Once Youre Up Make Yourself Breakfast
Its common to experience changes in your appetite while youre depressed. After you wake up, you might feel less interested in eating than you normally would be. Alternatively, you could end up feeling ravenously hungry and in need of a serious breakfast.
In either case, its important to make getting a balanced breakfast part of your routine. Not only does eating help you to maintain stable energy levels throughout the morning its also helpful if you need to take antidepressants or other medication before starting your day.
Is Napping A Coping Mechanism
It is important to understand that common napping is not a problem, as people typically go for a nap whenever theyve had too little sleep during the night or when they are too tired and want to recharge.
Depression napping, on the other hand, has its roots in avoidance. Whenever people are taking depression naps, they tend to do so to escape from the thoughts and feelings they are experiencing. Therefore, depression napping is a coping mechanism that the brain engages in when a person wants to avoid facing certain feelings and emotions.
Depression naps can last anywhere from a couple of minutes to several hours, and sometimes a person spends the whole day in bed. It is also known that depression naps can trigger anxiety, as the person may think that he/she wasted time napping instead of getting things done.
Depression And Sleep: Whats The Connection
Depression and sleep problems are closely related. 75% of people with depression often experience insomnia , hypersomnia , or changes in their usual sleep pattern. This can make it more difficult for them to get quality restorative sleep on a regular basis due to feelings of tiredness throughout the day, which can lead to daytime fatigue and/or irritability.
Although depression often goes hand-in-hand with sleep difficulties, in some cases, sleep problems may precede the onset of depression or serve as a warning sign for relapse. In fact, people with sleep problems like insomnia are 10 times more likely to develop depression than those who sleep well at night.
You May Like: Medicine For Adhd And Depression
Are Naps Bad For Your Mental Health
Its important to note that naps are not necessarily bad for your mental health. Taking an occasional nap can have great benefits such as helping to reduce fatigue, improve memory, and increase alertness. Naps becomes problematic for your mental health when theyre used as a coping mechanism to avoid healthier lifestyle behaviors, like practicing conflict resolution or eating a balanced diet.
Even for people without depression, napping can disrupt evening sleep. If you regularly nap, you may want to avoid napping too late in the day to preserve your nighttime sleep.
Are All Naps Bad For You In General
Not at all! Napping can be a perfectly healthy activity. Sometimes, it can even help in times of depression or anxiety. The real issue is in the overuse of napping.
Telling the difference between problematic and helpful habits can be difficult at times. First, confirm that all your basic needs are being met. Healthy eating, socialization, exercise, and nighttime sleep are important for an energetic day.
Working too hard or frequently and having too little relaxation can also lead to depression and burnout. This makes the distinction even more difficult to make.
Also Check: Things To Distract You From Depression
Depression Naps Are A Thingbut Here’s What You Should Be Doing Instead
Anyone who has spent time on Twitter lately has likely read about #depressionnaps. People usually take these naps to escape emotions, surrender to depression, and temporarily avoid anything negative in your lifeand while the connotations are serious in theory, Twitter users have quickly escalated depression naps to meme status.
According to Daniel Amen, MD, a psychiatrist and best-selling author, depression is a common problem among women especially. He says that “20% of teen girls meet the clinical criteria for depression and 23% of women taking antidepressant medication.” Admittedly, it is tempting to escape our problemsbut is it the right thing to do?
If you have ever taken a depression nap, you are probably familiar with that crushing realization upon waking that your problems are still there. Depression naps can even make the problem worse. Jessica Renz, Psy.D., co-founder and licensed clinical psychologist at MindWell NYC, says that depression naps aren’t the answer. They prevent you from actively participating in your life. “These naps feed the cycle of shame, blame, negative self-talk, and inaction that are major symptoms of depression,” she says. Plus, they can throw off your sleep/wake cycle and make sleeping harder at night.
Here are seven healthier things you can do instead of heading for the covers when depression strikes.
Healthy Sleeping Habits To Adopt
Keeping a regular nighttime routine for your sleep is one of the best decisions you can make for yourself. If you are able to get all the sleep you need at night, the problems associated with daytime naps are likely avoidable. Still, there is nothing wrong with taking a nap from time to time.
When doing so, there are healthy and unhealthy ways to go about it, however. Luckily, there are a few tips for keeping healthy nap habits. Remembering them is as easy as the acronym SEE. This stands for Short, Early, and Environment.
- Short Keep your naps as short as possible. Aim for 10-30 minutes and remember that the longer you nap, the harder it will be to get up.
- Early Naps should not happen after 3 pm as they can interfere with the sleep you get at night. Your nighttime sleep is always more important than sleep throughout the day and the ultimate goal is not to need a nap in the daytime.
