On the next Uncommon Knowledge hypnotherapy diploma weekend I will be teaching strategies and techniques to help people sleep better. It’s long been known that sleep problems are both symptomatic of poor physical and mental health and also causal. I was intrigued to read this article ‘Bad sleep takes heavier toll on women than men’ The research found that it was length of time that it took for women to fall asleep that was the biggest factor for health: “Women who reported taking half an hour or more to fall asleep showed the worst risk profile,” Suarez said.
Could it be that is the increased possible worrying and anxious rumination that may be doing some of the damage? We know that increased worry is a causal factor in clinical depression and that depression undermines the immune system (by increasing the presence of the stress hormone cortisol which suppresses immune function) increasing the likelihood of disease.
When depression lifts people may fall asleep faster (because there is less on their mind) sleep better, gain better rest from the sleep they do get and report awakening feeling energized.
I agree with you about the correlation between sleep deprivation and depression, but think it might have the same affect on men as it does on women. A few years ago I was extremely busy with my career. I had three enormous projects which required extensive travel between time changes, irregular meeting times because of different time zones and trying to sleep in various hotels, on plans or in cabs between meetings. During this time of extreme stress I functioned extremely well but when the three projects completed almost simultaneously and I was finally home and in my own bed I found I could not sleep. Even though I had a normal schedule and a normal workload ( in contrast to the extreme overload of work) I suddenly felt at a loss, almost as if someone had died and started to experience anxiety over the quality of my work, my appearance and a number of other things. The more I contemplated my anxiety and nervousness, the less I slept. I could not stop thinking and then couldn’t sleep at all. Finally I broke down and saw my physician about my feelings of depression and anxiety and the first thing she did was prescribe a sleep medication. I was skeptical and reluctant to take sleep medication but wanted to get better. I took a week off of work, got outside and exercised and within a day or two was able to sleep through the night. It was amazing that once I got my sleep patterns back under control I also got a grip on my thoughts and feelings.
Continue the great work !