Can Sleep Apnea Cause Anxiety And Depression

Treating Sleep Apnea First Or At The Same Time As Depression And Anxiety

When a person comes into Dykens clinic to report having trouble sleeping, his first step is to find a diagnosis. Someone who comes into our clinic with a low mood and fatigue will be signed up for a sleep study to test for OSA, says Dyken.

If apnea is confirmed, doctors will begin to treat the sleep problem, he says, and continue to monitor your mental health.

If the symptoms of anxiety or depression do not improve with treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, a doctor may refer you to a psychologist or psychiatrist, preferably one who is also a sleep expert, says Dyken.

And while its not as common, there may be severe cases of sleep apnea in which a person experiences extreme depression and is suicidal, says Dyken. If you feel this way, you should be referred to a trained mental health professional as quickly as possible, he says.

There is some evidence that treating obstructive sleep apnea can help improve mood. According to the NSF, research has shown that treatment with a CPAP machine i.e., a facial mask that pumps air into the nasal passages and keeps a persons airway open improves symptoms of depression.

A meta-analysis published in the May-June 2019 issue of EClinicalMedicine found that CPAP treatment reduced the odds of depression by 20 percent among people with moderate to severe OSA and cardiovascular disease. It was especially effective for those who had depression prior to treatment.

What Does Anxiety Feel Like

The symptoms of anxiety disorders can affect people both emotionally and physically.

People with anxiety may feel extremely nervous and on-edge. This can affect their concentration and mood, leading to irritability and restlessness. Their fear or sense of impending doom can feel overwhelming and out-of-control.

Physically, anxiety disorders can provoke tense muscles, rapid breathing and heartbeat, sweating, trembling, gastrointestinal distress, and fatigue.

Many people with anxiety disorders attempt to avoid situations that could trigger heightened worry however, this does not resolve their underlying fear and can interrupt both professional and personal activities. Over time, a person with anxiety disorder may get used to being worried such that a state of distress or fear seems normal.

Anxiety disorders can occur alongside other mental health problems like depression. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America , nearly 50% of people with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

How Common Are Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are the most common type of mental illness, affecting the lives of around 20% of American adults and 25% of teenagers each year.

Not all people with anxiety disorders have the same degree of symptoms or impact from anxiety on their everyday life. In one large survey, around 43% of adults described having mild impairment of their life from anxiety. Around 33% said it was moderate, and nearly 23% said it was severe.

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Treating Sleep Apnea In Nashville

Both of the dentists at Devine Dentistry can perform an airway evaluation to detect the presence of a sleep breathing disorder such as sleep apnea. From there, we can treat your disorder by addressing the root causewhatever is blocking your airwaythrough oral appliance therapy. Drs. Brian Devine and Russell Mack can provide you with a custom-made mouthpiece, made from high-quality materials and designed for a snug, comfortable, and effective fit in your mouth. When worn, one of our oral appliances guides your lower jaw forward, helping you maintain an open airway all night long.

Anxiety and depression can ruin your life. So can sleep loss. If youre getting proper rest, you have a better chance of overcoming your anxiety disorder and reclaiming the life you want. Get screened for a sleep breathing disorder today by calling the office of Devine Dentistry today at 269-4209 if you live in the areas of Belle Meade, Green Hills, and Nashville, TN.

What Are The Symptoms Of Depression

The symptoms of depression can include physical changes as well as changes in moods and thoughts that interfere with normal daily activities. Symptoms may include:

• Persistent sad, low, or irritable mood
• Feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, or guilt
• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities
• Insomnia, waking up too early, or oversleeping
• Low appetite or overeating
• Thoughts of death or suicide

Depression is more common in women and there may be differences in the symptoms of depression based on sex and age. Men often experience symptoms such as irritability and anger, whereas women more frequently experience sadness and guilt. Adolescents with depression may be irritable and have trouble in school, and younger children may pretend to be sick or worry that a parent may die.

