Is there a connection between depression and sleep?

Does having depression make you sleepy or does sleep cause depression? One of our experts responds.

In the world, more than 300 million people suffer depressionwhile 40% have sleep problems, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Do these figures for the two disorders have any relationship? Yes, their connection is generated in an interesting way.

According to Catalina Botero, coordinator of psychologists for , “There is a double path between it and disorders, such as depression. Sometimes a person has an emotional problem that evolves into a mental disorder and this condition affects sleep patterns. For example, someone with depression may have the desire to sleep more or have problems that prevent them from sleeping, but there are also cases in which the opposite occurs. It is possible that a person You begin to have a dip in your mood and, because of it, you lose motivation to carry out different daily actions and prefer to stay asleepbecause by engaging in fewer activities, you will have less motivation and gratification, and this can cause a depressive disorder to develop.”

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Therefore, it cannot always be said that one leads to the other because it can be presented in both ways. Although, if we expand the previous information a little more, up to 70% of people with depression have some type of sleep disorder such as:

  • Insomnia, which causes difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep for long periods of time.
  • hypersomnia, which is when the person feels sleepy throughout the day, in an abnormal way, even if they have slept enough.
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Solutions

According to the media the recommendation is that If the person has depression and is experiencing sleep-related symptoms, they should seek treatment for depression.but if If you have a sleep disorder and notice signs of depression, it is more helpful to treat the sleep disorder to reduce depression.

Some treatments for depression include:

  • Go to the psychologist to manage emotions, thoughts and behaviors, through therapy.
  • If necessary, attend the psychiatrist and be judicious with medications, if prescribed.
  • Expose to white light to regulate mood.
  • .