How Sleep And Depression Are Related?

Depression is a disorder described by sadness or having unhappiness.

Everyone in their life feels depressed from time to time.

But for some people, the depression continues and cannot lead a normal life.

If you have depression, you may experience symptoms such as short of energy, feeling desperate or useless, you may feel nervous, sad, or irritable, your concentration may be decreased, you may lose interest in things which you have enjoyed before, changes in appetite which changes your weight, your decision taking may become difficult, and you may have increase or decrease in the need of sleep.

If you are facing more than four or five problems, then you must consult a specialist and explain about your problems. If you have difficulty in falling asleep or insomnia, then it is the symptom of depression.

Poor sleep is not the only cause for depression but it plays a major role in depression. Difficulty falling asleep for long period of time is an important sign that you may be depressed.

The causes of depression include chemical disproportions in the brain, family history with mental disorders, stress, medications, physical disorders, no support from family, relatives or friends, drug abuse, or alcohol.

People with depression may have many sleep problems. The problems include:

• Difficulty falling asleep as you may have different thoughts in your mind while going to bed.
• You may wake up early morning and cannot go back to sleep again.
• You may wake up frequently in the night.
• You may get quantity of sleep but quality reduced.
• You may sleep too much and face difficulty to get out of the bed.

More than eighty percent of people suffering from depression are suffering with sleep problems. Treatment can be given for sleep and depression based on the seriousness of the illness.

It can be treated with psychotherapy or with medications. The most effective treatment for sleep and depression is a combination of medications and psychotherapy.

Solutions for sleep and depression:

• Maintain a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. If you don’t get enough sleep also, you have to wake up at the same time. Don’t go to bed early thinking that you can sleep for more time as you may think about other problems if you go to bed early.
• Do some exercises in the evening. This makes you tired and you will get sleep easily. You should not exercise two to three hours before bed time as it activates your body and you could not sleep.
• Avoid stimulants such as caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and heavy meals at night time or before going to bed. Caffeine is a stimulant which prevents sleep [Caffeine and Sleep]. While alcohol is a sedative, it does not give a normal restful sleep and it causes to pass urine number of times disturbing your sleep. If you are taking heavy meals, it is difficult to sleep with full stomach. Avoid watching television before bedtime.
• Drink a cup of milk or herbal tea as it helps in getting a good sleep. Both of them does not contain caffeine or other stimulants.
• Your bedroom should be comfortable to sleep. The room should be warm, proper ventilation should be present, bed and pillows should be comfortable and lighting should be dim.
• You can perform meditation or relaxation techniques to relax yourself or you can listen to a soothing music to get a good sleep.

If you wake up worrying during night, write down about your worries and what should be the solution for the problem.

Now think that for every problem you have a solution and no need to worry. Still if you don’t get sleep, get out of the bed and listen to music or read any book which you feel interested.

The suggestions given above help you for sleep and depression. As sleep and depression are related to each other, you can follow solutions for sleep and depression to avoid sleep problems and depression.