depression and other problems with sleep apnea

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Obstructive sleep apnea might be part of the reason I have been plagued with depression.  In fact, I have also had doctors tell me that they think the lack of sleep certainly could be a significant factor in my being depressed, although it isn’t the only factor by far. An article on the Scientific American website seems to support that idea.

 

According to the article, “People with depression or other mental illnesses often report trouble sleeping, daytime drowsiness and other sleep-related issues. Now a growing body of research is showing that treating sleep problems can dramatically improve psychiatric symptoms in many patients.”

 

A study conducted at the Cleveland Clinic assessed that women have a greater chance of becoming depressed from sleep apnea than men, who have twice the chance of being depressed, while women’s chances are five to one. 

 

In fact, the article goes on to say that trying to deal with sleep issues should be tried before attempting any use of anti-depression medications. This sounds like a great way to attack the problems of depression. Of course, it wouldn’t work for everyone, but it would be worth the endeavor.


Other problems with sleep apnea

Of all the sleep disorders, obstructive sleep apnea has to be one of the worst to correct. A blockage in the back of the throat causes you to stop breathing many, many times each night, and when you find out that you have sleep apnea, you are then told by your doctors how to eliminate it. Which is usually done by CPAP machines or surgery. The choices really aren’t that good.


 Of course, that’s not to say that it is easy to cure insomnia, excessive snoring, restless leg syndrome, and others. But with sleep apnea, not “fixing it” could lead to serious health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. and to make it really bad, if you have sleep apnea, you may also have other sleep disorders like insomnia, where being able to rest is nearly impossible. Luckily, there are things that you can do to alleviate the other sleeping problems, mostly through behavioral therapy.


Behavioral therapy in this type of situation doesn’t involve a therapist; mostly, it involves changing your bad sleeping habits. While these wouldn’t help much with sleep apnea, they will certainly affect sleep issues like insomnia. Sometimes, this type of advice is referred to as sleep hygiene.

 

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Location: Atlanta, GA, USA

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