Depression: cause or consequence?

[anthrax]

I have suffered from depression since i was in elementry school, but never knew what was wrong with me.
Three years ago my ex left me and my kids. It left me with debts i could not pay, i had to quit the job i loved, and left me to question why i should even go on living. If it wasn't for my kids, i would not be here typing.

Anyway, i went to my doctor when the thoughts of suicide became too much to handle. I was told that i had a chemical imbalance that had to do with Seritonin levels ( spelling?) Depression does not cause the imbalance. Anyway i went on a prescription of Paxil and Amitryptelene ( spelling? ) and it fixed me right up. But because i do not believe in taking any medication i don't have to and because i was feeling pretty good after 3 months; i quit the treatment that shouldn't have been any shorter than 9 months.

I had a bit of a relapse but no where near as bad as the first time so i went back to my Dr. He actually went on to say that my depression was linked directly to my sleeping habbits. I was re-diagnosed with mild depression due to Sleep Apneia, and was treated for the sleep disorder alone. Wouldn't you know he was right. I didn't need the Paxil at all, i just needed some solid REM sleep.

Anyway, new research is finding that some forms of depression as well as other disorders, are directly linked to sleeping. If your not getting enough quality REM sleep, it plays hell on body chemistry. Sleep will effect these chemicals ( so will diet and exercise ) but depression itself does nothing to the chemicals themselves. Depression is only a result of the lack of or too much of these chemicals.

Great post!
Thx for the info

I knew sleep plays a role but I didn't imagine it would be such an important one

BTW, I hope everything is OK for you now

 

[StormDragon]

Doing much better these days, thanks. Hope things are good for you as well.

 

[MikeMartial]

I knew sleep plays a role but I didn't imagine it would be such an important one

Interesting 2 cents to add:

Insomnia was the first sign of my depression; took many months and a few visits to the doc to get on the right track.

It can be vicious cycle:

depression = lack of sleep = exacerbation of depression = full blown insomnia = etc, etc

 

[glennds]

i was told i have reactive depression. it's brought on by trauma and bad experiences.

sounds like psychobabble. depression can be caused by bad experiences, such as loss of job, divorce, death in family. don't need some fancy name to describe it.