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World Sleep Day: Why does it matter?

Updated on 15 Mar 2025

In a Nutshell

World Sleep Day highlights the importance of quality sleep and its benefits on overall wellbeing.
Sleep deprivation and sleep disorders can take a toll on your health and increase risks of hypertension, diabetes, anxiety, depression, and other health problems.
Qualified therapists can support you with mental health challenges that affect your sleep, while sleep medicine specialists can diagnose and treat underlying sleep disorders.

Society’s hustle culture, coupled with our growing reliance on screen-based technologies, has pushed many of us to sacrifice sleep to meet work demands, keep up with our social circles, or stay on top of news and trends on social media.

Meanwhile, some of us crave and try to prioritise sleep, but mental health challenges or underlying health conditions prevent us from really doing so.

World Sleep Day offers an opportunity to promote sleep health awareness. If you’re among the many people struggling to get restful sleep, this guide is here to help.

Why we celebrate World Sleep Day

Sleep is as necessary as water and food. It affects every aspect of a person’s life—everything from your mood and energy to your mental clarity, immunity against diseases, and even the risks of chronic health conditions. However, getting restful sleep can sometimes (or often) feel like a challenge.

This year’s World Sleep Day theme is to “Make Sleep Health a Priority.” It’s a reminder that we all need every day, not just for a day.

Sleep and wellbeing

Let’s dive deeper into the ways sleep affects your wellbeing and why you should make it a priority.

Cognitive health: sleep supports memory, alertness, focused attention, reasoning, decision-making, and learning
Emotional health: sleep reduces stress levels and risks of anxiety and depression; lack of sleep tends to result in emotional reactivity and dysregulation
Mental health: sleep supports mental processing and makes it easier to cope with stressors; lack of sleep tends to worsen symptoms of mental health distress and disorders
Physical health: sleep helps support your immune system, cardiovascular system, and metabolic health; it also helps with muscle recovery
Productivity: sleep helps boost workplace and academic efficacy, prevent mental fatigue, and reduce errors

Sleep deprivation vs sleep disorders

While some people intentionally stay up late (either by choice or because they feel pressured to beat a deadline), others suffer from medical conditions that disrupt their ability to maintain a regular sleep routine. Some conditions, like breathing-related sleep disorders, can also interfere with restorative rest, leaving patients feeling fatigued even after a full night’s sleep.

Let’s talk about sleep deprivation. Unlike having sleep disorders, being sleep-deprived is when you consistently don’t get enough rest by choice. This often happens due to family duties, work or academic commitments, and personal lifestyle choices. In many cases, making small adjustments (like improving time management and distributing household responsibilities) is enough to re-establish a healthy sleep routine.

On the other hand, sleep disorders are medical conditions that affect the duration and quality of your sleep. They’re often associated with other physical, emotional, and mental health issues, which can make treatments more complicated.

Some of the most common sleep disorders are:

Should I worry about sleep disorders?

As with any health condition, early detection and prompt intervention can be life-changers when dealing with sleep disorders. If you experience any of the following, it’s advisable to seek professional help as soon as possible:

difficulty falling or staying asleep
loud snoring or occasional pauses in breathing during sleep
a strong urge to move or shake your legs before or during bedtime
frequent nightmares or night terrors
waking up feeling tired, even after a full night’s rest
feeling excessively drowsy during waking hours

If sleep issues are disrupting your life, Manse Medical’s sleep specialists can assess your condition and guide you to the right treatment.

How to sleep better?

Practising simple but consistent self-care activities can have drastic effects on your sleep pattern. Here are some tips you can try:

1. Rule out sleep disorders

You’d want to rule out any sleep disorders before focusing on just self-care to improve your sleep. If you do find that you have a sleep disorder, following your doctor’s treatment plan, coupled with self-care strategies, can work wonders not just for your sleep but also for your overall wellbeing.

2. Commit to a schedule

Set a sleep and wake schedule that aligns with your daily commitments, and stick to it consistently. While occasional disruptions may happen, aim to return to your routine as soon as possible, and don’t beat yourself up if you struggle at first.

3. Limit screen time

The blue light from your devices gets in the way of your body’s melatonin production—the hormone that regulates your sleep-wake cycles. If you doom scroll before or during bedtime, you’ll likely have trouble falling asleep.

4. Avoid stimulants

Caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine have stimulating effects and can interfere with sleep. While these same substances may have a drowsiness effect on some people, they often lead to poor sleep quality, leaving you feeling unrested in the morning.

If you can't go without your daily coffee, consider switching to decaf or simply avoid caffeine at least four hours before bedtime.

5. Exercise regularly

Regular physical activities can help regulate your sleep patterns. Not only that, but exercise can also boost your mental health.

Explore exercises that make you feel good, as that might help you stay consistent. Examples are yoga, dancing, morning or evening runs, and using a treadmill. You can also mix things up to keep your workouts fun and exciting.

6. Create a calming sleep environment

A key part of good sleep hygiene is making sure your environment promotes restful sleep. You don’t have to do this in one go, but you can start with small changes like using soft, breathable bedding, dimming your lights in the evening, keeping work-related things outside of your bedroom, and ensuring proper ventilation or air conditioning.

7. Work with a therapist to heal disruptive patterns

Difficulty sleeping is often a sign of stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues. If you want to develop healthier patterns and coping strategies—or you simply want to understand why you think, feel, or behave the way you do—a therapist can guide you.

Sleep better, live happier

Good quality sleep isn't a luxury. It’s a basic need that supports your overall health.

World Sleep Day is a reminder to listen to your body, prioritise rest, and ensure healthy sleep habits so you can be at your best for the people and activities you love.

If you need expert support, don’t hesitate to consult a therapist or a sleep specialist.