Sleep & Depression
Why Can’t I Sleep?
Of all the symptoms of depression, insomnia can be the worst. It saps our physical strength, making it even more difficult to recover. People often wonder why depression causes insomnia. The answer lies in the fact that depression sufferers have a difficult time regulating the different mood and sleep hormones. The hormones you need to improve mood and energy are not the same ones you need to help you sleep.
For example, your body needs serotonin to be active and energetic during the day, but not at night, because this interferes with your ability to sleep. During the late evening and night, your body needs melatonin to help you pull back, withdraw and sleep. But daytime melatonin can cause you to feel lethargic, disoriented, irritable and moody. Oftentimes, depression is the result of your body producing the wrong hormones at the wrong time of day.
How Hormones Become Imbalanced
We each have a center in the hypothalamus of our brain that controls how we sleep and feel. This center, called the Suprachaismatic Nucleus or body clock, creates daily signals or rhythms that govern when our hormones and neurotransmitters are released. These daily rhythms are called circadian rhythms (Latin = about a day), and they can become easily imbalanced from things like stress, trauma, surgery, age, lack of light etc. When your body clock isn’t working right, you have a Circadian Rhythm Disorder.
Circadian Rhythm Disorders
Because circadian rhythms tell us when to be or active or tired, an imbalanced rhythm can keep us from sleeping when we need to, or cause us to feel ‘down’ & lethargic during the day. Circadian rhythms also produce the hormones that affect our memory, concentration, and how we socialize and feel. Whether you are outgoing or want to withdraw is affected by how healthy your rhythms are.
Circadian Rhythms Play a Major Role in Depression
Because sufferers usually feel worse at a particular time of the day and have sleep problems, researchers believe that circadian rhythm disorders are an underlying factor in depression. This revelation has led researchers to conclude that, "These common experiences suggest that disruptions in biological clocks may be both cause and consequence of disturbed moods.” Medical journals now report that depression is closely tied to circadian rhythm disorders.
Repairing Your Body Clock
Because our body clock regulates daily sleep/wake and mood/energy cycles, it needs signals like sunlight to reset each day. Most people’s body clocks respond to normal light and dark signals, but some of us have a weak or malfunctioning body clock that doesn’t respond to normal light cues.
In 1984 researchers at the National Institute of Health discovered a specialized type of bight light that effectively regulated malfunctioning body clocks. This specialized treatment, known as light therapy, combines specific wavelengths and intensity to induce a rapid response. Participants needed an average of 30 minutes per day, and most responded within the first week.
Circadian Rhythm Assessment Tool
Because all body clocks are different, individual timing of light is very important. You can now take an assessment test to see if you have a circadian rhythm disorder and the severity of the disorder. The test results will also create a personalized schedule time to use specialized light for the best results.
To take the Circadian Rhythm Assessment Test, click here.
For more information on specialized light and depression, click here.
Michael Smolensky, The Body Clock Guide to Better Health |
