Do You Suffer from Depression or Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome?

Common signs of depression include:

- exhaustion upon waking and difficulty falling asleep

- disrupted sleep, often due to vivid, graphic dreams

- difficulty concentrating

- decreased energy

- decreased pleasure

- anxiety and irritability

Oddly, these signs, recognized by laypeople and clinicians alike, are the same for depression and Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome. This close relationship between the two often leads to confusing misdiagnosis and further complications due to ineffective treatment. Complications from DSPS may lead to depression, just as complications from depression may lead to DSPS. In fact, 90% of people diagnosed with clinical depression are also diagnosed with a sleep disorder. So how do you recognize if you have DSPS, depression, or both? If you do have both, then which is which?

DSPS is a disruption in circadian rhythms which regulate the body's biological clock and sleep-wake patterns. The disruption caused by DSPS is described as being "out-of phase" of sleep patterns. The "delay" part comes into play when a person's sleep onset time is late at night, usually around 3 a.m. or so. Naturally following these out-of-phase patterns (going to sleep late at night and getting a full 8-10 hours sleep), an individual with DSPS will keep the symptoms at bay, but attempting to follow a 9-5 work schedule interferes with the daily schedule. Imposing an earlier sleep time on an individual with DSPD, for example going to bed at 10 p.m expecting to sleep to 6 a.m. versus sleeping from 3 a.m. to 1 p.m, will lead to sleep onset insomnia, inability to sleep before the body's specified time, or restless non-REM sleep. Attempting to adhere to a schedule different from the body's rhythms puts stress on the body and not being able to sleep and wake at desired times subsequently leads to anxiety. This stress and anxiety, in turn, may cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, irregular eating habits, and even full-blown depression.

Receiving treatment for depression and still hitting the snooze button? You may have DSPS.

Credit: Weight-control Information Network (WIN)

Copyright: WIN