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What Causes Anxiety Disorders

The exact cause of anxiety is unknown. In fact, researchers believe that there is not one single cause but rather an interplay of factors that include a persons genetics, family history, and exposure to negative life events. Some health problems and drugs can also contribute to symptoms of anxiety.

Limit Caffeine And Other Stimulants

For many people, cutting out caffeine from their diet can be very difficult, but caffeine can greatly hamper your ability to fall asleep. Additionally, as a stimulant, caffeine can make your anxiety much more pronounced, and you may have a difficult time calming down if you drink excessive amounts of coffee.

It could also be getting in the way of you achieving a good nights sleep. Try avoiding caffeine at least four to five hours prior to when you want to go to bed.

If you know of any other forms of stimulants that you may be taking, try avoiding those at least a few hours before bedtime, as well.

Additionally, some recent studies, such as one conducted by Harvard Health, have come to find that blue light can keep the brain active, stimulated, and awake, as it suppresses the secretion of the hormone melatonin. This is the hormone responsible for helping you fall asleep, so try avoiding blue light, or wearing amber glasses to suppress the effects of the light, at least two hours prior to bedtime.

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Is There A Link Between Sleep Apnea And Depression

Studies have shown that sleep apnea and depression are the two associated comorbidities, which can immensely improve the patients health if detected early and treated promptly.

While about 18 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea, 15 million people experience major depressive episodes each year. So its likely that a substantial number of individuals are inflicted with both conditions simultaneously.

Both OSA and depression are associated with mood swings, irritability, anxiety, fatigue, and poor concentration. Thus, in patients with OSA, Major Depressive Disorders should be ruled out prior to treatment. These co-related problems must be appropriately diagnosed to be treated effectively

What Causes Problems With Sleep

The things that affect our sleep differ for everyone. They can include:

• stresses or worries for example, issues with money, housing or work
• problems with where you sleep for example, if you sleep somewhere uncomfortable or youre easily disturbed
• health conditions relating to sleep, also known as sleep disorders
• being a parent or carer

For more information about sleep disorders, see the Mental Health Foundation and Royal College of Psychiatrists websites, and our list of useful contacts.

Its not possible to relax if you dont have anywhere comfortable and safe at night. This leads to not sleeping and worrying most of the night.

If problems with sleep are worrying you or affecting your day to day life, its a good idea to see a doctor who can give you a health check and help you access treatment and support. If you fill in a sleep diary, you could take this to your appointment to show your doctor.

My sleep problems are more a case of bedtime procrastination than insomnia as such and, as a consequence, being too tired the next morning. I still havent found out what works for me as I can get to sleep once I do get to bed.

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Osa And Psychiatric Disorders

The findings that MDD, current anxiety and somatoform pain disorder were not associated with OSA have important implications for the interpretation of previous studies that have reported positive associations between OSA and symptoms of psychiatric disorders . Most community-based studies of this relationship have concluded that OSA seems to be an independent risk factor for depression . In contrast, our data support community-based studies that have partly or completely failed to establish an independent association between OSA and depression . However, only two previous, community-based studies concerning the relationship between OSA and depression have assessed sleep with objective measures . In a sample with a median 4% oxygen desaturation index of 4.3 in females and 6.7 in males, Kripkeet al. found no association between symptoms of depression and OSA. In contrast, Peppardet al. , using a sample in which 6% of the females and 14% of the males showed an AHI 15 events·h1, found a positive doseresponse association between SBD and depression. The severity of OSA in our BQ high-risk sample was higher than in these samples, but lower than most studies of clinical populations. Moreover, previous community-based studies investigated only depression, while our study also failed to establish associations between OSA and other psychiatric disorders.

Can Sleep Apnea Cause Anxiety Attacks

Whether sleep apnea causes anxiety is a difficult question. It happens during an apnea episode. The brain receives a so-called panic signal, which awakens the body to resume breathing. This prevents the person from having a peaceful sleep and provokes sleep apnea anxiety attacks.

On a neurochemical level sleep apnea can cause anxiety attacks in another way. These episodes may lead to sleep debt which makes it more difficult for the brain to cope with stress. The more often a person experiences disturbed sleep, the stronger the impact is on a persons thinking pattern and mood.

