Depression and sleep problems are closely linked. In fact, people with insomnia may have a tenfold higher risk of developing depression than people who get a good night’s sleep. Among people with depression, 75 percent have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep.
One study found that women who experienced insomnia were 81 percent more likely to develop depression over the course of four years than women who slept well. And another study found that people with insomnia had twice as much anxiety as those who didn’t experience sleep problems—and 20 percent more depression too!
In fact, around 75 percent of people with insomnia have some type of depressive symptoms at some point in their lives. This is likely because chronic sleep loss can affect your mood in ways you might not realize—it might leave you feeling irritable and anxious, or even depressed. It’s important to note that if you experience these symptoms while trying to fall asleep or stay asleep—even if they seem like a normal part of being tired during the day—you should talk to your doctor about getting treatment for depression.
Johns Hopkins sleep researcher Patrick H. Finan, Ph.D., says that either one—poor sleep or depression—can be the starting point. He explains that “in order to regulate emotions, you have to have enough slow-wave sleep each night. If a person doesn’t get enough slow-wave sleep, then his or her mood can fluctuate in an unpredictable way that leaves him or her more vulnerable to depression in the future—months or even years from now. And depression itself is associated with sleep difficulties such as shortening the amount of restorative slow-wave sleep a person gets each night.”
If you have depression, daily stresses—such as financial worries, an argument with your spouse, or a jam-packed evening commute—could also lead to more nighttime wake-ups and more trouble getting back to sleep than someone without depression would experience.
The reason for this is that stress can cause you to become more anxious about going back to sleep. Once you feel anxious about going back to sleep, it’s likely that your body will react by making you even more anxious by kicking off the stress response in your body. This then makes it difficult for your body to relax enough so that you get back into deep sleep again.
In other words: If you’re having trouble falling asleep because of daily stresses in your life, try taking steps to reduce those stresses or manage them better so that they don’t cause problems in the first place!
In this article, we will explore the relationship between insomnia and depression. If you are experiencing both, you may be at risk for developing clinical depression and should seek help as soon as possible.
Depression and insomnia are closely linked. It’s important for people with depression to get the right treatment and find a healthy way of sleeping, as well as to understand the relationship between the two. Here’s what you need to know about depression and sleep:
1. Depression can cause sleep disturbances.
2. Insomnia is often a sign of depression.
3. Insomnia may worsen depression symptoms for some people who are depressed anyway.
4. Insomnia can also worsen depression symptoms for some people who have no history of mental illness or mood disorder before their insomnia began causing problems in their lives (this is called “insomnia comorbidity”).
Be aware of signs of depression.
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s important to get help right away.
These include feeling hopeless, helpless, or sad; trouble concentrating and remembering things; loss of energy; daytime sleepiness; loss of interest in activities that once gave you pleasure; or thoughts of suicide or death. Tell your doctor if you have any of these. (Call 911 if you have thoughts of suicide.)
DreamWork can help with these symptoms by providing a safe, supportive environment for your mental health. Our programs are specifically designed to help with anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders in adults who are experiencing these kinds of symptoms for the first time. We also provide education about how our programs work so that participants can better understand the program and their treatment plan at each step along the way.
Get help for both depression and sleep.
Treatments for insomnia and depression should not be assumed to automatically cure one another. For instance, medications used to treat depression may improve your mood and outlook, but they may not be enough to improve your sleep.
In fact, some studies seem to show that there is some overlap in the symptoms of insomnia and depression. For example, people with both conditions report feeling tired or worn out all the time and having difficulty sleeping. In addition, several studies have shown that people who suffer from both conditions also report having similar symptoms of sadness or feelings of worthlessness.
However, there are differences between these two conditions: while an insomnia diagnosis tends to be associated with a person’s ability to fall asleep quickly at night (or even being unable to fall asleep at all), depression is often associated with feelings of sadness or worthlessness during the day (or even a feeling that life isn’t worth living).
There is some evidence that the sleep problems that frequently occur in people with depression may reduce the chance of full remission. The good news: Early studies suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) along with antidepressant treatment can improve sleep disorders in patients with depression and increase the chances of remission. Contact us for help.
