty turning your brain off at night.
During a stress response, the hypothalamus secretes various hormones which stimulate the body's pituitary gland and initiates a stress response also known as the "fight or flight" response.
This response is activated in case of an emergency.
Stress pushes the body to its limits and causes tension.
When there is a sudden emergency the body's stress response is very important.
Stress responses are becoming more and more a part of this fast moving world.
Unfortunately, this response is often in appropriate for your day to day circumstances.
Your stress response is inappropriate for ongoing stress and you need to learn to manage it.
If you do not manage it, your body will develop health problems including insomnia.
Your body's response to stress, and other bodily functions, including appetite, sleep, and body temperature are controlled by the parts of your brain known as your thalamus and your hypothalamus, and using two different parts of your nervous system, the sympathetic and parasympathetic.
Your sympathetic nervous system controls your stress "fight or flight" response.
Your parasympathetic system controls your regular functions such as appetite, sleep, digestion and more.
What is important to understand, is that your stress response and your normal body functions cannot happen at the same time.
If you are stressed when you go to bed, you will find it very difficult, and often impossible, to fall asleep.
If your body is stressed, it will be working to protect your body from the perceived danger.
It is not able to fall asleep at the same time.
Your ability to fall asleep relies on your ability to change from a sympathetic response to a parasympathetic one, so that your body is able to relax, settle, and go to sleep as your body recognizes that it is safe to do so.
Sleep is a positive action of your brain, not an absence of mental activity.
It must by now be clear to you that reducing stress is an important part of overcoming your sleep problems.
This needs to be short term, as you go to bed, and long term, in your every day life.
In the short term, create a relaxing bed time, and go to bed with an attitude of calm and positivity.
Even if you can't fall asleep, relax your body, and ignore the mind chatter.
Dwell on something you find restful, and appreciate the opportunity to rest in a warm, comfortable bed.
In the long term, take some time to do a review on what is happening to bring stress into your life.
Make some changes, look at what is bringing you stress and why, review your priorities, and practice stress reduction techniques, such as yoga, meditation, or deep relaxation.