Stress and Sleep in Addictive Behavior and Application of Yoga-based Interventions: A Short Narrative Review

Abstract

Individuals who attempt to change their addictive behaviour frequently undergo relapse. There is substantial evidence that stress and sleep plays a crucial role in the relapse. The stressful situation and poor sleep quality represent a risk factor that may play a critical role in predicting individuals' success in abstaining. Diagnosing and treating stress and sleep disorders will have a significant impact on the management of addictive behaviour. The extents of impairments are at biopsychosocial-spiritual levels. Therefore, it needs to be recognized and addressed in an individual at the physical, psychological, social and spiritual levels. Recent studies have shown yoga as a promising complementary therapy for treating and preventing addictive behaviours at biopsychosocial-spiritual levels. Yoga may work on addictive behaviour through down-regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and bringing a state of parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) dominance.