MoiSophia
19-02-2009, 02:26
Insomnia and other sleep-related problems could lead to illnesses including psychiatric conditions, attention deficit disorder, post traumatic stress and depression, research suggests.
Sleep problems have long been linked to mental health conditions, but they were thought to be a side effect of the disease. Now, however, scientists in America believe that sleeping difficulties could be the causes of some mental health problems. "It was just so easy to say about a patient, well, he's depressed or schizophrenic, of course he's not sleeping well – and never to ask whether there could be a causal relationship the other way," said Robert Stickgold, a sleep researcher at Harvard University, who believes that sleep problems do cause mental illness.
Studies on patients with a condition in which their airway closes over during the night, causing them to stir and lose sleep, suggest the link is causal.
Suffering from the illness, called sleep apnea, doubles the chance of suffering from depression, studies have found.
Scientists believe that because the root cause of sleep apnea is biological not psychiatric, the results prove that it can affect mental health problems.
Other studies have linked lack of sleep to psychiatric conditions and attention deficit disorder.
If correct, the theory could show that people are taking anti-psychotics and other drugs unnecessarily.
But scientists do not know how many people could have mental health problems caused by trouble sleeping.
Matt Walker from the University of California, Berkeley, said: "That is very frightening.
"Wouldn't you think that it would be important for us as a society to understand whether 3 per cent, 5 per cent or 50 per cent of people diagnosed with psychiatric problems are simply suffering from sleep abnormalities?"
It is thought that between a quarter and half of children suffering from attention deficit disorder have trouble sleeping, compared to an average of just seven per cent of children overall.
Other studies have shown that treating patients with sleeping pills can alleviate their depression, according to the article in New Scientist magazine.
Some scientists suggest that a lack of sleep can cause fluctuations in hormones in the body, including those which relate to how we deal with stress.
They also believe that dreaming about problems can help the body to process painful memories and promote good mental health.
BRON
__________________________________________________ ________________
Ik kan niet slapen.
Sleep problems have long been linked to mental health conditions, but they were thought to be a side effect of the disease. Now, however, scientists in America believe that sleeping difficulties could be the causes of some mental health problems. "It was just so easy to say about a patient, well, he's depressed or schizophrenic, of course he's not sleeping well – and never to ask whether there could be a causal relationship the other way," said Robert Stickgold, a sleep researcher at Harvard University, who believes that sleep problems do cause mental illness.
Studies on patients with a condition in which their airway closes over during the night, causing them to stir and lose sleep, suggest the link is causal.
Suffering from the illness, called sleep apnea, doubles the chance of suffering from depression, studies have found.
Scientists believe that because the root cause of sleep apnea is biological not psychiatric, the results prove that it can affect mental health problems.
Other studies have linked lack of sleep to psychiatric conditions and attention deficit disorder.
If correct, the theory could show that people are taking anti-psychotics and other drugs unnecessarily.
But scientists do not know how many people could have mental health problems caused by trouble sleeping.
Matt Walker from the University of California, Berkeley, said: "That is very frightening.
"Wouldn't you think that it would be important for us as a society to understand whether 3 per cent, 5 per cent or 50 per cent of people diagnosed with psychiatric problems are simply suffering from sleep abnormalities?"
It is thought that between a quarter and half of children suffering from attention deficit disorder have trouble sleeping, compared to an average of just seven per cent of children overall.
Other studies have shown that treating patients with sleeping pills can alleviate their depression, according to the article in New Scientist magazine.
Some scientists suggest that a lack of sleep can cause fluctuations in hormones in the body, including those which relate to how we deal with stress.
They also believe that dreaming about problems can help the body to process painful memories and promote good mental health.
BRON
__________________________________________________ ________________
Ik kan niet slapen.