Study: Link between depression and sleep disorders in men

A study found a link between depression and sleep disorders in men.

Sleep problems are often caused by various mental illnesses, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, but a new research shows interchangeability between sleep disorders and depression. Apparently, having trouble sleeping can also be a trigger.

Researchers from the University of Adelaide and the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health examined levels of sleepiness throughout the day in almost 2,000 Australian men aged between 35 and 83.

It turned out that those exhibiting severe daytime sleepiness had 10 percent more chances of becoming depressed than those who felt rested during waking hours. Even after various risk factors were taken into account, the link between the two held up.

At the beginning of the assessment, none of the men entering the study were diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea, but after joining, 856 of them were examined in the light of symptoms related to the condition.

Those receiving this diagnose turned out to be 2.1 times more prone to become depressed than participants who didn’t have the sleep condition.

According to the results, men who struggled with both extreme daytime sleepiness and severe sleep apnea had even more increased chances of depression – 4.2 times more than men with no sleep disorders. Suffering from both conditions also meant 3.5 times more chances of depression when compared with men with only one of them.

Two follow-up tests were involved in the evaluation of depression levels, taken at a five years difference from one another. This period allowed researchers to observe whether it is possible that sleep disorders are linked to a recent diagnosis of depression.

During those five years, men suffering from severe sleep apnea diagnosed during the study turned out to have 2.9 times increased risk of becoming depressed.

However, the study’s design could not help researchers determine whether sleep problems can be considered boosters of depression risk in men. They believe it is possible that depression is a cause of sleep disorders, but the reverse was more difficult to assess.

The team also considered the possibility that a third factor included in the equation could cause both depression and sleep troubles.

Authors of the study are still unsure about the exact relation between a sound sleep and risk of depression, but the results offer enough information doctors can use in their practices. For example, after a patient receives a depression diagnosis, physicians should order a screening for obstructive sleep apnea, even if the patient doesn’t show signs of sleepiness.

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Smartphones hurting our ability to sleep and work

An article from the Wall Street Journal discusses how smartphones make us tired which can both hurt our ability to sleep at night and to be productive during the day.

For a productive day at work tomorrow, give the smartphone a rest tonight.

Reading and sending work email on a smartphone late into the evening doesn’t just make it harder to get a decent night’s sleep. New research findings show it also exhausts workers by morning and leaves them disengaged by the next afternoon.

That means the way most knowledge workers do their jobs—monitoring their iPhones for notes from the boss long after the office day is done and responding to colleagues at all hours—ultimately makes them less effective, posit researchers from University of Florida, Michigan State University and University of Washington.

The scholars conducted two studies of workers’ nighttime technology habits, sleep duration and quality, energy and workplace engagement. In the first study, 82 mid- to high-level managers were asked every morning how many minutes they used their smartphone after 9:00 pm the night before and how many hours they slept. Then, they were asked to rate their agreement with statements like “I feel drained” and “Right now, it would take a lot of effort for me to concentrate on something.”

In the afternoon, they had to assess statements about work engagement, such as “Today while working, I forgot everything else around me.”

Prior studies have shown that staying focused and resisting distractions takes a lot of effort, so when smartphone use interferes with sleep, it takes a toll the next day.

“The benefit of smartphone use may…be offset by the inability of employees to fully recover from work activities while away from the office,” the researchers write.

After accounting for sleep quality, the researchers found that work-related smartphone use in the evening was associated with fewer hours of sleep. The subjects who recorded shorter nights also reported depleted reserves of self-control, and those who felt morning exhaustion also indicated they were less engaged during the day, a domino effect that shows how an unending workday ultimately leads to poorer work.

The second study, which involved 161 workers, measured how late-night tech use—on smartphones, laptops, tablets and TV—can disrupt sleep and next-day work engagement.

In her book, “Sleeping With Your Smartphone,” Harvard Business School professor Leslie Perlow studied executives at Boston Consulting Group who were given a chance to disconnect on a regular basis. The executives became more excited about their work, felt more satisfied about their professional and personal lives and even became more collaborative and efficient.

Using any kind of electronic device affects sleep quantity and focus the following day, but smartphones are especially draining. That’s partly because the always-on, always-handy phone the first device we turn to, says Christopher M. Barnes, an assistant professor of management at University of Washington’s Michael G. Foster School of Business and a co-author of the paper. Having a screen so close to our faces probably doesn’t help us prepare for sleep, he adds.

The researchers don’t yet know if there’s a particular threshold at which smartphone use begins to affect sleep habits, but even 30 minutes before bedtime can take a toll, Barnes says.

