The effect of poor sleep on health
Link between sleep & depression

Adequate sleep is that sleep which makes us feel refreshed and makes us function properly the following day. The amount of hours spent in bed though, is not as important; and it differs from person to person. Sleep loss, is best defined in individual terms as to what what the sleep need for each person is.

Sleep loss can affect a lot of serious consequences to the body. Lack of sleep keeps us unwell, and reduces thinking & response abilities. From increased traffic accidents, to workplace issues, mood disorders; and depression, lack of sleep can have a lot of negative effects on the body's health.

All physiological reactions to the phenomenon of sleep deprivation or sleep loss are maladaptive, since we do not have
mechanisms to adapt to lack of sleep. Chronic lack of sleep can have serious physical consequences. Sleep loss even has adverse effects on the body's ability to metabolize sugar. Inside a single week of severe sleep deprivation, a healthy, person can be in a pre-diabetic state.

Sleep loss, also causes increase in hunger and appetite as well as major alterations in hormonal systems which regulate hunger as well as appetite. When sleep-deprived, the body can overeat in a way that is in excess of caloric demands, and, therefore, sleep loss has been noted to be a major risk factor for obesity.

Lack of sleep can also set off a variety of hormonal changes, thereby affecting mood patterns and growth. Cortisol, a stress hormone, is very low during the hours of evening, since it prepares the body for relaxed state in going to sleep. In a state of sleep loss, cortisol levels are elevated in the evening. TLink between sleep and depression herefore, sleep loss is also a major cause of stress

Young girls and boys when entering puberty, have pulsations of various hormones from brain areas that bring on puberty. These pulsations occur during night times during sleep. Therefore, when not on normal sleep-wake cycles, they can interfere with pulsatile secretions of hormones and can affect the onset of puberty. And during puberty, affects height and growth patterns.
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Link between sleep and depression

link between sleep and depression - Insomnia is a potent risk factor causing depression. Studies have shown that patients suffering from insomnia, have been known to suffer higher levels of depression than normal. In adults, one of the major biological markers of serious depression is the short time from when first falling asleep to the time first entering REM sleep.

REM-stage sleep, is that time when we learn about situations and then incorporate situations and deal with these emotions which unless deal with properly, affect our daytime functioning on various mental & emotional levels.

Insomnia while increasing the risk of depression, also ensures a vicious cycle where the same depression causes lack of sleep. People who are depressed will also have difficulty sleeping since they're also not happy or even comfortable on a psychological and emotional basis when going to sleep during night.

While psychotherapy is considered helpful for depression, an antidepressant or a combination of antidepressants can be prescribed by doctors. However, while lifting persons moods, Link between sleep and depression some may even worsen sleep difficulties.