2023-06-30 08:27:13
by Giancarlo Cerveri
subjects with insomnia tend to get sick with a high frequency of major depression, but there is also the inverse link: people suffering from depression often show insomnia as a symptom
I have been suffering from nervousness and drowsiness for some days and I don’t sleep well at night. What can be the reason? And what can I do to get better?
Answered by Giancarlo Cerveri, director of the Complex Operative Unit of Psychiatry ASST of Lodi (VAI AL FORUM)
Insomnia is a very common condition: it is estimated that around 10% of the population suffers from it. It is important to remember some simple rules to define it as a pathological condition. It’s not enough to go two nights without sleep to call yourself an insomniac. The diagnostic manuals establish that to define it as a pathological condition it must be intense (at least 3 times a week) and prolonged (at least 3 months). A condition of this kind produces damage in daily life such as difficulty concentrating and decreased performance at work or at school. Irritability phenomena are often added. If all this applies to insomnia taken as a single element of the individual, looking away and considering the entire psychic functioning of the person, we discover that there is an intense and bidirectional link between insomnia and psychiatric pathology.
Insomnia and depression
There are now consolidated data showing that insomnia is an independent factor capable of inducing an increased risk of developing depressive pathology. In summary, subjects with insomnia tend to get sick with a high frequency of major depression. The inverse link is also true, ie people suffering from depression often show insomnia as a symptom, which sometimes manifests itself as the initial expression of the disorder. From a biological point of view, this link is totally predictable. The two pathological conditions (insomnia and depression) insist on the same organ (the brain) and inevitably the presence of one also facilitates the expression of the other. This link also exists, albeit in different forms, with other psychiatric pathologies such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Sleep is a healing tool
For these reasons, psychiatrists have always dealt with sleep pathology, they have always paid great attention to sleep disorders as symptoms and to insomnia as a risk factor. In a correct approach to the person, investing in good quality sleep means improving the health of the individual because sleep, if of good quality, becomes a very important tool for treatment. There are numerous options that can act on insomnia: behavioral interventions, modification of lifestyles (physical activity, diet, use of alcohol and coffee) and pharmacological. I therefore advise you to contact your trusted doctor to find an adequate solution to the problem.
June 30, 2023 (change June 30, 2023 | 08:26)
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