Why You Oversleep Or Cant Get Enough Sleep When Depressed
Depression can make it harder for you to fall asleep or more challenging to wake up in the morning. Its also not uncommon to feel sleepy during the day.
Sleep trouble can be caused by a dip in serotonin levels. Serotonin is a feel-good chemical messenger in the brain , and when it takes a plunge, you may feel extra sleepy. If youre having trouble falling asleep, stress may also be playing a role. Anxiety alerts the body to danger, and when your body is ready to fight or flee, insomnia or other sleep-wake disorders can follow.
While these sleeping woes can cause concern, you can overcome them by trying out these sleep tips that may help you get some shut-eye.
What To Do What To Do
Ive posted another entry about how creatives heal from walking depression, and here are the highlights:
- Rest.
- Develop a meaning practice.
- Change your life.
These steps are simple to say, not easy to do, so make sure you get as much support as you can.
Important: If you are in dire straits, please contact your doctor or visit the International Suicide Prevention Wiki to find a hotline near you.
Why Is It Hard To Admit That You Have Walking Depression
You may recognize many of these signs in your life but still be slow to admit that you are depressed. Why is that?
Because it feels presumptuous to put yourself in that category when youre still getting by. You feel like it would be insulting to those who are much worse off than you. You may feel like you have no real reason to be depressed.
Because your pride and your identity take a hit. You have to admit vulnerability and allow that you are not the all-conquering superhero you thought you were.
Because you realize that you and your life need to change, which feels like more work piled on your plate.
Because you are admitting your own responsibility for your unhappiness and that can trigger self-judgment.
Because you might uncover grief or anger at those around you for not seeing and taking better care of you.
Also Check: Emory Treatment Resistant Depression Clinic
Oversleeping: How Much Sleep Is Too Much
The amount of sleep you need varies significantly over the course of your lifetime. It depends on your age and activity level as well as your general health and lifestyle habits. For instance, during periods of stress or illness, you may feel an increased need for sleep. But although sleep needs differ over time and from person to person, experts typically recommend that adults should sleep between seven and nine hours each night.
What Other Techniques Can Help Me Sleep
In addition to trying medications, here are some tips to improve sleep:
- Learn relaxation or mindfulness-based meditation and deep-breathing techniques.
- Clear your head of concerns by writing a list of activities that need to be completed the next day and tell yourself you will think about it tomorrow.
- Get regular exercise, no later than a few hours before bedtime.
- Don’t use caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine in the evening.
- Don’t lie in bed tossing and turning. Get out of bed and do something in another room when you can’t sleep. Go back to bed when you are feeling drowsy.
- Use the bed only for sleeping and sexual activity. Don’t lie in bed to watch TV or read. This way, your bed becomes a cue for sleeping, not for lying awake.
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Treating Depression And Fatigue
Therapy or counseling can help treat depression. It can also be treated with certain medications. These include antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers.
Taking antidepressants can sometimes make symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome worse. Thats why your doctor should screen you for depression and chronic fatigue syndrome before prescribing any medication.
Several treatments can help people with chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, or both. These include:
People with depression and chronic fatigue syndrome should also try to develop good sleeping habits. Taking the following steps can help you sleep longer and more deeply:
- go to bed at the same time every night
- create an environment that promotes sleep
- avoid taking long naps
- avoid foods and drinks that can prevent you from sleeping well
- avoid exercising at least 4 hours before bedtime
Alcohol Tobacco And Other Drugs
Misusing alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs can have both immediate and long-term health effects.
The misuse and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and prescription medications affect the health and well-being of millions of Americans. SAMHSAs 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that approximately 19.3 million people aged 18 or older had a substance use disorder in the past year.
Also Check: I Am Depressed And No One Cares
Sleeping In Can Derail Your Plans For The Day
You went to bed last night with big plans for the morning: Get up early, do some chores, take a long walk, and go grocery shopping for an afternoon barbecue with friends.
When you wake up 2 hours later than you planned, your mood instantly plummets as you realize youll need to hustle to even get half of those things done. You were looking forward to knocking out some cleaning and getting some exercise, but youll probably have to skip one of those.
Feeling as if youve already wasted your day can frustrate you and leave you grumpy and irritated. You might even decide not to bother with any of your plans, since you cant do exactly what you wanted to do.
If oversleeping regularly keeps you from meeting friends or doing other things you enjoy, you might begin to feel guilty and disappointed in yourself. You might even stop making plans entirely, which can fuel loneliness and, in time, depression.
Stay Alert For Signs Of Depression
These include feeling hopeless, helpless or sad trouble concentrating and remembering things loss of energy daytime sleepiness loss of interest in activities that once gave you pleasure or thoughts of suicide or death. Tell your doctor if you have any of these.
