Being depressed can have a huge impact in all areas of your life, such as relationships with friends, family and employment and has been proven to even have adverse effects on your physical health. Do you ever get “full body” depressed, where you can feel it from head to toe? I’m talking 100% lack of energy that leaves you feeling like a wet noodle. Do you get to where you have difficulty focusing on even the smallest things?
A big symptom of depression in many people is the inability to get proper rest. This lack of sleep only compounds the other symptoms and makes you feel completely “wiped out” from top to bottom. Here are a few ways that some people use to combat this problem.
Medications – There are several medications available that can be prescribed through your doctor. Some of these would be multi-purpose in order to help reduce your depression and to help you sleep at the same time. There are others that are designed just to help you rest. Either way, consult with your doctor and work together to find an option that is best for you. Never EVER take anyone elses medication! What may be helpful for one person may work the opposite way for another and end up in catastrophe. Don’t do it!
One problem with taking medication to help you sleep is that, even though most of these medicines are not habit forming, you can build up a need for them as time passes in order to get to sleep. In other words, you may start off by taking one and then gradually increasing the dosage, according to whatever your doctor prescribes. The problem is that, for some people, they’ll need to gradually take more and more in order to get the same result. In other words, they build up a tolerance to the medication. Also, there will come a point when you may want to stop taking the medicine and it will then take time for you to get back to normal. Note: Some doses of medication must be decreased gradually and stopping them “cold turkey” can be potentially very dangerous. Always consult with your physician before you stop taking prescribed medication.
Exercise – I realize how difficult that this can be when you’re feeling so listless, however, if you can just manage to “suck it up” and do some good stretching followed by some sets of calisthenics, wind sprints or a good and long brisk walk, you’ll have much more success in getting a good nights sleep. Working up a good sweat by exercising or doing some type of hard manual labor can be extremely helpful to release that tension and tire you out so that you may have a peaceful night of sleep.
Many people that suffer from loss of sleep and depression tend to dream more than they normally would, mostly bad dreams or dreams of high tension and excitement. Have you ever woke up hitting, kicking, screaming, crying, etc? These types of dreams are common in depressive people and seem to be very real. They could be brought on by an obvious problem such as their living conditions, relationships, etc. or possibly from a traumatic event such as an abusive past. They could also be pent up feelings of frustration that the person has difficulty expressing or releasing while awake.
This type of aggressive behavior should be addressed by seeking counseling. This doesn’t mean that you are “crazy” in any way, shape or form, it only means that there are issues that are subconsciously troubling you and the only way that they can be brought out into the open is to seek the help of a professional so that you may work through it together confidentially.
Don’t take naps – Taking naps during the day can be detrimental to getting a good nights sleep. Although you may be feeling tired, you really must fight it off until you condition your body to only rest itself at night.
Depression can be a serious medical problem. Please seek medical attention if these problems continue for more than a few days.