Lack of Quality Sleep: Symptom or Cause of Depression?

Usually when we think of treatments for mental illnesses like depression, we think of things such as antidepressants, talk therapy, or a combination of the two. However, what about sleep therapy? A new study has been researching a new type of therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, abbreviated CBT-I. Throughout this therapy, clients are taught skills to reserve time in bed only for sleeping – a concept that is different from “sleep hygiene”. The New York Times article by Benedict Carey explains how in 2008, Dr. Manber of Stanford tested CBT-I and used sleep hygiene as a control treatment; she found that 60 percent of patients who received the CBT-I therapy and an antidepressant, versus 33 percent who received simple sleep hygiene therapy and an antidepressant, recovered fully from their depression. Carey further explains how scientists are now speculating that instead of poor sleep being just a symptom of depression, the relationship may actually be bidirectional; in other words, poor sleep may precede depression for some. Several studies have now shown that insomnia doubles a person’s risk for later developing depression.

These findings are relevant to and support Daniel Bor’s claims in his book, The Ravenous Brain, that psychiatric illnesses, such as depression, may be caused by “shrunken” consciousness (Bor 242). Shrunken consciousness, Bor explains, can be caused by something as simple as lack of sleep, for an astounding amount of people (243). He further explains, like the news article does, that conventional wisdom used to state that sleep problems were a symptom of psychiatric disorders, rather than a potential cause (245). However, these notions today are becoming increasingly challenged. Bor even goes on to talk about Paul Peppard’s research study, in which he studied those suffering from sleep apnea, which causes individuals’ sleep to get disrupted by pauses in their breath every few minutes throughout the night. In Peppard’s study, he actually found that those with sleep apnea, who therefore had disrupted sleep, were more likely to suffer from depression.

In our busy day-to-day lives we sometimes forget the importance of giving high priority to getting a good night’s sleep. However, based on these recent studies, as well as Daniel Bor’s explanations in his book, lack of sleep is more hazardous than we think. Besides it being simply annoying and difficult to function every day on a few hours of sleep, lack of proper sleep may actually put one at greater risk for developing a psychiatric illness such as depression.

Carey, Benedict. "Sleep Therapy Seen as an Aid for Depression." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/health/treating-insomnia-to-heal-depression.html?pagewanted=all>.

Bor, Daniel. The Ravenous Brain: How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning. New York: Basic, 2012. Print.