This is especially important if youre discussing insomnia with your doctor. Insomnia may be a separate condition or it may be a symptom of depression, Finan explains. Your doctor needs to know as much as possible to treat the right problem.
Read Also: Lack Of Sleep Causes Depression
How Are Sleep And Depression Linked
An inability to sleep, or insomnia, can be one of the signs of depression . Lack of sleep alone cannot cause depression, but it does play a role. Lack of sleep caused by another medical illness or by personal problems can make depression worse. An inability to sleep that lasts over a long period of time is also an important clue that someone may be depressed.
Holistic Activities Complement Depression Treatment
Psychiatry has begun to embrace holistic therapies as complementary to traditional treatment modalities for depression, as these activities can help reduce stress and induce feelings of calm. Some of the holistic treatment elements include:
- Yoga. Yoga involves slow, purposeful physical poses with a focus on breathing. Yoga is known to promote relaxation and reduce stress while also strengthening and stretching muscles, and reducing blood pressure and heart rate.
- Acupuncture. Acupuncture uses tiny needles to open up energy paths in the body thought to assist in the improvement of mind-body connectedness and wellness.
- Meditation. Mindfulness meditation is also helpful in training the brain to focus purposefully on the present moment, taking in the various sensory stimuli and focusing on rhythmic breathing.
- Exercise. The positive effects of getting regular exercise are caused by the release of brain chemicals, such as endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine.
- Aromatherapy. Certain essential oils have been found to relieve symptoms of depressed mood. These include jasmine, citrus oils, bergamot, and chamomile oils.
- Nutritional counseling. A diet rich in lean proteins, nuts and seeds, fresh vegetables and fruits, oily fish such as salmon, beans, and whole grains can significantly contribute to mental stability.
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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.
How Did Mr Nesbitt Died In Monster
Moody testifies that Aguinaldo Nesbitt died from internal organ trauma and his lungs filling with blood: all from just a single bullet. In laymans terms, Mr. Nesbitt drowned in his own blood, which by anyones standards is a pretty unpleasant way to go. The respective reactions of Steve and James King are telling.
Recommended Reading: Xanax As Needed For Depression
Elevation Behavioral Health Residential Depression Treatment
Elevation Behavioral Health is a Los Angeles-based residential program that offers intensive mental health treatment for depression. When outpatient interventions have been ineffective in improving quality of life, you may benefit from a more targeted treatment protocol. With deluxe accommodations and a highly attentive clinical staff, Elevation Behavioral Health strives to make the clients stay a comfortable and healing experience. Elevation Behavioral Health offers a full daily schedule of therapies and adjunctive activities to help individuals struggling with depression reclaim their joy and return to healthy functioning. For more information about our program please contact us today at 561-0868.
Oversleeping Helps Me Escape Depression
For as long as I can remember, I have always been someone who needs a lot of sleep. Bouts of depression exacerbate this trait. During my major depressive episodes, I could sleep upwards of 18 hours a day. When I woke up, I wanted more. The more I got, the more I wanted… the more I needed. It was like an addictive drug. It was also like a veil over the pain I was feeling.
Like no other symptom of depression, sleep helped me escape from all the others. It was so easy, too. Just close my eyes and drift away. No pain. Total avoidance. Which is why this was the hardest symptom for me to combat.
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Can Sleeping Too Much Affect Me
The truth is that too much sleep can be bad for you. Multiple studies have been done on sleep habits and some adverse effects due to sleeping too much have been noted. Some of the effects include:
- Diabetes mellitus
- Heart disease especially coronary artery disease
- Headaches
- Obesity
- Depression
Multiple studies have proved that people who regularly sleep more than nine hours a night have significantly higher death rates than those who sleep seven to eight hours a night.
A ‘depression Nap’ May Not Mean Youre Depressed
Most often, clinical depression is connected to some form of insomnia, said Dr. Rochelle Zak, a sleep medicine specialist at the University of California San Francisco Sleep Disorders Center.
Depression is less likely to result in daytime sleepiness, Zak said. Often, people are hyper-aroused, so they would love to nap but they cant.
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How To Prevent Oversleeping
Your sleep space also plays a major role in how well you sleep.
Firstly, review your mattress. An unsupportive bed can make it difficult to achieve quality rest at night, which could cause you to crave more sleep come morning. There are many high-value beds available that are built with specific design features for different types of sleepers to achieve the best rest possible.
Keeping your bedroom cool should also help prevent you from waking up because you feel too hot. For adults, the ideal temperature for sleeping is between 60 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit and between 66 and 70 for older adults.
