Last updated on July 7th, 2023 at 01:51 pm
Sleep is crucial for a person’s day to day functioning and overall health and well being. With World Mental Health Day (#WMHD2015) coming up on 10th October, we thought we would use this space to identify and discuss the link between mental health and sleep.
It emerged from a number of sources, that while mental illness could lead to poorer sleep, poor sleep could also be a contributing factor towards mental illness.
Sleep Apnoea is a recognised (and treatable) medical condition, and it is believed that 100,000,000 people across the world are believed to be sufferers. A study by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, revealed more than 70% of sleep apnoea sufferers experience symptoms of depression. Whereby, the worse their condition is, the greater their risk of depression. Another study published in the Journal of Clinical Physciatry, found that from a sample of 19,000 people, those who suffered from sleep apnoea were five times more likely to experience depressive symptoms.
A team led by Dr.David R Hillman, a clinical professor from the University of Western Australia, wanted to gain a better understanding of the presence of depressive symptoms, among sufferers of sleep apnoea. And additionally, to see whether CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) therapy could reduce these symptoms.
293 people, from their sample of 426, were found to suffer from sleep apnoea. From this group of 293 sleep apnoea sufferers, 73% displayed depressive symptoms. These 293 sleep apnoea sufferers were then offered to try CPAP therapy. 228 were willing to undergo CPAP therapy for a period of 3 months. The results of this CPAP therapy were staggering, with only 9% of the sleep apnoea sufferers, displaying depressive symptoms, after treatment (down 64% from the initial test). Sleep apnoea treatment has also shown links with a number of other mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and ADHD.
We hope this blog has shared some insight into the connection between sleep apnoea and mental health. More importantly, we hope it has helped bring some attention to World Mental Health Day 2015, the World Mental Health Foundation, and the issue of mental health as a whole.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/299905.php
http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2015/05/20/study-men-with-sleep-apnea-more-likely-to-suffer-from-depression/
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2015/06/30/why-psychologists-are-starting-to-care-about-sleep-apnea/
https://www2.nami.org/Template.cfmSection=By_Illness&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=142541