Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Jul 19, 2025; 15(7): 105086
Published online Jul 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i7.105086
Interconnected struggles: How insomnia, anxiety, and depression impact mental health
Wen-Jie Yang, Yong-Juan Xin
Wen-Jie Yang, School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan Province, China
Yong-Juan Xin, Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Xin YJ and Yang WJ conceptualized and designed the research; Yang WJ performed the literature search and wrote the original manuscript; Xin YJ edited the final manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare no conflict of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yong-Juan Xin, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, No. 100 Kexue Road, Gaoxin District, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan Province, China. yjxin@zzu.edu.cn
Received: January 11, 2025
Revised: March 17, 2025
Accepted: May 8, 2025
Published online: July 19, 2025
Processing time: 180 Days and 15.2 Hours
Abstract

Insomnia, anxiety, and depression have emerged as significant public mental health concerns, particularly during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Early recognition and intervention, addressing COVID-19's health effects before diverse symptoms appear, will expedite recovery and significantly enhance public mental health. Li et al conducted a cross-sectional online survey to assess neuroticism, cognitive function, insomnia, and emotional disorders in adult participants, examining how these factors correlate with mental health. The study revealed that a substantial number of participants reported experiencing varying degrees of anxiety, depression, and insomnia, most of which were classified as mild. Neuroticism was found closely associated with cognitive failure and poor mental health. Furthermore, moderated mediation analysis indicated that cognitive failure mediated the relationship between insomnia and anxiety and depression, whereas neuroticism moderated the pathway. These findings suggest that improving the subjective cognitive function and emotional stability can significantly improve mental health. However, this study has several limitations, including a limited sample size, cross-sectional design, and a focus on behavioral-level data. Future research should broaden its scope to include multiple hospitals at various levels to enhance the representativeness of the study population, adopt longitudinal designs, and integrate advanced technologies such as neuroimaging to explore the neural mechanisms underlying these conditions.

Keywords: Insomnia; Anxiety; Depression; Cognitive failures; Neuroticism

Core Tip: Insomnia, anxiety, and depression have become significant public mental health concerns, particularly after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the relationships among these conditions remain unclear, and the pandemic's impact on them is still uncertain. This editorial comments on an article from the World Journal of Psychiatry, which examined a cross-sectional online survey of adult participants to assess levels of neuroticism, cognitive function, insomnia, and emotional disorders, and explored the correlations between these factors and mental health. The editorial highlights the interconnections among insomnia, anxiety, and depression, their underlying factors, and the mediating roles of cognitive failures and neuroticism. It also reviews the strengths and limitations of the study and advocates for considering the effects of COVID-19 when treating these mental health conditions.