Nowadays sleep disturbances have become a serious problem for many among us because of the most different reasons. On the one hand there is this sleeplessness out of joy and excitement and on the other hand there is this sleeplessness out of depression, exhaustion and extreme tiredness.
Deprivation of sleep can help to ameliorate a depressive mood and it can cause moodiness, if sleep is overdue. How comes?
It seems that there is no clear straightforward cause and effect relation. If this is your impression too, you are completely right, it is not. Even though, all kinds of sleep disturbances have a common but very complex source: a dysfunctional stress system.

The stress system is the regulatory system of our body. It guarantees survival, guarantees life. It is active at any second, at any breath we take. It is built out of the nervous system, vegetative and central, the immune system and the hormones, it intertwines the tip of our toes with a blink of our eye. It is essential and it is primed during our first weeks of life, unconsciously, beyond the reach of our own memory and beyond the influence our parents.

The stress system is keeping us in balance. A stressed stress system can induce multiple dysfunctions of which sleeplessness is only one of many symptoms - but an cause that drives our body into a shear endless loop of exhaustion at the end, regardless whether we reached this condition out out of joy or distress.

Biestmilch, I have to mention this at the end of this paragraph is an excellent stress modulator, giving us more stress resistence, a better sleep and thus more energy. Believe it or not. I know for the time being there is the majority out there not believing me one word. Therefore, I give you some other advices from roadcycling.com that may improve your quality of sleep.

Tips to better sleep

• Don’t
  try to go to sleep between 6 and 8 P.M. You’re fighting a natural
  biorhythm designed to keep you awake during this time. In the
  pre-historic era, these hours were when humans had to be on the lookout
  for predators hunting for dinner.
  
  
• Try
  to be asleep between the hours of 10 P.M to 2 A.M., another natural
  biorhythm period where our bodies are flooded with hormones that
  jumpstart the recovery process.
  
  
• Rather
  than “catch up” on your sleep by adding an hour or two to your
  nighttime shut-eye or taking the opposite position and trying to get by
  on less than 7 hours of sleep, aim to take a 30 minute siesta somewhere
  between 1 and 3 P.M. Taking a nap during this time will more
  effectively recharge your batteries than trying to nap during any other
  part of the day or adding an hour to your bedtime.
  
  
• Feeling
  sluggish and sleep-deprived in the middle of the day? Try a 20-minute
  snooze instead of trying to wake up with a heart-pumping workout. The
  energy burst from the workout will fade quickly and leave you even more
  exhausted.
  
  
• Part
  of a good night’s sleep is waking up the right way. Don’t rely on a
  loud alarm clock blasting in your ears for 5 minutes. Instead turn on
  all the lights you can immediately after your alarm snaps you out of
  dreamland. Your body’s rhythm responds to light, not sound, when it
  needs to wake up.
  
  
• Don’t
  oversleep. Going longer than 8 hours in the sack can actually start
  stressing your body. By that time, you’re dehydrated, running on no
  fuel, and usually have to go to the bathroom. All these things stress
  the body. Waking up after sleeping 10 to 12 hours will actually feel
  worse than if you’d gotten up after 7 or 8 hours in bed.
  
  
• Keep
  a water bottle bed side. If you get up mid way through the night to go
  to the bathroom, take a few swigs before going back to sleep. Come
  morning you’ll wake up less dehydrated and feel fresher.