Sunday, July 15, 2012

Avoiding Cold & Depression by Getting Enough Sleep

Relationship Between Physical Illnesss and Mental HealthSo at least one, but typically most, of my family have been sick with an upper respiratory infection for the past month. This happened last summer about the same time--our summer cold.  

My kids have asthma and allergies, so experience respiratory infections more severely (more frequent and longer) than most other kids, so someone is usually sick around here. Well, last night, my youngest, who has been sick the longest, and was just starting to get better, began showing cold symptoms; snot flowing nonstop from her nose. Then I started feeling it late in the evening, and had a horrible headache this morning.

For me, getting sick with a cold or the flu often precipitates an episode of depression. Physical illness and depression go together, and lack of sleep makes it worse. My husband got up with our sick daughter last night at around 2am. Then, later, when we both got up around 8am, and I started staggering around with a headache and general icky feeling, he said, "Why don't you go back to bed?" So I did, and it made all the difference. I woke up at noon (noon!) and felt pretty good.

So one more experience showing how important getting enough sleep is in battling bipolar depression, particularly when ill (and also illustrating how awesome my husband is about helping me take care of myself...Thank you!)

Are you also prone to depression when you get ill? Leave a comment and share!

Bipolar Stats:

  • Level of Mania (on scale of 1 - 10, with 1=none, 10=practically levitating): 0
  • Level of Depression (on a scale of 1 - 10, with 1=none, 10=can't get out of bed): 1
  • Medication Compliance (0 = not taking, 5=taking some, 10=taking all): 5 forgetting daytime med, Wellbutrin
I am recording my mania and depression bipolar data separately because I often have mixed episodes where manic and depressive symptoms occur at the same time.

This blog is for informational purposes only, it is not intended to be used for the treatment of mental illness. If you are having emotional troubles, please see a mental health professional, not a computer. 





4 comments:

  1. lack of sleep is a trigger, no question about it, and i have to keep reminding myself that what i am thinking/feeling is probably a symptom of my bipolar brought on by lack of sleep

    a few nights ago i couldn't sleep from anticipation of my 4 year old coming into the room in the middle of the night. the last time he woke me up he was sticking his finger in my ear

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  2. BipolarAnti -

    Do you have other children as well? Young kids are so talented at parental sleep deprivation. My youngest is 6, and she comes in our room whenever she can't sleep, or if she has a bad dream, or if there is a thunderstorm, or... We got her a trundle, so that whoever puts her back to bed can be comfortable :).

    Seroquel is what allows me to sleep. I take it before bed, and without it, I have a very hard time sleeping (and being sane in general.

    Good luck getting sleep!

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  3. Sleep disorder causes many diseases . Enough sleep is necessary to keep away from depression and other diseases.

    Negative thinking is main cause of depression.If we stay away from negative thinking then there will no depression in our life.Busy life schedule keep us away from negative thought.

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  4. Be committed to your psychotherapist; do not look for reasons to skip your sessions. If you feel a lot of reluctance to go then this should be discussed during your next session Read More for more info.

    ReplyDelete