The Deep Connection Between Sleep and Mental Health: Why It Matters for Marginalized Communities
Rest Is Resistance: The Crucial Link Between Sleep and Mental Health — And Why Equity Matters
Sleep is one of the most essential pillars of physical and mental health. It regulates mood, supports memory, helps us manage stress, and is crucial for emotional resilience. Yet, in the conversation about mental health, sleep is often overlooked. Even more overlooked is how deeply systemic inequities affect who gets to rest — and who doesn’t.
Across race, gender, and sexuality, the ability to sleep well is not just a personal issue — it’s a public health and social justice concern. Let’s unpack why sleep matters, how inequality shows up in our rest, and how we can take steps to reclaim restorative sleep.
Why Sleep Matters for Mental Health
When we sleep, our brains go into recovery mode. Emotional experiences are processed, stress hormones like cortisol decrease, and the nervous system recalibrates. A lack of sleep can increase irritability, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and even make existing mental health conditions harder to manage.
Chronic sleep deprivation is linked with:
Increased risk of depression and anxiety
Heightened emotional reactivity
Poor concentration and memory
Impaired judgment and decision-making
Increased risk of suicidal ideation
Despite how fundamental rest is to our wellbeing, not everyone gets equal access to it.
Racial Disparities in Sleep: The Rest Gap
Black Americans, on average, get significantly less sleep than white Americans. Studies have consistently shown that Black individuals are more likely to experience:
Short sleep duration (less than 6 hours per night)
Lower sleep quality
Greater sleep disturbances
This disparity is not simply due to personal habits — it’s tied to structural racism and systemic stress. Factors like neighborhood noise, over-policing, shift work, environmental injustice, and the cumulative toll of racism (known as weathering) contribute to chronic stress and disrupted sleep.
Dr. Monique Morris coined the term “rest is resistance,” underscoring that for Black communities, rest is not only self-care but a radical act of reclaiming humanity in the face of exploitation and exhaustion.
Queer and Trans People and Sleep Disruption
Queer and trans folks also face unique sleep challenges. Research suggests that LGBTQ+ individuals experience higher rates of insomnia, nightmares, and sleep disturbances all of which are linked to:
Minority stress and hypervigilance
Family rejection or unsafe living conditions
Hormone therapy and its impact on sleep cycles
Anxiety or trauma related to gender dysphoria and discrimination
For trans individuals, disrupted sleep may also be tied to the mismatch between their gender identity and their sleeping arrangements, or physical discomfort due to binding, tucking, or hormone-related changes.
Like racial disparities in sleep, these challenges are not inherent to queer or trans identity they are byproducts of living in a society that too often marginalizes and stigmatizes them.
Tips to Improve Sleep and Promote Rest
While structural change is essential to closing the sleep equity gap, there are also personal practices that can help improve sleep quality. These practices are not a fix for systemic issues, but they can offer relief and resilience:
1. Create a Sleep Ritual
Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on weekends. A consistent rhythm helps regulate your internal clock.
2. Set the Scene
Make your sleeping environment as restful as possible: low light, comfortable bedding, cool temperature, and minimal noise. Use earplugs, blackout curtains, or white noise if needed.
3. Unplug to Wind Down
Limit screen time at least 30–60 minutes before bed. The blue light from devices can interfere with melatonin, the hormone that helps you fall asleep.
4. Mind the Mind
Try journaling before bed to release racing thoughts. Practices like meditation, yoga nidra, or deep breathing can help soothe your nervous system.
5. Limit Stimulants
Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and heavy meals close to bedtime. Alcohol might make you sleepy, but it often disrupts deeper sleep cycles.
6. Affirm Your Right to Rest
Especially for marginalized folks, internalized pressure to keep going can make rest feel unsafe or unearned. Affirmations like “I deserve to rest” or “My rest is powerful” can help counter this narrative.
Sleep as Self-Liberation
Sleep is not a luxury, it’s a biological and spiritual necessity. For people navigating systems of oppression, reclaiming rest can be part of healing and liberation. It’s a way to say: My wellbeing matters. My body is worthy of care. I do not need to burn out to prove my value.
As we advocate for better mental health for all, we must also fight for conditions that make true rest possible; safe housing, livable wages, inclusive healthcare, and communities free from violence and discrimination.
Until then, we rest where we can. Because rest is more than sleep it is resistance, recovery, and radical self-love.