I ran across an article, I don't remember where, about the use of sleep deprivation to treat depression.
What? Sleep deprivation to treat depression? The article caught my attention because a) I’ve been suffering mild to moderate depression for the past several years and b) the concept is contrary to everything I'd ever heard about sleep and depression.
Haven’t we all been drilled on the importance of getting 8-9 hours of sleep every night, and the damaging side effects associated with any less? I’m a contrarian by nature and skeptical of most “widely held” beliefs, so the subject was begging me to do a little research.
To tell the truth, my quest for scientific proof of the benefits of sleep deprivation as a cure for depression has been a little underwhelming. Several decades ago, sleep restriction methods were commonly used to treat severe depression. Studies show that, for a deeply depressed person, sleep deprivation provides a dramatic mood lift. There's nothing conclusive, that I could find, as to why this is the case. Over the past 30 years or so, treatment lost popularity because the effects, though dramatic, were temporary. Once the patient received even a short nap, the depression returned and, sometimes, was even more severe than before.
Exactly why lack of sleep would be mood lifting (again, in the severely depressed) is not known, but may have something to do with the way glucose is metabolized in the brain. There's a renewed interest, over the past few years, in the use of sleep deprivation combined with drug therapy which has shown some promise.
Speaking of drugs, here's an interesting article from www.drmcdougall.com (Dr. John McDougall, author of The McDougall Program: 12 Days to Dynamic Health) which provides some insight into why we are being told that we don't get enough sleep.
You will most commonly learn that the standard sleep requirements for adults is about 8 hours - more for children, less for older people. Lately, I've been reading recommendations that stretch the requirement to 9 to 10 hours for the average adult.
Alternative medicine – naturopathic, holistic healing – has long been of interest to me. Just off the top of my head, without exception, proponents of alternative medicine recommend less sleep, rather than more - something along the lines of 4-6 hours per night.
I asked our Chiropractor what he thought about my giving up some sleep to increase my daily productivity. He recommended that I sleep from 10PM to 2AM, stating that those were, generally, the most critical hours of sleep and the most beneficial to one's health.
There are several schools of thought on methods of sleep restriction, almost all of which include regularly scheduled sleep time.
The polyphasic (also knows as Da Vinci) sleep pattern consists of 25-45 minute naps throughout the day for a total of 2-5 hours of sleep daily. This works for some people, but for the majority of folks who live a normal life, the schedule is impractical.
A biphasic method splits your daily sleep into - you guessed it - 2 blocks. You take one 90 minute nap - the length of a normal sleep cycle and then a 3-4 hour block 8 or so hours later. This is a little more practical but, again, not for everyone.
This week I decided to put myself on a new schedule - in bed and asleep by 10PM, wake-up alarm set for 3:30 AM. Interestingly, for the past two nights on my schedule, I've naturally awakened at around 1:00 AM. I wasn't quite brave enough to jump out of bed and start my day on only 3 hours of sleep, but I found that getting back to sleep until my 3:30 alarm has been difficult, and the sleep fitful.
Right now, it's 7:00 AM and I've been up since 3:30. I've completed 1 hour of Bible study, 30 minutes of exercise, showered, dressed (with make-up) and have been researching and writing. At 7:30 I'll get the boys up to get ready for school.
Yesterday, I got 5 1/2 hours of sleep at night (10PM to 3:30AM) and took a 1 hour nap in the early afternoon. I think the nap was too long, as I did not feel refreshed - or even good - afterwards. Today, I'm going to cut my nap down to 25-30 minutes and see how that goes.
Keys to getting a good nights sleep:
1. Stick to a schedule. Get to sleep by 10PM with an alarm set for 2:00AM. Your body will soon adjust to the new pattern; you will fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply.
2. Don't exercise right before bedtime, but do exercise a little each day.
3. Don't drink fluids after 8:00 PM.
4. Don’t overload on caffeine or alcohol, and never consume either right before bedtime.
5. Don't watch T.V. at bedtime.
Good night, sleep tight and don’t let those bedbugs bite!
References:
“How Much Sleep do You Really Need?” http://www.webmd.com/content/article/62/71838.htm
“Sleep Hygiene: Solutions for Better Sleep” http://www.webmd.com/content/article/62/71839.htm
“Is Sleep Deprivation Useful in the Treatment of Depression?” http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/149/2/159
“Partial Sleep Deprivation as Therapy for Depression” http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/37/3/267
“Little Sleep Loss Goes a Long Way in Depressed” http://www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p5m-dp05.html