Lastly, put the electronics away. While it may sound appealing to watch television in bed or look at your phone or tablet, these can make it harder to get shut-eye. Not only do these electronics keep your mind alert, but the blue light emitted from tech devices such as smartphones can suppress the production of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone.
Cure Depression By Combatting Rem
Posted July 1, 2011
Depression involves prolonged sadness and hopelessness, impaired thinking, distorted Self-appraisals, biased memory processing, and unpleasant dreams/nightmares. It has been known for some time that there is a strong relation between sleep and depression. When we get depressed we sleep too much or too little and we wake up too early in the morning. We never feel totally refreshed by sleep and sleep, when it comes, is fitful and punctuated by too many awakenings. I know of no cases of depression without profound disruption of sleep. It may even be that disruption of sleep can trigger depressive episodes. Why is depression so intimately related to sleep? Can an understanding of this relationship help us to treat depressive episodes? One indication that the answer to this question is yes is that one or two nights of deliberate sleep deprivation can result in lifting of mood symptoms for some depressed patients.
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Get The Benefits Of Sleep Without Oversleeping
If you average more than seven or eight hours of sleep per night, see a doctor for a checkup. The doctor can help you determine why you oversleep.
If your oversleeping is caused by alcohol or certain prescription medications, cutting back on or eliminating the use of these substances may help. Never stop a prescribed medicine, however, unless instructed to do so by your doctor. Similarly, if your oversleeping is caused by an underlying medical condition, treating this disorder may allow you to return to normal sleep habits.
Regardless of the cause of your oversleeping, practicing good sleep hygiene will help you reap the benefits of a healthy seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Experts recommend keeping the same bedtimes and wake times every day. They also recommend avoiding caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime. Exercising regularly and making your bedroom a comfortable environment that’s conducive to sleep will help you get the amount of sleep you need.
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Depression And Oversleeping: I Want To Sleep All The Time
Oversleeping is my way out of depression. That’s not so odd seeing that sleep, whether it is too much or too little, can be a symptom of depression. For me, I could never get enough sleep. That is often still the case, a keen reminder that I must always be aware of the symptoms of depression that affect me. Depression makes me want to oversleep to numb the pain.
Read Also: What Is Deep Brain Stimulation For Depression
Whats The Difference Between Sadness And Depression
Whether youve lost a loved one, moved to a new place, or missed out on a job opportunity, there are plenty of stressful and upsetting events that can get you down. However, the difference between sadness and depression is that sadness usually passes with a little time, while depression is a mood disorder that can appear without any specific cause and last for two weeks or more.
Depression impacts almost every part of your life, interfering with how you think, feel, and go about your daily activities like sleeping, working, and socializing. Some common symptoms of depression include:
- Feeling empty
- Difficulty sleeping or sleeping more than normal
- Changes in appetite or weight
- Feelings of hopelessness
- Loss of interest in hobbies or activities
- Irritability or restlessness
- Aches and pains without clear physical causes
- Thoughts of death or suicide
To be diagnosed with depression, these symptoms must be present nearly all day, every day for at least two weeks.
Do Alzheimer Patients Get Depressed
Experts estimate that up to 40 percent of people with Alzheimers disease suffer from significant depression. Identifying depression in someone with Alzheimers can be difficult, since dementia can cause some of the same symptoms. Examples of symptoms common to both depression and dementia include: Apathy.
Recommended Reading: Free Online Support Groups For Depression
Optimal Amount Of Sleep: 4 Tips To Give Your Body The Right Amount Of Sleep
If youre ready to take control over your sleep schedule, there are some tips you can incorporate before you hit the hay.
Tip #1: Keep napping to a minimum: If you cant fall or stay asleep at night, the best napping advice is to keep napping to a minimum.
Tip #2: Use a sunlight alarm: If you tend to wake up feeling groggy, try a Sunlight alarm.Sunlight alarms work by gently illuminating your sleeping environment and provide you with the visual stimulation you need to wake you up more naturally. Exposing yourself to light in the morning can make you feel more alert and helps cement your bodys natural circadian rhythms.
Tip #3: Maintain a consistent sleep schedule: If it takes a long time to fall asleep, or its difficult to wake up on time, a sleep schedule could be helpful. Once you find the right amount of sleep that works for you, stick to it. Try to keep your bedtime and morning wake up time consistent, even on the weekends and during vacation.
Tip #4: Track your sleep: If you want to get insights into your sleep, use a sleep diary to track your wake-up time and bedtime, or try a sleep tracker like SleepScore or SleepScore Max. Make sure to note any lifestyle variables, too, like drinking alcohol or going for a longer run than usual. Keep track of your sleep for at least a week before making a doctors appointment.
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