If you’ve been feeling depressed lately, chances are you’ve been finding it much more difficult to get a good night’s sleep.
And if you’ve been suffering from sleep deprivation lately, there’s a chance you could be diagnosed with depression.
Plain and simple, there is a very strong correlation between sleep deprivation and depression.
A common trait found in more people diagnosed with depression is the inability to sleep very well.
Of course, sleep deprivation is not the one and only cause of depression and depression is not the one cause of sleep deprivation either.
However, roughly one-third of Americans who suffer from sleep deprivation also suffer from depression. A key sign of a person having clinical depression is they are getting too little sleep.
And ultimately, the sleep deprivation is only going to get worse as depression worsens as well, so it’s important that you act now.
Antidepressants
Antidepressants are some of the most common solutions for dealing with depression.
However, most antidepressants come with a number of side effects that can cause a number of unwarranted cons on a number of people.
People who take anti-depressants can suffer from nausea and diarrhea, or feel dizzy. You may think antidepressants are the right solution now, but if you take them and feel the side effects, you may realize that other solutions could look better than before.
In the long run, you should feel better-taking antidepressants, but if you don’t or if the side effects take their toll on you, then you definitely need to consider some of the other options.
And ultimately, if you continue to only sleep four to six hours a night instead of seven to nine, the problems of being deprived of sleep are only bound to continue.
And if you don’t have depression, the antidepressants will have very little, if any, the effect on your sleep deprivation.
Clinical Depression
Clinical depression is more than just another form of depression. It’s an official mood disorder. If you are diagnosed with clinical depression, then that means that you feel sad and worthless.
All of us feel sad or worthless at various points throughout our lives, but keeping that attitude for extended periods of time means that you could be diagnosed with clinical depression.
And being diagnosed with any type of depression will prevent you from living a truly happy life, but you will just be much less able to do so if you are diagnosed with clinical depression.
Fortunately, getting plenty of sleep is one of the keys to avoiding clinical depression. Sleep deprivation will only accelerate the clinical depression in you if it hasn’t already.
Things that could, in turn, accelerate your sleep deprivation include medical problems, stress, limited physical exercise, work, or staying up late and waking up early.
As you see a general decline in your fitness level, you’ll also see a general increase in your sleep deprivation, and thus a general increase in your clinical depression as well.
Get active, get plenty of exercises, go to bed early, and do whatever you can to get the stress out of your life.
Insomnia
Insomnia is the condition of having the ability to fall asleep and maintain sleep. In other words, it is a form of sleep deprivation.
But what’s unique about insomnia is that it falls right in line with depression and similar mental disorders. Scientific discoveries and tests have found a very strong correlation between insomnia and depression.
Nearly half of all people who suffer or have suffered from depression also suffered from insomnia.
Having insomnia could mean that you don’t sleep enough, are challenged to actually fall asleep, wake up repeatedly throughout the night, or can’t get back to sleep after you wake up, despite any techniques or strategies that you use.
If you feel depressed, you might feel sad beyond relief, hopeless, and/or racked with guilt.
These are the exact same thoughts and manners that can inhabit our minds and prevent us from falling asleep.
This is the primary reason why there is such a strong correlation between insomnia and depression, and chances are if you are suffering from insomnia, you are suffering from at least some level of depression as well.
Treatment
It all depends on how critical your depression is to determine if it can or can’t be treated.
Antidepressants can only do so much, and if you continue to be sleep deprived, they really won’t be able to help at all and the side effects will soon set in.
There are other treatments available, such as psychotherapy and other forms of therapy, but you should talk to your doctor or a medical professional who specializes in the field of depression or sleep disorder, before moving forward with a new treatment.
Your doctor should prescribe you with a more structured method for treating your depression.
Fortunately, studies have shown that roughly sixty percent of all sleep deprived, depressed people who use advanced treatments instructed to them by their doctor to see varying degrees of improvement in their symptoms.
There is much more that could be discussed about depression, but much of what has to do with depression simultaneously have little to no similarities with sleep deprivation.
As long as we discuss the correlation between depression and sleep deprivation, however, it is vitally important to remember that if you do not get enough sleep, then the chances of you becoming depressed with skyrocket.
Get plenty of exercises and work out, rest or do something calm before going to bed, don’t drink alcohol or caffeine before you go to sleep, and do whatever you can to get the stress out of your life. Stress alone is a major cause of depression even without sleep deprivation.
But if you apply what you have learned here, then you can embark on your mission to becoming less sleep deprived and getting the depression out of you. And in the long run, you’ll live a much happier life as well.
