Depression is not an easy thing to overcome and sleep plays a major part in affecting it. It’s important to understand the way depression works and how it can possibly be worsened by several things.
How does sleep affect depression? Sleep can both treat depression and worsen it, depending on the situation.
Depression is a complex disorder that may have different causes and treatments. Sleep and sleeping conditions can cause depression and depression can cause sleeping problems as well.
Either way, both can end up complicating each other.
Studies show that people who are diagnosed with depression tend to have sleeping conditions. It’s been revealed that mental health plays a great role when it comes to affecting our basic lifestyle such as sleeping.
When someone is depressed, they either sleep a lot or have a hard time sleeping at all.
Apparently, when you get a good night’s rest or a full, uninterrupted sleep, depression is reduced even just a little bit. Sleeping properly helps improve mental health while being unable to sleep worsens it.
Sleeping conditions such as sleep apnea may end up making depression a lot worse since the patient will experience symptoms of being an insomniac, difficulty in breathing and waking up suddenly at night.
When the body is unable to get the rest it needs, its entire system becomes dysfunctional. The brain won’t be able to send the right commands and the same goes for the heart.
Since sleep can affect the brain, mental disorders such as depression will definitely be affected.
The lack of sleep can also lead to hallucination also driven by the fact that the person is already depressed.
The brain will try to find a way to cope with the disorder but being sleep deprived, they may experience hallucinations which are somehow relevant to other cases of people having “imaginary companions” or fears.
When sleep apnea causes depression
Depression is also known as the silent killer. Sometimes, symptoms can be different for every person. However, there are some visible signs that someone close can definitely notice.
- Feeling empty, lonely, sad, any negative emotion
- Having suicidal thoughts, sharing depressing posts
- Losing interest in the things they used to love or enjoy
- Losing the ability to focus even if they want to
- Suddenly showing signs of short term memory loss
- Losing interest in romance and intimate pleasure
- Sudden weight loss or weight gain, appetite loss
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Lack of energy, feeling and looking tired
- Being unable to sleep at night or insomnia
Sleep apnea will mess with our body’s system. First, it will start by creating other illnesses and eventually affect our mental health too as it makes its way to our brain.
It’s common that sleep apnea patients who are diagnosed with depression tend to have heart related problems and sleep apnea is the cause of it and continues to worsen it.
How to treat depression and sleep problems
There are different ways to help a person who is depressed and have sleeping problems that’s affecting their mental health. Let me share you this general list of tips that can be useful.
- Undergo therapy
- The first option is to go to a therapist that can help you out. They will have a deeper understanding and will have more ideas on how to help a depressed person cope and heal
- Cure sleep apnea
- If the cause of depression is a sleeping condition such as sleep apnea, then eliminating the cause will cure the current problem.
- Take anti-depressants
- Once you went to see a mental health doctor, you will be prescribed with the proper medicine that you can use. Entrust it to someone to hold on to it to avoid the risk of overdose.
- Try to exercise regularly
- Improving your physical condition will have a slow, positive effect on your mental health. It can also get rid of sleeping conditions like sleep apnea.
- Avoid stressful situations
- Managing your exposure to stress can save you from unnecessary heavy feelings. If it can be avoided, avoid it.
- Try to keep a healthy diet
- Even if you are struggling with your eating habits because of depression, just keep trying to eat a balanced diet to prevent worsening existing conditions
- Try to follow a proper sleep routine
- Sleep during the right time and try to get a full night’s rest. If needed, ask for sleeping pills prescription that can help you out but please, be careful with it.
- Limit alcohol and smoke consumption
- Drinking liquor and smoking can worsen physical health that will affect brain activities at the end. Try to stick to a healthy lifestyle.
- Try to ask for help from trusted people
- Some people feel better after opening up and sharing their troubles with someone they love and trust. If you feel sad, try to seek comfort from people you love.
- Take a break and relax for a while
- You deserve a break, a vacation once in a while. Don’t overwork yourself or stress yourself. Sometimes, taking a good stop can help you bounce back on your feet.
The thing is, depression is real and it’s not just something that is “all in your head”. It’s a real disorder that can ruin or take lives. It doesn’t go away in a snap and just by “thinking about happy thoughts”.
It can be mentally draining to support someone with depression, but that’s exactly why they need your help. Become their strength during their weak point and help them heal.
How sleep apnea affects depression
Obstructive sleep apnea has been observed to be commonly linked with depression. Being unable to sleep well can drive a person to become depressed.
There are a lot of unhealthy things obstructive sleep apnea can do that may lead to depression.
