What happens when we sleep?
Sleep allows our bodies to carry out functions that are vital for our physical and mental wellbeing.
Sleep isn’t just rest – it’s essential for keeping your mind and body in top shape. While you’re sleeping, your body and brain are hard at work doing all sorts of important jobs. Here’s how a good night’s sleep helps you feel at your best:
Benefits of good sleep
Cell growth and repair
Sleep gives your body time to heal and grow. New cells are built, old ones repaired, and your immune system gets a boost – all helping you stay strong and healthy.
Boosts memory
While you sleep, your brain gets busy sorting through everything you’ve learned, moving memories from short-term to long-term storage. Great for growing minds and anyone revising for exams!
Helps us switch off
After a busy day, sleep gives your brain a break; a chance to step away from screens, worries and information overload.
Supports healthy eating
Struggling with cravings? Poor sleep can mess with the hormones that control hunger, making you more likely to reach for sugary or carb-heavy snacks. Rest well to help your body balance its appetite.
Improves focus
When you’re well-rested, you concentrate better, think more clearly, and make safer decisions; whether you’re at work, studying or behind the wheel.
Lifts our mood
A good sleep can work wonders for your mood. You are more likely to wake up feeling positive, better able to cope, and ready to take on the day.
Better social connections
Sleep helps you keep your emotions in check, react calmly, and enjoy spending time with others – all key for healthy relationships.
More energy
Simply put, sleep recharges you. When you sleep well, you have more energy to enjoy the things you love during the day.
For children and young people, this means:
- Healthy growth
- Positive mood and sociability
- Better mental health
- Doing better at school
- Enjoying life
- Improved immunity and better recovery from illness
- Healthy weight
For parents and carers
It’s also important to be aware of how a lack of sleep can affect your own mental and physical wellbeing
Look out for changes in mood and concentration, or raised levels of anxiety or depression, and remember that driving when sleep deprived can be as dangerous as driving when drunk.
