What your sleeping position reveals about your mental health

Some TikTok creators claim that certain sleeping positions, like “mountain climber” or “flamingo,” indicate stress or high emotional tension.

Although this sounds compelling, there is little scientific support for this idea.

Does your sleeping position mean anything?

Bruce Tammelin, MD, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Providence St. Joseph Hospital, told Verywell that research on sleep position is limited, noting that the most cited article dates back to the 1970s.

Current research instead focuses on sleep quality and its link to physical and mental health. A study found that sleeping on your side can help the brain eliminate waste, reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Yet experts say the strongest link is between stress and sleep: Each can make the other worse, no matter how you sleep.

How Does Stress Affect Your Sleep?

When you’re stressed, your body responds by activating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which releases cortisol, a hormone essential in managing your body’s response to stress.

In addition to controlling our sleep-wake cycle, cortisol helps us regulate our metabolism and reduce inflammation. Prolonged high cortisol levels or chronic stress can disrupt these processes, leading to inflammation, chronic pain, depression, and even the progression of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Cortisol levels are thought to slowly decrease throughout the day. When high cortisol levels persist into the evening, this hormonal imbalance interferes with the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps your body sleep well. Over time, these high cortisol levels can lead to sleep disorders like insomnia and exacerbate anxiety and depression.

This creates an unhealthy cycle in which stress leads to poor sleep, amplifying stress and making sleep even more difficult.

“If you’re not getting highly efficient, unfragmented sleep, you may suffer from anxiety or depression,” Tammelin said. However, patients who receive treatment for their sleep problems often also see significant improvements in their mental health.

Studies have shown that many sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, insomnia, narcolepsy, daytime sleepiness, and nightmares, are more common in people with mental health problems.

Neurodivergent people, especially those with ADHD, often face even greater difficulty getting quality sleep due to low melatonin levels at night, sensory issues, or a more active nervous system.

How to reduce stress before bed

Certain nighttime behaviors, like grinding your teeth and covering your ears during sleep, may indicate nervous system activation, but they don’t necessarily reflect your daytime stress levels, Kyoungbin K. Im, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist specializing in sleep medicine and associate professor at UC Irvine, told Verywell.

These may in fact be activations or reactions to the physical stress of the moment. However, certain sleep disorders, such as sleepwalking, night terrors and other movement-related disorders, are commonly seen in people under a lot of stress, Im said.

If stress is interfering with your sleep, establishing a bedtime routine and incorporating relaxation techniques before bed can help signal your body that it’s time to relax.

Here are some ways to help your body get the rest it needs:

• Keep work and daytime activities out of the bedroom
• Avoid anything stimulating within three hours of bedtime
• Practice progressive muscle relaxation before bed

With these simple modifications, you can create a more restorative sleep environment and allow your body and space to rest and recover.