Nearly one third of people experience sleep disturbances.
And, about 23% of adults experience mental health illness.
These high percentages mean that both sleep and mental health are global, public health challenges in their own right.
However, emerging research suggests we should not think of these challenges separately. They are more intertwined than we realize. Sleep difficulties aren’t just a sign of mental health challenges, sleep problems can contribute to mental health problems. But, then the inverse is also true: when we improve a person's sleep, we can improve their mental health.
What this means for OT is profound:
This means sleep interventions are one of the most powerful tools we have to impact mental health.
Today, we will zoom in on one diagnosis: anxiety.
We’ll get deep into the biology of how sleep and anxiety are intertwined. And, the interventions (that are in your OT-wheel house) to improve both.
To help us make sense of how profound the impact of sleep is on health—and, how potentially profound it would be for OT to tackle this essential ADL— we will welcome to the podcast, Dr. Amanda Carroll, an OT sleep researcher, who also runs a sleep private practice in Montana.
You can find more details on this course here:
https://otpotential.com/ceu-podcast-courses/sleep-mental-health-and-ot