Sleep Is A Superpower: Deepika Padukone's Message to Students To Navigate Mental Health

Deepika Padukone says you need to prioritise sleep to keep your mental health regulated. Speaking with the exam warriors as part of Pariksha Pe Charcha 2025, Padukone, who battled depression in 2014, talked about the importance of sound mental health for students.

“First and foremost, sleep should be prioritised. It is a superpower that comes for free. Next, start your day with adequate sunlight, and most importantly, always reach out for help,” she said. Deepika further said that depression, anxiety, and stress can happen to anyone at any time, but it is important to express and not suppress. It makes a whole lot of difference.

According to experts, sleep is an altered state of consciousness where you have limited interactions with the surroundings and are relatively quiet and still. Contrary to our quiet physical state, the brain is very active during sleep, carrying out many important functions. So, it is important to get regulated sleep every night as it affects your physical and mental functioning the next day and your ability to fight disease and develop immunity, apart from regulating metabolism and chronic disease risk.

Sleep is equally important for young children and their mental health, as not sleeping or poor quality sleep can be associated with difficult behaviours, a lower capacity to learn and retain information, and a propensity for poor eating patterns and weight gain.

According to studies, even one night of sleep deprivation dramatically affects mood the next day. Chronic exposure to poor sleep quality is associated with depression and anxiety. Doctors say there are also bidirectional associations, which means that experiencing anxiety and depression very often affects sleep, which then impacts our ability to cope with the anxiety and depression, and so on.

Regulated sleep affects your mental health in ways like:

Uninterrupted sleep forms new pathways in the brain to help you learn and remember information.

Sleep helps you pay attention, make decisions, and be creative.

Sleep lets you get control over your emotions and behaviour.

Sleep helps you cope with the change around you.

Sleep helps you get along with others.

Practicing good sleep habits can help improve your sleeping patterns. These may include not eating before bed, not looking at your smart devices before bedtime, or exercising in the evening. A few ways to fix your sleep schedule include:

One of the best ways to fix your sleep schedule is to plan your exposure to light. When you are exposed to light, your brain stops producing melatonin, the sleep hormone. This makes you feel awake and alert.

If your sleep schedule is off, consider avoiding naps during the day, especially in the afternoon. Napping during the daytime can make it difficult to go back to sleep at night. Long naps might also cause grogginess, resulting from waking up from deep sleep.

Apart from the general health benefits of exercising, studies say regular exercise also helps you sleep better. One way to reset your internal clock is to get regular exercise.

Most of your bodily tissue, including skeletal muscle, is linked to your biological clock. So when you work out, the muscle responds by aligning your circadian rhythm.

One of the best ways to regulate your sleep is by following healthy eating tips like:

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