No mention of ''Bipolarity'' (on all levels) along with the word, insomnia ?
Certainly, a flagrant felony.
Dreams have been described as dress rehearsals for real life, opportunities to gratify wishes, and a form of nocturnal therapy. A new theory aims to make sense of it all.
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The relationship between disordered sleep and emotional health is an intricate one, as each can influence the other for better and worse. Stress and worry, as well as mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety can interfere with sleep. And an abundance of research indicates that people who experience disrupted sleep, including obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia, are at dramatically elevated risk for depression and other psychiatric disorders. Insomnia is an important risk factor for depression, and has also been linked to a sharply increased risk of suicide among people who suffer from depression. Despite all that we know about this complicated relationship, scientists are still working to understand the underlying mechanics and root causes of sleep disorders and mood disorders when both are present.
A new study provides some important new information about how disrupted, insufficient sleep may contribute to the onset of emotional difficulties as well as the development of depression and other psychiatric problems. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine investigated emotional responses in the brains of people with insomnia and found dysfunctional activity in an area of the brain that regulates and processes emotions. Their findings may provide an explanation for the mechanism by which disrupted sleep influences depression and other psychiatric conditions.
Researchers included 44 adults in their study. Of these, 14 had chronic insomnia, and no other primary psychiatric disorders. The remaining 30 participants were people who had no insomnia and who slept well. All of the study subjects participated in the same exercise, a task involving voluntary emotional regulation. First, participants were shown a series of images containing both negative and neutral emotional content. They were asked to view the series of images passively, without trying to control or influence their emotional responses. When they were shown the images a second time, participants were asked to decrease their emotional response using a voluntary emotional regulation technique called cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal involves the deliberate attempt to change one’s emotional response to a stimulus. In this case, participants were asked to intentionally decrease their negative emotional responses to the images shown to them. Researchers’ analysis showed:
Previous research has shown that cognitive reappraisal decreases amygdala activity. These results, which show the opposite, suggest that insomnia may impair the brain’s ability to successfully process negative emotions, a finding that could help to explain the mechanics of how sleep contributes to depression and other psychiatric disorders.
Other recent research has demonstrated evidence of neural changes and emotional regulation difficulties among people with disordered, insufficient sleep:
The latest research findings add to the growing body of scientific knowledge indicating that sleep problems cause dysfunction in the brain that may contribute to emotional difficulties and psychiatric conditions. This is an exciting and important area of research, as scientists continue to explore the biological roots of both sleep disorders and psychiatric disorders.
All of us who’ve experienced insufficient, disrupted sleep know first-hand how being sleep deprived can negatively affect our emotional equilibrium. When we’re tired, we’re more likely to be short-tempered, impatient, and moody. Research such as this brings us closer to understanding the mechanics that may underlie a broad range of emotional disturbance and dysfunction.
Sweet Dreams,
Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor®
No mention of ''Bipolarity'' (on all levels) along with the word, insomnia ?
Certainly, a flagrant felony.
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that clearly effects people's daily life. After reading about the experiment and seeing the increase in the amygdala activity of people with insomnia,it is apparent that depression and sleep are correlated. People who are sleep deprived are going to respond more negatively to their environment than those who are not.
some people say "be grateful, be thankful." yeah.... you can't be thankful and control your emotions on bad sleep
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