The fix, researchers say, is to put down the phone and enjoy the evening. But that’s easier said than done, so long as managers send emails at 10:30 p.m. and expect responses by 10:31 pm. Barnes says real change will have to come from the top, with managers setting an example by not sending those messages in the first place, or at least toning down expectations on response time.

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Sleep problems in hyperactive children

This article discusses why hyperactive children may have trouble sleeping, and action to take regarding their sleep issues.

Sleep problems may affect up to half of children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Typical problems include resisting getting into bed and difficulty falling asleep.

Poor sleep can cause attention problems in all children. But poor sleep can affect attention even more in those with ADHD. And it also works the other way; ADHD may be the reason for disrupted sleep. The two problems may have common biological roots.

In children with ADHD, brain circuits that control attention and sleep may function poorly. Another potential culprit is an unsteady circadian rhythm. This is the biological rhythm that makes us tired at night and more awake in the morning.

Symptoms such as hyperactivity and an inability to settle down may contribute to bedtime resistance. Likewise, poor sleep at night can make behavior worse during the day.

People with ADHD frequently also have anxiety, depression, learning disorders, conduct disorders, sleep-disordered breathing, or restless leg syndrome. All of these can cause sleep problems.

The drugs used to treat ADHD can interfere with sleep. Most drugs for ADHD are stimulants. But in children and teens, stimulants generally have an opposite effect of calming them down.

It’s usually best for children and teens to take stimulants early in the day. Sometimes, mood or behaviors get worse as the stimulant drug wears off. Those children may require a lower dose, a time-release formula, or a non-stimulant drug.

In most cases, the approach to sleep problems in children with ADHD will be similar to the approach with any child. Here are some tips:

• If medications are part of the treatment, adjust them to minimize any bad effect on sleep.

• Try to stick to a regular sleep/wake schedule.

• If possible, avoid caffeine after noon. That includes coffee, tea, some soft drinks, chocolate drinks and candy.

• Keep the bedroom free of distractions, like TV or video games.

• Get a therapist’s help for managing worries that may be interfering with sleep.

• Promote exercise during the day, but calm activities in the hours before bedtime.

• Above all, exercise patience. It’s harder to develop good sleep habits if sleep becomes a struggle. The goal is to help your child acquire one of the most important skills – knowing how to get a good night’s sleep. That could provide a lifetime of benefits.

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Trouble concentrating in people with insomnia

A study using brain scans helps to explain why people with insomnia have 'wandering minds' and trouble concentrating.

A new brain imaging study may help explain why people with insomnia often complain that they struggle to concentrate during the day even when objective evidence of a cognitive problem is lacking.

"We found that insomnia subjects did not properly turn on brain regions critical to a working memory task and did not turn off 'mind-wandering' brain regions irrelevant to the task," said lead author Sean P.A. Drummond, PhD, associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and the VA San Diego Healthcare System, and Secretary/Treasurer of the Sleep Research Society. "Based on these results, it is not surprising that someone with insomnia would feel like they are working harder to do the same job as a healthy sleeper."

The research team led by Drummond and co-principal investigator Matthew Walker, PhD, studied 25 people with primary insomnia and 25 good sleepers. Participants had an average age of 32 years. The study subjects underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan while performing a working memory task.

Results published in the September issue of the journal Sleepshow that participants with insomnia did not differ from good sleepers in objective cognitive performance on the working memory task. However, the MRI scans revealed that people with insomnia could not modulate activity in brain regions typically used to perform the task.

As the task got harder, good sleepers used more resources within the working memory network of the brain, especially the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Insomnia subjects, however, were unable to recruit more resources in these brain regions. Furthermore, as the task got harder, participants with insomnia did not dial down the "default mode" regions of the brain that are normally only active when our minds are wandering.

"The data help us understand that people with insomnia not only have trouble sleeping at night, but their brains are not functioning as efficiently during the day," said Drummond. "Some aspects of insomnia are as much of a daytime problem as a nighttime problem. These daytime problems are associated with organic, measurable abnormalities of brain activity, giving us a biological marker for treatment success."

According to the authors, the study is the largest to examine cerebral activation with functional MRI during cognitive performance in people with primary insomnia, relative to well-matched good sleepers. It also is the first to characterize functional MRI differences in working memory in people with primary insomnia.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports that about 10 to 15 percent of adults have an insomnia disorder with distress or daytime impairment. Most often insomnia is a comorbid disorder occurring with another problem such as depression or chronic pain, or caused by a medication or substance. Fewer people suffering from insomnia are considered to have primary insomnia, which is defined as a difficulty falling asleep or maintaining sleep in the absence of a coexisting condition.

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