Everything you need to know about oversleeping and mental health is important to you. If you have been feeling a lot sleepy since you have last broken up and the world felt apart for you, it is time for you to understand the link between the two. For more clarity, don't forget to pay attention to the article until the end so you know everything about oversleeping and depression.
Is anything wrong with oversleeping?
It is fine when you oversleep when it is required. These cases can be when you have missed your sleep or you have had an interrupted sleep. You can oversleep also when you are sick or it is just the effect of medications. You might have just got done with a lot of workloads or you exercised a lot after numerous days.
Oversleeping is not something you should worry about in these cases. Oversleeping is a sign that you are not having quality sleep. It is only a topic of concern when everything is fine with your daily sleep schedule and your physical activity levels are normal. It can be a symptom of depression or sleep disorders like narcolepsy or sleep apnea. The intention is not to scare you but only to alert you that you are at a high risk of heart diseases, diabetes, and obesity. You are also at a high risk of dying early.
What are the oversleeping causes?
The causes of your oversleeping can be the intake of alcohol or drugs as they interfere with the circadian rhythms of the sleep that disrupts the quality of your sleep. In addition to it, your medical conditions and neurological disorders like Alzheimer's disease, brain injuries, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease can also lead you to hypersomnia. There are several lifestyle factors too that may not give you enough time to sleep at night and hence you tend to oversleep.
Can your medications lead you to sleep a lot? Indeed, your antidepressants, sedatives, tranquilizers, anticonvulsants, antipsychotics, anti-anxiety medications, and antihistamines can cause oversleeping. Have you felt that your overweight can cause oversleeping? Well, you are right. Apart from these causes, epilepsy and genetic disorders can also be a cause. Along with it, you are more likely to oversleep if any of your parents do so too. It is because it can be passed on through genes. When you tend to wake up in the middle of the night for some reason, it hampers your sleep quality thereby making you oversleep. Thyroid issues, depression, and sleep disorders can also lead you to sleep a lot.
What are the effects of oversleeping on your mental health?
Oversleeping side effects include poor memory and have a hard time trying to concentrate. You also experience grogginess throughout the day. You have no motivation to wake up from bed. It can be a sign of depression among teenagers. Research has also found that a major number of adults with depression tend to oversleep. Studies also show that those who have slept a lot which is called hypersomnia and those who don’t sleep at all, that is also known as insomnia, they are likely to have impulse control disorder, substance use disorder, increased severity of depression, bipolar disorder and thoughts related to suicide. You will also feel low energy and anxiety.
Would it affect your body too? You can also have other physical impacts such as headaches, the stomach ache that may disturb your mental peace. Due to a lack of memory, concentration, and anxiety, those who oversleep are at high risk of accidents. You can also harm yourself when you are carrying something heavy since you are low on energy.
How to stop oversleeping?
You need to consult your doctor if you are not sleeping for an ample amount of hours for six weeks. You will be questioned about your lifestyle, diet, health, medications, and other habits. There will be various tests and reports taken to ensure that you are not suffering from any physical ailment. When it is confirmed that you don’t have any other diseases, the doctor will diagnose your oversleeping through the use of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale.
The doctor will also ask you to maintain a sleep diary where you note down the sleep schedule, timings, and patterns of your sleep. The doctor will also take your polysomnogram where you will be in a sleep center for a night. You will be attached to a monitor that will measure your heart rate, pulse rate, leg movement, brain activity, and eye movement. Followed by this will be a multiple sleep latency test that will measure the sleep during your daytime naps.
You need to be vigilant of your sleep quality and the tiredness that you experience even after sleeping adequately. You can also drink alcohol in fewer quantities when you are about to go to bed. It is significant for you to keep a fixed sleep schedule. Several apps will help you to test your sleep quality and your circadian rhythms.
Hence, this is everything you need to know about oversleeping and depression. How to recover from sleeping too much? All you need to do is to improvise the environment that you sleep in. Ensure that your bedroom is cold, quiet, and dark. You can also use a white noise machine or noise cancellation earphones just in case your locality is noisy. Do not forget to get a mattress and pillow in which you are comfortable. There should not be children and pets that are more likely to disturb your goodnight sleep. It is necessary to avoid watching television or mobile phones before you sleep.
You should also prevent exercising and drinking caffeinated beverages or edibles just before you go to sleep. You need to self-monitor your life and bring sleep discipline into it. Simply taking medications and going to the doctor religiously is not going to help you. It is only you whose adherence to better lifestyle habits can prevent you from the danger of other mental and physical problems.