What is the effect of chronic stress on sleep?

Chronic stress can significantly impact sleep patterns, often leading to insomnia and other sleep disruptions. When a person experiences ongoing stress, the body's fight-or-flight response is activated, resulting in the release of stress hormones like cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels can interfere with the body's natural sleep cycle, making it challenging to fall asleep or stay asleep throughout the night. This disruption can lead to a decrease in total sleep time, an inability to achieve restorative deep sleep, and fragmented sleep, which ultimately affects overall sleep quality.

In contrast, options that suggest chronic stress would promote deep sleep, enhance sleep quality, or improve REM sleep duration do not align with the established effects of stress on the body. Chronic stress typically leads to negative outcomes in sleep health rather than improvements. Therefore, the answer accurately reflects the common consequences of sustained stress on sleep patterns.