Sleep Importance

Every night when you go to sleep, your brain gets a little vacation from all the thinking you do all day.

While you’re sleeping, your body gets busy.

It grows and repairs cells.

It figures out new pathways in the brain for learning, remembering, and processing information.

And best of all, it rebuilds your energy.

Getting enough sleep also helps protect you from all the bugs going around and from more serious health problems, like getting heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes.

And that’s why getting good sleep is so important.

Now, even though our bodies work best with good sleep, they're amazingly tough.

So, if you have a few sleepless nights, don't worry.

But if it continues, it may be caused by a sleep disorder, like insomnia.

And a long-term sleep problem can have serious effects on your health, your mood, your relationships, how well you function at school or work, and more.

If the normal stuff—like avoiding caffeine before bed, shutting off devices at least a half hour before you try to sleep, and turning off the lights—isn’t working, it may be time to talk to your doctor about how to get a better night’s sleep.