Struggling to sleep because of stress? You’re not alone. Whether it’s financial worries, relationship challenges or emotional overload, stress can seriously disrupt your sleep, and poor sleep can make stress even worse.

“If you’re not sleeping well, that’s going to induce stress,” says Dr. Alex Suda, a family medicine physician with Tidelands Health Pediatrics and Adult Medicine in Pawleys Island.

Stress and sleep deprivation can lead to serious health issues, including:

• High blood pressure
• Digestive problems
• Mental confusion
• Mood disorders

“Stress is a manifestation of issues that are unique to each person,” Dr. Suda says. “You have to identify the source and whether it’s short- or long-term.”

Biologically, stress is linked to cortisol, a hormone that triggers the fight-or-flight response. Cortisol levels rise in response to perceived threats, including emotional stress, and interfere with melatonin, the hormone that helps us sleep.

The more cortisol in our system, the less melatonin can affect us. Overcoming stress to get to sleep means finding a way to reverse the cortisol-melatonin dynamic.

“Sleep hygiene and stress – they’re very much contingent on each other,” Dr. Suda says.

The good news is you can do things to reduce stress:

• Exercising regularly to boost mood and reduce cortisol
• Practicing meditation or deep breathing to calm the nervous system
• Creating a sleep-friendly environment that is cool, dark and quiet
• Avoiding alcohol. While it can be tempting to use, alcohol can actually make it harder to get to sleep.

The key is to avoid things that can exacerbate your stress. That can mean avoiding caffeine within several hours of bedtime. It can also mean removing TV screens, phones and other blue-light generators from your bedroom because the light from those devices stimulates cortisol in our brains.

“Surrounding yourself with a setting that mimics a nighttime feel, and your body will be naturally in tune with a more restful perspective,” Dr. Suda says.