renee18

I was wonderinghow much affect depression has on sleeping patterns. I had two weeks were I was depressed and tired. and now that I am back to somewhat of a normal I can not sleep. I have been going to bed at midnight and then I am awake at 5:30 in the morning and can't go back to sleep. Later on in the day I am so tired. Can depression have an affect on not sleeping

love,
SHana

BSPGirl

I dunno, when you're depressed some ppl sleep a lot or just very little, guess when you slept a lot for 2 weeks and then back to normal you logically need very little sleep then. I dunno. Medication of any kind can affect your sleeping too. Talk to a dr, I'd say.



Marte

Ten Chips Down

Hey Shena!

Pretty much what Mate said. The answers are yes and yes. It is not uncommon to just sleep your butt off when depressed and an inability to fall asleep, stay asleep, or whatever is totally normal, really.

If you prefer not to see a doc about this, then Google the term, "sleep hygiene" and you will have made a good start. You will learn that consistency, for one, is just KEY. Of course, what to do when you wake up middle o' the night and just cannot doze back off - join the club! If I had the answers I would be happy.

Luck to you - try not to get your body acclimated to some pill before it will "agree" to go off to sleep though, no matter what the drug is.. (That's personal advice.)

Luck to you!
Ten

renee18

Thanks guys. I think I got back to my normal sleep pattern now after four days of not sleeping well.

love
Shana

PaperDolls

You got good answers from both Marte and Ten but I just wanted to put my 2cents in.

A disturbance in your sleep patterns, whether it be lack of sleep or too much sleep, is a symptom of depression.

I'm the same as you Shana. I go for a week or two of very little sleep.....can't fall asleep. Then go a week of a more "normal" pattern. While I'm on my "very little sleep" pattern, I take one or two hour naps to make it through the day which by the way doesn't help with trying to get to bed at a decent time!

Good luck!
doll

Pony

That's great Shana. Sleep is very important to have in facing the challanges of everyday life.

Hugs to you sweetie.

Ten Chips Down

LOL, right. *???*

Apologies for spewing out misinformation and for misspelling your NAME, Shana. LOL

I am retracting the portion cited. I lost my original post is what happened. It was longer. I was tired by then (lol) and was frustrated.

Troubling falling asleep and/or getting a good night's sleep all night, every night is not normal. It's just not terribly uncommon, I suppose.

Sleep is important; I defer to Pony and to Marte (spelt correctly this time lol!) again.

Ten

BSPGirl

Seems to me it evens itself out then.

Marte

renee18

Yeah it does even its self out but it is hard when you are a college student and you are going through these. have early classes and work in the evening so I need sleep. I have been sleeping better at least not awaking up at 5:30 anymore.

Shana

shutterbug

Ten...if you haven't ever tried it...this has worked for me:

First I started doing simple self-hypnosis excersizes to help shut my brain down (especially when I was manic or have panic attacks) where I basically just count down from 10 over and over and picture drawing the numbers in my mind.

But I needed more help than just that...so I found a progressive muscle relaxation tape that walked me through and relaxing every muscle - which also helped my mind slow down. If not asleep by the end of the tape then I would do the self-hypnosis counting.

I did this for many months and it helped me during the most stressful time of my life. Surprizingly it helped my severe anxiety that was nearly dibilitating on its own back then. (Now I realize that these relaxation techniques were helping my body stop production of the stress hormone cortisol...which helped me in numerous ways as I'm sure you know that can do when severly stress and dealing with anxiety).

Anyway...now that i've gotten through that difficult part of my life...falling asleep has become almost as simple as pushing play on my CD player in which I now have just soothing, peaceful music playing.

I've done this for about 10 months or more now...and my brain has now become conditioned to the music and so it alone triggers sleep. It's rare for me to still be awake for the start of the second song!

AND...a while back my CD player broke and I didn't replace it right away since I was going to sleep okay by myself - without the music. A little more than a month went by and started feeling overly stressed again.... ACTUALLY, I THINK THAT WAS WHEN I STARTED THE "CONSTANT ANXIETY" THREAD IN THEN ANXIETY FORUM!

