Sleep Helps Ease Effects of Trauma

The results from a recent animal study showed that rats that increased sleep time following a traumatic experience were less likely to develop ongoing fear symptoms than rats that either maintained their sleep schedule or slept less. Lead author Dr. William Vanderheyden concludes, “Basically, our study has found that if you can improve sleep, you can improve function… This highlights that there is a time-sensitive window when—if you intervene to improve sleep— you could potentially stave off the negative effects of trauma.” Scientific Reports, October 2020