“Economic insomnia” is one more complication of America’s financial meltdown, and psychiatric experts warn that it could be making us crazy. People are losing sleep worrying about job loss, foreclosure and bankruptcy. The longer the recession continues, the greater the chance that the financial boogeyman will creep out of the closet and steal away our ability to provide basic necessities for our families. Nearly everyone knows someone who has lost their job to economic demons, and most of us have had to make lifestyle changes. Worry is making for a lot of restless nights. Researchers warn that lack 0f sleep increases the risk of depression and other serious psychiatric conditions.
“When you are tired, when you’re worn out, then everything becomes more of a challenge for you,” Dr. Adam Moscovitch, medical director of the Canadian Sleep Institute in Toronto, told Calgary Herald reporter Sharon Kirkey in an April 12, 2009 online article. “Your confidence is affected, your ability to trust yourself. So there is a higher likelihood you’ll be ruminating about, are you doing things right? It significantly affects, from the psychologic standpoint, the [risk] of mental illness developing.”
Researchers have proven that lack of sleep has a negative impact on physical and mental health. People who get six hours of sleep or less per night increase their risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Chronic sleeplessness weakens the immune system, causes changes in appetite, interferes with sexual interest, decreases the ability to concentrate, and negatively affects function and judgment. Growing evidence indicates that not getting enough sleep can also trigger mental illness, particularly depression, anxiety and mood disorders.
In a 20-year study of 591 young adults published in 2008 in the journal Sleep, Dr. Daniel Buysse of the University of Pittsburgh found that insomnia lasting two weeks or longer often triggered depression. The link between sleep and mental health appears to reside in the amygdala, the brain area that governs emotions. Harvard Medical School and the University of California-Berkeley researchers found that sleeplessness stimulates the amygdala, causing increased brain activity associated with depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses.
Because of the risk to mental and physical health, chronic insomnia that persists for weeks or months at a time should never be ignored. If worry is regularly interfering with your sleep, talk to your health professional today.
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