Quality Sleep and Good Mental Health: It’s Symbiotic

Quality Sleep and Good Mental Health: It’s Symbiotic

A man sitting on a bed in a dimly lit room, struggling to get to sleep.

Improve Mental Health by Reducing Sleep Apnea Symptoms

Every May, Mental Health Awareness Month prompts us to consider the many factors that impact mental health, including the importance of getting a good night’s sleep. While several sleep-related disorders exist, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) stands out as a nighttime condition with serious daytime consequences, often manifesting as mental health challenges.

OSA is a sleep disorder marked by repeated pauses in breathing due to relaxed airway muscles that narrow the airway. This drop in airflow lowers blood oxygen levels, causing the person to briefly wake up to resume breathing.

The Mental Health Impact of Sleep Apnea

When we sleep, our brains work to regulate our emotions and consolidate memories, and our bodies work to repair tissues and build bones. Sleep interruptions of any kind, especially ongoing sleep disturbances, impact mental health in the following ways:

  • Poor mood regulation: Healthy emotional regulation, or the ability to process emotions and stressors, depends greatly on getting quality sleep every night. Experts suggest at least seven hours of sleep each night.1
  • Less emotional resilience: Through its role in regulating hormones, particularly cortisol (the stress hormone), sleep keeps stress and anxiety in check.2 This makes us emotionally resilient, or capable of coping with life’s ups and downs. Without it, we have a harder time withstanding stress, maintaining optimism, and learning from experiences.
  • Impaired cognitive function: Lack of sleep impacts thinking, concentration, and problem-solving abilities. Not only do these challenges make daily life more difficult, but the feelings of frustration and low self-esteem that arise as a result of not being able to think clearly can increase anxiety, further degrading mental health.3

Treating Sleep Apnea to Improve Mental Health

Sleep apnea symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, and pauses in breathing during sleep. If you think you may have sleep apnea that’s causing or contributing to mental health issues, consider visiting a healthcare provider for an initial consultation.4 They may suggest testing to confirm a sleep apnea diagnosis, such as a polysomnogram or at-home sleep apnea testing.5,6 From there, they’ll work with you to identify the best treatment approach.

AIRLIFT® hyoid suspension, in particular, offers a minimally invasive, well-tolerated approach to treating sleep apnea. It uses a suture suspension system to lift and stabilize the hyoid bone, tongue base and surrounding airway structures, reducing airway collapse to provide relief from sleep apnea symptoms.7 Performed in as little as 30 minutes and covered by most insurance, AIRLIFT can be the treatment you need to get a good night’s sleep and get your mental health on track.

How AIRLIFT Promotes Quality Sleep

  • Begins working right away: Most patients experience results quickly, giving them the deep and high-quality sleep they need to function properly day-to-day and maintain healthy mental hygiene.
  • Provides relief from sleep apnea symptoms: AIRLIFT can stop the airway obstructions that may be waking you up repeatedly at night, including snoring or gasping for air.
  • Works long-term: Getting a good night’s sleep consistently – including the seven to eight hours experts recommend – will help build the long-term mood regulation and emotional resilience you need to thrive in life.
  • Does not require a machine, mask, or oral appliance: If the CPAP machine or other oral sleep apnea appliances have made sleep uncomfortable, you will enjoy the “no hassle” approach of AIRLIFT’s simple design.
  • Has a short post-operative recovery: If lack of sleep has been plaguing you for a while, you will appreciate the short recovery period most patients experience with AIRLIFT. Quality sleep won’t be far away.

Sleep apnea can have an enormous negative impact on mental health, and it’s better to address it sooner versus later. Ignoring mental health issues can lead to a greater decline in both physical and mental well-being over time. The immediate results and long-term benefits patients experience with AIRLIFT helps improve sleep quality which has been shown to boost mental health.

Get started today by finding an AIRLIFT provider near you.

Sources

  1. Noyed D. How to Get More REM Sleep. Sleep Foundation. Published January 21, 2022. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/stages-of-sleep/how-to-get-more-rem-sleep
  2. Banner Health. Stress – How Sleep Can Affect Stress Levels | Banner Health. www.bannerhealth.com. Published February 28, 2019. https://www.bannerhealth.com/healthcareblog/teach-me/how-sleep-can-affect-stress
  3. Llewellyn DJ, Lang IA, Langa KM, Huppert FA. Cognitive function and psychological well-being: findings from a population-based cohort. Age and Ageing. 2008;37(6):685-689. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afn194
  4. Cleveland Clinic. Sleep Apnea. Cleveland Clinic. Published March 3, 2020. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/8718-sleep-apnea
  5. Mayo Clinic. Polysomnography (sleep study) – Mayo Clinic. Mayoclinic.org. Published 2018. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/polysomnography/about/pac-20394877
  6. Home sleep apnea test simplifies diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea – Mayo Clinic. Mayoclinic.org. Published 2025. Accessed April 30, 2025. https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/pulmonary-medicine/news/home-sleep-apnea-test-simplifies-diagnosing-obstructive-sleep-apnea/mac-20483343
  7. AIRLIFT Hyoid Suspension| Sleep Apnea Treatment | Hyoid Suspension. AIRLIFT. https://www.siestamedical.com/airlift-tm

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