- Heart failure
- May lead to fatal conditions such as brain damages or even death. Experiencing this can trigger depression.
- Heart attack
- Can also be severely threatening, those who survive a heart attack may be prone to depression
- Irregular heartbeat
- Worsens the ability to breathe
- Can trigger anxiety, a companion of depression
- Stroke
- Can leave permanent damage
- May lead to paralysis and trigger depression
- Diabetes
- Leaves you prone to more heart attacks, increases the potential to affect mental health and cause depression
- High Blood Pressure
- Aside from your physical health, this can also affect your mental health and relationship with people around you including your work, leading to depression
- Increases ADHD
- Sleep apnea reduces your ability to focus which is what happens when you have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
- Having a lack of control to focus can lead to depression
- Headaches
- You may wake up with a bad headache which will lead to other problems listed here
- Lack of daily energy
- Your energy will be reduced since you are unable to sleep well. This can lead to depression since it will affect your lifestyle and cause you to feel uncontrollably irritated.
- Weight gain or loss
- Sleep apnea patients are more prone to uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss, causing depression in patients
How to treat sleep apnea and prevent depression
There are various ways to treat sleep apnea. Here are some of the common ways to do it so you can prevent depression or stop affecting it with your sleeping conditions.
- Rapid Maxillary Expansion
- For children with obstructive sleep apnea. This process places an expandable brace on the roof of the mouth that increases the width of the upper jaw (maxilla).
- Over time, parents can adjust the brace using a special key to increase the amount of pressure for the teeth.
- Jaw Advancement Surgery
- For teenagers and adults. This process will surgically break the jaw bones, moved forward and then fixed properly with screws and plates and will change the person’s facial structure or profile.
- It might take months to recover.
- CPAP Machine Treatment
- Works for any age. Stands for “Continuous Positive Airway Pressure device”
- The person diagnosed will have to use a mask connected to a machine that will force air to the obstructed airway from the oropharyngeal.
- The mask placed over the mouth or nose will blow air into the airway to help keep it open during sleep. Highly recommended and proven effective by a majority of sleep apnea patient.
- Surgical Airway Advancement
- Similar to the 2nd example. Bones of the upper and lower jaw will be repositioned in a way that will relieve airway obstruction.
- Nasal Strips
- Nasal strips are one of the earliest tools used to treat sleep apnea and its symptoms such as snoring. Nowadays, there are newly developed nasal strips that you can try.
- Oral Appliance
- Oral pieces can help with sleep apnea, they are custom made to make sure it prevents the obstruction in the airways and counter sleep apnea.
- Lose weight
- Being overweight or obesity can be a cause of sleep apnea. You can potentially get rid of sleep apnea by getting plenty of exercises and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet.
- Stop or avoid smoking too much.
- Excessive smoking can cause or worsen sleep apnea. Reducing your smoke intake per day will also reduce the risk of sleep apnea. If possible, quit smoking to potentially get rid of sleep apnea.
- Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
- Drinking too much alcohol before sleeping can cause and worsen sleep apnea just like smoking.
- Avoid sedatives before going to sleep
- Certain sedatives can cause sleep apnea. Consult a medical expert to determine what type of sedative may be the cause.
- Maintain a proper sleep routine.
- Sometimes, we end up getting exposed to sleep apnea since we simply don’t sleep at the right time. Try to avoid staying up late and sleep early.
- Try to keep a proper sleeping position as well. Try to sleep with your head elevated or sleeping in a recliner chair.
- Don’t overwork yourself all the time.
- Going to sleep exhausted can make us a lot more prone to sleep apnea. It’s important to relax a little bit at first before going to bed to lessen the risk of sleep apnea.
- Treat chronic allergies
- Some allergies can trigger obstruction in your body’s airways and may cause you to have sleep apnea. Treat or avoid triggering your allergies to prevent sleep apnea.
Related Questions
Why does a depressed person sleep so much?
A depressed person may tend to sleep a lot in order to “escape” the feeling of heaviness brought by the disorder. Sleeping allows them to “forget” their problems, sadness, emptiness or any negative feelings.
However, there can be other reasons why some depressed people may sleep a lot. Perhaps they have sleeping conditions such as sleep apnea which may disrupt their sleeping pattern.
Can oversleeping make you more tired?
Oversleeping can make you feel more tired but can also make you feel better depending on how your body perceives fatigue. For example, these past few days you’ve been working too much.
Oversleeping may help your body recover from fatigue faster.
But on the opposite side, you may sleeping conditions such as sleep apnea that interrupts your sleep without your knowledge, causing you to wake up feeling tired despite oversleeping.
