Antidepressants may be responsible for the rise in the prevalence of sleep disorders.

People with sleep disorders are more prone to depression.

At some point in time, everyone has felt a little down in the dumps. A little blue - not wanting to face the day. These feelings of sadness are normal but when they become prolonged, they can be the early stages or onset of depression. Depression intensifies your feelings of sadness, lasts for extended periods of time and prevents you from leading a normal life.

Lack of sleep alone generally doesn’t cause depression. It does, however, play a significant role. Lack of sleep makes depression worse by upsetting your daily routine and interfering with your personal, professional and social life.

A recent study points out people who suffer from sleep problems are very likely to develop depression and depression-like symptoms at some point. The risk of depression is directly connected to the severity of the sleep disorder. The shorter or poorer-quality of sleep you get at night is directly reflected in the seriousness of the symptoms. Another study implies people with depression are five times more likely to have a breathing-related sleep disorder than non-depressed people.

Antidepressants can cause sleep disorders

When depression sets in - antidepressants will generally be prescribed. We all know they can alter and lift a person’s mood. Some antidepressants can also provoke or aggravate sleep disorders. One such disorder – REM behavior disorder – finds people acting out their often violent dreams, while they are asleep.

Doctors are noticing this trend in younger and younger patients. Patients that are relying on antidepressants. They say this disorder is on the rise as more people turn to the broad use of medications. Knowing what the chemicals are doing to the brain, doctors aren’t surprised by the side affects associated with the drugs.

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