If you have been suffering from a severe form of sleep deprivation known as sleep apnea, you may be wondering about how sleep disorder symptoms are affecting your overall health, and even specifically your mental health. Sleep is vital to the way our bodies function on a day to day basis. Major discrepancies in a consistent sleep schedule can lead to significant symptoms like weight gain, headaches, anxiety, and depression. Find out more about how sleep apnea can cause depression with an in-depth look from Dr. Shukla. Get your sleep schedule studied and get help from quality physicians when you book an appointment with Sleep MD today!
What Is Sleep Apnea and Why is it Dangerous to Overall Health?
Sleep apnea is a medical condition where breathing is repeatedly interrupted while sleeping. Though brief, these interruptions can lead to severe symptoms when left untreated. People with sleep apnea can experience a whole host of complications. However, these symptoms are usually minor and easily missed. Symptoms of sleep apnea include:
- Snoring
- Irritability
- Mood Swings
- Dry mouth
- Trouble breathing
- Bone loss
- Anxiety
- Depression
Because sleep apnea interferes with the body’s ability to rest and heal, these symptoms are in response to the inability to react to the physical toll that the body endures daily. This leads to an overproduction of energy, without ample nutrients and recovery time to replenish it.
How are Sleep Apnea and Depression Linked?
Our brains are the most functional, important organs in the human body. Vital functions dim when the health of the brain is jeopardized by a lack of sleep. While research is not yet able to directly link sleep apnea to depression, there is an unmistakable link between patients who have reported both sleep apnea problems and depression.
One of the leading causes of depression is a lack of sleep and a decline of oxygen to the brain. Sleep apnea causes both of these symptoms, and so, researchers have identified the link between mental illness and sleep disorder. Anxiety is another illness that shows substantially increased symptoms when the body is deprived of vital rest and must operate at a high function for great lengths of time without adequate recovery.
What Can Sleep Apnea Patients With Depression Do Next?
There is some good news when patients who are suffering from both sleep apnea and depression seek help from sleep experts. Addressing the symptoms and complications of sleep apnea allows patients to get treatment from certified doctors. A priority is placed on restoring a sleep schedule, which allows people suffering from depression to see some relief, and often complete relief from past symptoms. While some sleep apnea patients suffer from depression that is not linked to a sleeping disorder, patients who complained of both illnesses found an improved reaction when they had begun to address their sleeping disorder with a professional sleep specialist.
Sleep Apnea Treatment in New York
To test for whether you have sleep apnea or another kind of sleeping disorder, you will want to visit a sleep expert who can use a few different test variations to determine what kind of disorder you are experiencing, and how severe your symptoms are. If you are suffering from sleep apnea or any other sleep disorders and you are ready to get back to an enhanced and beneficial sleeping schedule, contact Sleep MD today to learn more about how Dr. Shukla can help you get a better night’s sleep for your improved health!