- Environment Always sleep in restful environments with a comfortable climate.
Once you have woken from your nap, make sure to take things easy and give yourself time to return to activities.
Additionally, if you breathe through your mouth at night and wake up dehydrated with low energy then these nasal strips might be your miracle cure!
Also Check: Does Working Out Help With Depression And Anxiety
When To Seek Help
When do depression naps go from Twitter joke to crucial sign that you may need to seek medical help?
The key to a healthy nap is that its short, infrequent and energizing usually referred to as power naps, Farrell said.
When naps grow longer and start to feel draining rather than restorative, or when they cause someone to miss out on important work or life events, it may be time to seek professional attention, Farrell noted.
Also, if napping is accompanied by other symptoms of depression, like low energy, trouble concentrating, or low mood, then professional help can be extremely beneficial and even life-saving, she said.
What Depression Naps Mean
It feels pretty good, doesnt it? Yes, shutting everything out by crawling into bed, pulling the covers up and taking a nap when it feels like the world and everything and everyone in it are so against you can be a nice escape. Or, at least, it can feel that way in the moment. Putting off your troubles and worries, no matter what they are, is always easier than confronting things and trying to overcome them, but those problems arent going to go away.
More seriously, many people with depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions have started a trend of taking a nap to escape the symptoms of their conditions when theyre at their worst. After all, whats more soothing/relaxing than drifting off to sleep? But while this may seem like a harmless little activity that makes you feel better for a little while, it can be a much more serious issue. This shouldnt be surprising given that mental health experts largely agree that depression has a strong connection to sleep or rather, a lack thereof.
And guess what else the Clinic recommends? That you avoid taking long daytime naps. Napping for extended periods throughout the day can interfere with your ability to quickly fall asleep and stay asleep at night.
Disturbance in sleep is a cardinal symptom of depression, Columbia University Epidemiology Professor Myrna M. Weissman recently told Today.
Think about that:
Recommended Reading: Dealing With A Friend With Depression
Treatment And Coping With Depression Naps
The cause of depression naps will determine its treatment. You have to assist in identifying what you are experiencing to help determine the next course of action. Part of the treatment may not even require medication, just an adjustment in routine and habits. If you dont get adequate sleep, that could be easier to address.
- One of the best tips includes going to sleep at the same time every evening.
- Further, dont engage with gadgets such as TVs and mobile phones for a while before hopping into bed.
- Select a comfortable bed in a well-ventilated room thats neither too hot nor cold.
- Eat a healthy diet to prevent nutritional deficiency issues and maintain energy levels.
- Additionally, exercise frequently to sustain optimal weight.
- Refrain from taking alcohol, caffeinated drinks, or smoking cigarettes before going to sleep.
- When necessary, take power naps as they help you recharge.
- Naps lasting less than 30 minutes leave you vigilant.
- Medication can also prove useful. The most common are stimulants as they help keep you awake.
Is Taking Naps For No Reason A Symptom Of Depression
Napping, in its nature, is not a symptom of depression. However, as depression is tied with such symptoms as exhaustion, fatigue and lethargy, napping often comes as a solution.
While occasional napping is not a problem, regular and prolonged napping can cause issues. These can include lack of sleep during the night, inability to concentrate on work during the day, and feelings of guilt and frustration.
A lot of people with depression describe napping as a frustrating experience, yet, they cant help but take a nap during the day. Some people with ADHD also report escaping to napping as a way to cope with their emotions. This often prevents people with mental health problems from properly dealing with their issues and overcoming them, as they feel too tired and mentally exhausted.
Also Check: How To Control Your Anxiety And Depression
What’s The Deal With Depression Naps
Spend some time scrolling through your social media feed and youre likely to come across the term depression nap.
Like its name would suggest, a depression nap is a period of time where someone takes a lengthy snooze in order to shy away from unwanted emotions or symptoms associated with their depression.
Its a largely internet-created phenomenon, with the sleeping trend gaining popularity among those on social media, according to Michelle Drerup, director of behavioral sleep medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.
me waking up from a depression nap and walking past a mirror
Rachel Whitehurst
Its the exact habit that Nina Braca turns to when she feels upset or frustrated. Although the 23-year-old New Yorker started taking naps as a means of coping before the term was popularized, she continues to rely on napping when she wants to avoid a period of problems or thinking. Braca estimates that her naps last two to four hours, and mainly occur on weekends when she isnt working.
I started feeling abnormally tired when I started taking antidepressants about six years ago, she told HuffPost. I would come home, nap for two hours, do some work and then go to sleep. I was very depressed then and sleeping was a way to ignore everything.
