Thursday, November 17, 2005

The Other Dr. Ruth

Kids,

While doing some research I found this article on line. I've been getting 8 hours of sleep ever since. Give it a read.

Tony


Ruth M. Benca, MD, PhD
Associate Chair and Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin



Individuals with insomnia are known to have significantly elevated rates of depression, and insomnia is a predictive factor for the future development of depression, both for new onset of a depressive disorder as well as recurrence of depression.[1] Conversely, some patients with depression report significant worsening of depressive symptomatology following a night of poor sleep. It is not definitively known whether (1) insomnia causes depression, (2) depression leads to insomnia, or (3) insomnia and depression are both caused by a common underlying process. Nevertheless, insomnia is more closely related to depression than to any other medical disorder, and the fact that insomnia most commonly precedes depression suggests a possible causal association between sleep disturbance and depressed mood.
One approach to study the relationship between sleep and mood is to assess the effects of sleep deprivation. Normal subjects typically show acute worsening of mood, with complaints of irritability, depression, and decreased motivation. Some depressed patients, however, show a seemingly paradoxical response to sleep deprivation; about half of depressives will show an acute antidepressant response following total sleep deprivation, or even partial sleep deprivation, usually involving the second half of the night. Unfortunately, depressive symptoms recur following even a short amount of recovery sleep. Patients with bipolar disorder may have episodes of mania triggered by periods of sleep restriction or sleep deprivation and, conversely, they may report excessive sleep during periods of depression.

The mechanisms for the antidepressant effects of sleep deprivation are not known, but have been attributed either to activating effects[4] or the build-up of pressure for rapid eye movement (REM) and/or slow-wave sleep (SWS). Recently, it has been suggested that sleep deprivation and antidepressants both may act by increasing expression of brain plasticity genes, with sleep deprivation leading to acute induction of these genes and antidepressant treatment increasing expression of these genes only after chronic administration, paralleling the clinical effects of the drugs.

The association of insomnia with depression and sleep deprivation with antidepressant effects or even mania seems contradictory on the surface. This may be related to essential differences between sleep deprivation (inability to obtain sufficient sleep due to lack of opportunity) and insomnia (inability to obtain sufficient quantity and/or quality of sleep despite adequate opportunity). Although patients with insomnia may experience chronic sleep deprivation, it is possible that the deprivation is not severe enough to trigger a sleep rebound response, and in fact sleep restriction therapy is often helpful for treating insomnia. Alternatively, a subset of depressives may have a qualitatively different response to sleep loss. For most normal individuals and many depressives, however, sleep loss -- either through insomnia or sleep deprivation -- is associated with a worsening of mood.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Very interesting article Tony, I am going to print it and take it to my family doctor, my daughter had a sleeping disorder. Has had it for a couple years now. It has really changed her personality.

Very timely, thank you. Now if I could only get some sleep. :)

Anonymous said...

Tony,
Thanks for the article. How funny that I can contact Dr Ruth since she is right here, in town and I have never seen it before. Anyway. Thanks

Now sleep well!! You already knew part of this. Sleep very important in the 11 laws.

Angela said...

Dr. Ruth obviously doesn't have a two-year that has awakened every night since he was born!

Here's to an uninterrupted restful night's sleep!

Angela

psyknife said...

I think it's very true. Back before I started up with fitness I was up late at night and never got a good night's rest (which is why I was up late enough to see your informercial... haha). Well, ever since I let fitness into my life I now sleep marvelously every night, and my depression is nearly non-existant! I also don't wake up with back cramps anymore, and I just feel all around great!

Anonymous said...

Tony my friend,
I love your articles, much better than Carl's :)
I need your help my friend, but can't seem to get a chance in that crazy chat room :)

I have done Power 90 and got great results. But I failed to follow up and gained my weight back. I bought TurboJam but I just couldn't get into it.

I need something less intense and shorter that I know I can do after a long day at work. Do you recommend the Great Body Guaranteed or PHH? Or should I just try Power 90 again?

I really appreciate your input. Sorry for bothering you, I know you’re a busy man. :)
Thanks.
Ziad.
zarabo@mybeachbody.com
http://www.mybeachbody.com/zarabo

Anonymous said...

This is true, folks, take it from a surgeon and mom who has had sleep deprivation as a lifestyle for nearly 15 years. Get all the sleep you can.

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