Studies show that you can get rid of anxiety in a natural way. For example, curcumin has an antidepressant-like effect and can improve your mental health.

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% Of Those With Depression Had Osa

Dr. McCall and team examined the rate of undiagnosed OSA in a randomized clinical trial of people with major depressive disorder and suicidal tendencies.

They recruited 125 people with depression, originally for the purpose of determining if treating their insomnia would improve their depression symptoms.

The original trial excluded people at risk of OSA, such as those taking sleeping pills, or people with obesity or restless legs syndrome.

The scientists tested the participants with a sleep study and found that 17 out of the 125 had OSA.

Dr. McCall and colleagues note that people who had OSA did not present with the usual indicators of OSA severity, such as daytime sleepiness. Also, 6 of the 17 people were non-obese women.

This is contrast with the demographic group usually at risk of OSA: overweight men.

We were completely caught by surprise, says Dr. McCall, that people did not fit the picture of what is supposed to look like.

Also, 52 of the 125 participants had treatment resistant depression 8 of those with treatment resistant depression also had OSA.

A Lack Of Sleep Causes Anxiety But Dont Worry About It

Freddy Parker

How did you sleep last night? If the answer is badly followed by an uninvited pang of anxiety, look no further for an explanation than a study published this month in Nature Human Behaviour.

A lack of sleep is known to lead to feelings of anxiety, even among healthy people. But the new paper reveals that the amount of deep or slow-wave sleep is most pertinent to this relationship. That, the authors conclude, is because slow-wave brain oscillations offer an ameliorating, anxiolytic benefit on brain networks associated with emotional regulation.

To investigate this link, Eti Ben Simon and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, ran a series of experiments. First, the team recruited 18 students to come into the lab: once for a full night of shut eye, and again for a night of no sleep. In the evening and the following morning, participants filled in a questionnaire to measure their anxiety levels. And in the morning they also viewed emotionally-charged, aversive videos while the researchers looked at brain activity using functional MRI.

In contrast to a night of sleep, after the all-nighter scans revealed reduced activity in the medial prefrontal cortex , typically responsible for emotional regulation, whereas deeper emotional centres of the limbic system, such as the amygdala, appeared hyperactive. That is akin to the brain pressing heavy on the emotional accelerator pedal, without enough brake, suggests senior author Matthew Walker.

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Damaging Effects Of Sleep Deprivation

More than 50 million Americans suffer from one or several sleep disorders such as obstructivesleep apnea , which affects 25 million U.S. adults. Sleep apnea is a serious health condition that causes frequent interruptions each night due to a blockage in the airway. When you cant breathe, the brain signals your body to awaken and gasp for air.

Though most patients dont remember waking up, this recurring disturbance can result in sleep deprivation. Losing sleep often leads to irritability and fatigue the next day, challenging your ability to function normally. If you suffer from sleep apnea, this is an everyday battle that can be detrimental to both your mental and physical health.

Sleep Complaints And Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety disorders are considered as the most, frequently occurring category of mental disorder in the general population. Estimates of the lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorders have ranged between 10% and 25 %. Epidemiological studies have also demonstrated the high prevalence of sleep complaints. As much as one third of the adult population reports difficulty sleeping- and sleep disturbance is considered as the second most common symptom of mental distress. Some epidemiological studies investigated the relationship between the occurrence of sleep disturbances and anxiety disorder in the general population.,, In a longitudinal study of young adults, Breslau et al found that lifetime prevalence was 16.6% for insomnia alone, 8.2% for hypersomnia alone, and 8% for insomnia plus hypersomnia. Odds ratios for various anxiety disorder diagnoses associated with lifetime sleep disturbance varied from 1.2 to 13.1. Table I shows that the odds ratios associated with insomnia alone varied little from those associated with hypersomnia alone. The three highest odds ratios were those for obsessive-compulsive disorder and for panic disorder associated with both insomnia and hypersomnia, and that for GAD associated with insomnia, alone.

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