Relationship Between Insomnia And Depression Disclosed!

Insomnia and depression go hand in hand.

Disturbed sleep is the characteristic of depression.

80% of people with depression are experiencing insomnia that is a difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.

Another symptom of depression is early morning awakenings. 15% of depressed people sleep excessively.

Insomnia is more than a symptom of depression and it unleashes the mood disorder.

Insomnia is an early warning sign of depression. Disturbed sleep actually bring on depression, setting in motion an array of forces in the nervous system that result ultimately in a depressive mode.

If you treat insomnia, it can delay the first episode of depression or at least keep it from becoming chronic. It is not only that depressed people wake up early and get less sleep.

The make up of their sleep is shattered. Normally, four to five times a night you cycle through periods of deep, relaxing sleep, marked by slow waves if the brain is monitored electronically.

Then you burst into dream sleep, marked by brain activity and rapid eye movements. People who are depressed fall quickly into REM sleep. The duration and intensity are unusual, intense and long lasting.

REM sleep is involved with affective or emotional memory. The intense activation of REM sleep in the depressed people can lead to the over consolidation of negative memory, making the depressed people overly prone to remember painful feelings and events.

Extended wakefulness improves the functioning of the serotonin neurotransmitter system which is one of the brain chemical systems that goes awry in depression. It also strengthens up the release of dopamine, another neurotransmitter that is linked to depression.

The stress system of depressed people appears to be in a chronically active mode and insomnia can reduce the hyper-arousal of the body and brain created by the stress response. Once insomnia attack occurs, you will experience frustration and anxiety about staying asleep and falling asleep.

You compensate the sleep loss by napping during the day or early evening. You go to bed early the next night. You even stay in bed later in the morning. You take alcohol as a way to relax yourself into sleep. But, these behaviors alter your sleep mechanism and end with insomnia.

Insomnia can lead to irritability, memory problems, concentration problems, fatigue, and loss of interest in social activities. The fatigue makes your functioning difficult.

Insomnia becomes depression. Depression is secondary to insomnia. Sleep loss disrupts the brain and serves as a stressor and makes people neurologically susceptible to depression. [Depression and Stress]

Elderly people with insomnia are six times more likely to experience initial episodes of depression.

People most at risk of first time depression are patients with severe middle insomnia where patients wake up frequently during the night, but eventually fall back to sleep each time. This type of sleep pattern is experienced nearly by everyone at some stage.

Even in severe depressive episodes, behavior treatment targeted specifically at insomnia can hurry up the recovery. Cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia is a standard treatment of depression.