Insomnia And Depression
Many people believe that depression is the cause behind many disorders, and most popularly insomnia. Insomnia is defined as prolonged lack of sleep, and the quality of sleep that an individual does clock in, is poor. Insomnia can be a result of inability to fall asleep even though you may be exhausted, or the inability to stay asleep, i.e. the person keeps waking up. 80% of the patients reported to be depressed, were observed to be insomniacs, while 15% reported to sleeping more than their normal required sleep hours. This observation has resulted in the firm belief that depression causes insomnia.
An in-depth study has demonstrated the complicated relationship between insomnia and depression. It proves that although they occur concurrently in most cases, the relationship is fairly elusive.
Numerous studies have revealed complains of inadequate sleep or daytime drowsiness due to poor quality of sleep before falling into depression. These studies deduced that insomnia occurs about five weeks in advance before the mood disorders usually set in and is an indication of upcoming depression.
Further studies into this subject revealed an almost ambiguous relationship. Studies concluded, insomnia could actually be used as a cure for depression since depressed patients have an abnormal REM stage of sleep. REM stage of sleep is the state of deep sleep that normal individuals lapse into after a minimum of 30 minutes of falling asleep. Depressed patients experience REM sleep almost as soon as they fall asleep, and since this is the dreaming state, they often see dreams negative in nature, or more precisely nightmares, which further fuel their depression. It is also during the REM sleep, that memory is consolidated. Due to this, they not only suffer through bad dreams but remember them for a long time to come. A solution to this abnormality is preventing the patient from lapsing into the REM stage of sleep, deliberately causing insomnia and using it as a cure for depression.
This intricate relationship between the insomnia and depression has left scientists and sleep experts perplexed. On one hand, it appears as a harbinger of depression, preceding it, on the other, a cure. Hopefully a clearer picture will be established with future studies.
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