Sleep Well and Prosper

From time to time, we all experience some kind of trouble in falling asleep in our beds and getting the quality sleep we deserve and need. For some, they experience it on a constant basis. This condition - insomnia, plagues a considerable portion of the population.

Insomnia can be crippling, and may lead to an array of negative health effects. One such consequence is the burden it can add to one who is experiencing high levels of stress, in producing hampering negative thoughts.

Kalmbach, Pillai & Drake chose to explore if insomnia and associated stress-induced negative cognitions could predict depression later on, and potentially be a combined measure of depression risk. To investigate how insomnia can be tied to a future depression diagnosis for those who experience high stress, the authors examined four separate groups of individuals experiencing different levels of insomnia and stress-induced negative thoughts.

These groups were characterized by a continuum from people who did not experience cognitive intrusions and had good sleep to those who had these intrusions and insomnia symptoms. At two separate follow-up points of 1 and 2 years, depression incidence was examined amongst these groups.

It was discovered that both insomnia and cognitive intrusions do indeed cause significant risk for depression, as many of the individuals who possessed both traits were marked by depression at the follow-ups. At the opposite side of the spectrum and in a predictable fashion, those who did not have both these traits had the lowest incidence of depression.

In the middle were those who had either one of those traits, with those who experienced bad sleep but did not have negative thoughts pegged as having lesser incidence of later depression than those who experienced good sleep but had negative thoughts. These findings generate a clear risk gradient pertaining to the effects of insomnia and stress on depression which worsen with respect to the severity of those insomnia and stress symptoms.

The risk gradient paints a clear picture. It can be observed that insomnia amplifies the effects of stress-induced negative thoughts. It isn’t difficult to see how trouble sleeping can breed vulnerability for the mind to wander into those areas of thought especially if an individual is already in a stressed state.

Importantly, this large risk that a combined effect of stress-induced negative thoughts and insomnia poses points to the importance of addressing these two behavioural aspects as means to mitigate the potentiality of depression as either a proactive or reactive measure.

These findings may help ease the fight against depression, with the unveiling of a new potential perspective to take, in regards to preventing or resolving depressogenic symptoms. With this study, stress-induced thoughts and insomnia have become two critical avenues of research and clinical application in the study of depression.

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Source:

• Kalmbach, D. A., Pillai, V., & Drake, C. L. (2018). Nocturnal insomnia symptoms and stress-induced cognitive intrusions in risk for depression: A 2-year prospective study. PLoS One, 13(2)http://dx.doi.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/10.1371/journal.pone.0192088 Retrieved from http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/docview/2001896263?accountid=1477