The biggest benefit of depression naps is that they allow me to escape negative feelings associated with myself due to depression, he said. I use it as an escape from the things I cant do because of my depression.
Why Do Naps Make Me Feel Sad
Theoretically, you shouldnt feel sad after taking a depression nap. The chemicals released by your body during these naps are meant to improve your mood, which is why people often take them in the first place. But if you feel sad after taking naps throughout the day, it could be due to other problems such as sleep inertia.
If youre worried about feeling sad after taking naps, you should talk to your doctor or therapist. They can help you figure out if this is a symptom of depression that you should be concerned about. If it is, they will help you come up with an effective treatment plan that could include medication, counseling, or lifestyle changes.
Don’t Miss: The Complete Depression Treatment And Homework Planner
Are Depression Naps Actually Helpful Or Just A Meme
Scroll through your social media feed and youll see what Im talking about when I say depression nap. The Twitterati talk about depression naps all the time , sometimes as a self-effacing joke, other times as a cry for help. But the sudden emergence of these posts had me wondering if everyone is overtired, depressed, or something else entirely.
Im a clinical psychologist who has taught and practiced psychology for the past 20 years, so the black dog of depression is no stranger to my couch. But I hadnt heard of depression naps until this summer, and only online. Ive never prescribed one to a depressed client, nor have any of them reported using them to cope.
I cant even
To make sure were on the same page, lets take a deeper look at major depression. According to theNational Institute of Mental Health, in 2015, 16.1 million adults in the U.S. had a major depressive episode. That comes to 6.7 percent of the adult population, or about 1 in 15 people. A diagnosis of major depressive disorder includes a period of a significantly depressed mood that lasts at least two weeks in addition to a minimum of five physical, social, occupational, and emotional symptoms including:
- Feelings of worthlessness
And, the symptoms most relevant to our topic:
- Fatigue and loss of energy nearly every day
- Inability to sleep or sleeping too much
Would you ever recommend naps for someone struggling with depression?
Related:
Treatment Options For Depression And Insomnia
If your life is being negatively impacted by depression, insomnia, or some combination of them both, treatment can help resolve your symptoms. Untreated depression symptoms may seriously impact your daily life. For example, depression symptoms like difficulty concentrating or exhaustion may make it challenging to keep up your usual standards at work. Some people have even lost their jobs due to symptoms from severe depression. Whether your depression is mild or severe, treatment may help you overcome your symptoms or prevent them from getting worse.
Depression should be managed by a qualified medical professional. The exact treatment may depend on the cause of your depression and the symptoms you may be experiencing. For instance, if your depressive challenges began after the loss of a loved one, then therapy may be the best option until you begin to move forward. Other treatment options may include:
If you continue to experience symptoms of insomnia, even after getting support for depression, you may want to discuss your symptoms with a sleep medicine specialist. They may be able to help you determine if your chronic fatigue is due to another medical condition such as sleep apnea.
A specialist may recommend several lifestyle changes and treatments for insomnia, including:
Recommended Reading: I Feel Irritated And Depressed
Is There Any Treatment For Depression Naps
The first step to treating depression naps is making an official diagnosis and identifying what treatment options you should try. This will depend on your symptoms, as well as the severity of those symptoms.
In most cases, people with depression naps will need to look into a combination of medication, counseling, or lifestyle changes that can help improve their condition.
In some cases, your doctor or therapist may recommend that you give depression naps a try before starting other forms of treatment. This is because theres no harm in giving it a shot and seeing if it helps improve your symptoms.
Get proper treatment for depression from expert doctors. Click the button below to book your appointment.
Are Depression Naps Actually Good For You
We all love being able to have a good night’s rest, and waking up refreshed and rejuvenated for the day ahead of us. The act of sleeping or napping can sometimes, however, serve as a sort of escape from the stresses of everyday life for some people. Daytime sleepiness can be especially prevalent in individuals who are struggling with depression, as Psych Central reports that over 90% of people who live with depression feel excessively tired and fatigued. Although “depression naps” are not an official clinical term, Healthline explains that the use of the phrase has become increasingly popular on social media.
Sleep disturbances are a common symptom of depression and other mood disorders. Someone with depression may feel the urge to take more naps throughout the day and might have trouble sleeping at night. Researchers have observed a significant relationship between sleep and depression, yet they are not completely certain about the directionality between the two. According to Healthline, studies have shown that individuals struggling with insomnia are 10 times more likely to develop depression than those who receive a healthy amount of sleep.
In order to compensate for the lack of sleep at night, people may be more likely to take naps during the day. Although this might seem convenient, is taking a depression nap to make up for lost sleep or cope with everyday stresses actually beneficial?
Recommended Reading: How To Deal With A Person With Depression And Anxiety