Understanding the Link Between Sleep and Mental Health

Over the last decade, there has been growing interest and important developments our understanding of the bi-directional relationship between sleep and mental health problems. These advances have been fostered by improvements in the research techniques and the need to better understand the field in order to achieve our mission to live healthy lives on a healthy planet. Traditionally, issues with sleep have been regarded as a secondary symptom and consequence of mental health problems. Recently, an increasing body of evidence illustrates that lack of sleep, lower quality of sleep, and sleep disturbances play an active role in the onset, maintenance, and direction of mental health problems.

Whilst the community can be proud of major advances, there is still a long way to go. In this Research Topic, we encourage researchers to summarize the state-of-the-art developments and the main challenges in the understanding of the impact sleep has on the maintenance and exacerbation of emotional and cognitive symptoms in individuals with mental health problems. This article collection will also welcome studies investigating the underlying mechanisms of how sleep affects these emotional and cognitive symptoms. We also welcome contributions that look into the future and define the directions that the field will take in the coming years