Something clicked and I connected my increasing anxiety to the absense of the calming music each night. I quickly borrowed a CD player until I was able to buy and new one and things have been back to normal since!

I don't know why it's so amazing to me to find (and since learn more through study) that music can have such strong affects on our psyche....as a violinist for 14 years, all through high school and 3 years into college, I should have known.

Anyway, music therapy is increasing in it's study and use....and for good reason...it works wonders on us from newborns to the elderly.

So there's my 2-cents on healthy sleep habits i've found that work for me once I lay down (now....all i've got to do is figure out how to MAKE myself lay down even when i'm hypomanic or in an ADD symptom of being obsessed over finishing a project or whatever before I can let myself go to bed! Then i'll REALLY be set!)

shutterbug

Shana,
Marte,
Anyone else who can relate to going through periods of little sleep and then also going through periods of over-sleeping.

And to some of you i'm going to sound broken record, but this is important and I SO wish someone would have told me this when I was in college!

okay, here goes...

going through periods of little or no sleep (especially when accompanied by increased activity and/or productivity and/or creativity) can be a symptom of mania or hypo-mania. Typically these times also include increased sex drive and overly-optomistic or even grandiose thinking. Many people shop a lot in these states...and can easily become agitated and tend to 'bite off' people's heads - usually those who they are closest with.

Going through periods of over-sleeping (but in about 50 percent of those affected develop insomnia...so it can be difficult to distiquish from the above state) can be a symptom of depression or a major depression onset. This state typically includes withdrawl from social activities, lack of drive or motivation to do much, body pains, severe and mild bouts of crying, feelings of hopelessness and a decrease in sexual desire. Depression also can include weight gain or loss, lowered immune system response so we get sick easier and for longer durations of things like bronchitus and sinus infections....and another symptom can be IBS (irritable bowel syndrom). Short-term memory can become almost non-existant and focusing/concentrating very difficult to.

Typically onset (or pronounced onset) of either state is usually during college years, but can sometimes be a few years earlier or a few years later - which is why I felt so compelled to outline these things for Renee and anyone else reading who might benefit.

Renee....if some or much of this rings true for you....PLEASE seek out a diagnosis from a psychiatrist...NOT a general physician. If there is a diagnosis involved.....the earlier the better because in my case....I went through a major depression in college and not one of about 20 different doctors I saw EVER suggested anything might be going on other than basic depression.

I told them of my having trouble doing anything during the day besides sleeping....but no one ever thought to ask about my sleeping 6 months before I started getting so sick. During that time I was involved in just about every activity and leadership group in my dorm, working night shifts in the computer lab and going to class all day. I only slept on Wednesdays and Sundays for an entire semester....and on the other days I was lucky to squeeze in a 20 minute nap before my next class.

I just thought I was more motivated or determined or efficient than most the rest of the world...I didn't discover that what I was going through was a manic episode until about 8 years later when my second major depression hit and I was finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Had a doctor properly diagnosed me in college....i would have already been on stabalizing meds and the second major episode would not have been twice as bad as my first major depression had been.

Bipolar disorder is progressive when not medicated...and it is life long...and real damage is done to our brains as the result of going through each and every episode.

I don't want to scare anyone...I just want to people to realize the devestation this illness can cause for years and many times seveal decades before a proper diagnosis is ever achieved.

And as I've said many times over among these threads....there are a whole bunch of other things, some physical and some mental, that can mimic the mood swings and sleep patterns of bipolar disorder.....so educating yourself and seeking out the help of proper medical professionals....is like giving a HUGE gift to yourself of how to go about getting the best out of your life.

Lots of hugs and prayers,
Jenna

Ten Chips Down

Most interesting. For those (like myself) who didn't know, hypomania is actually not a typo. LOL

Me, I thought she meant "hyper-" but no, there is an actual state of mania which is considered mild. Hence, hypo.

Hmm!


Oh and Jenna I sent you a PM. Guess I didn't ask for a read receipt, but there ya go anyway.

PaperDolls

Wanna know what cycle I'm on right now?!

It's 330AM and I'm still awake!

Hope all is well with all of you.

Sleep well.