The Power of Perception: How Believing in a Good Night's Sleep Affects Your Mood

A new study published in Cortex suggests that high-quality sleep and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies can promote resilience to depression and anxiety in the face of chronic stress. Researchers analyzed data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that individuals who used adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and had better sleep quality reported lower levels of depression and anxiety. While both factors independently supported mental health resilience, there was no synergistic influence between them. The study highlights the importance of positive coping strategies and good sleep quality in reducing mental health problems during stressful situations. However, the study's findings are limited by the reliance on subjective reports and the lack of socio-demographic diversity in the sample.