Lack of sleep can cause severe mental health problems

Experts are exploring the link between sleep and mental health
A sufficient amount of sleep is important for the body and mind. Researchers now found that lack of sleep may be a potential cause of mental health problems. These include, for example, depression and anxiety.

Researchers at the internationally recognized University of Oxford and other research institutes found that lack of sleep can cause anxiety, depression, paranoia and hallucinations. The researchers published the results of their study in the journal "The Lancet Psychology".

Does a lack of sleep affect the mental health of those affected? (Image: Sven Vietense / fotolia.com)

Cognitive behavioral therapy improves sleep and mental health
When subjects participated in a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) course specifically designed to treat insomnia, not only did their sleep improve, but they also reduced paranoia, hallucinations, depression and anxiety, the experts explain.

Physicians examine people with sleep problems
Sleep problems are either a symptom of psychological problems or the latter are a secondary consequence of lack of sleep, explains author Professor Daniel Freeman of the University of Oxford. The study analyzed the relationship between sleep and mental health with the help of online surveys, attended by students from 26 universities. Later, individuals were invited to participate in the study when it was determined by the web-based questionnaire that they were suffering from insomnia.

Scientists are studying more than 3,700 subjects
In total, more than 3,700 students enrolled in the study. The participants were then divided into two groups. One group participated in an online course of six 20-minute KVT sessions designed to treat insomnia. The second group received no treatment. Both groups performed an online assessment of their condition at the start of the study, three weeks later, ten weeks later and 22 weeks later.

After ten weeks, insomnia was reduced by half for the KVT group
The results showed that improvements in both sleep and mental health were greater for members of the KVT group compared to the control group. After considering non-treatment-related implications, scientists found that insomnia was already halved by participants in the KVT group after ten weeks. Fears and depression had fallen by a fifth. Occurring paranoia was reduced by 25 percent, hallucinations decreased by 30 percent.

There is a connection between sleep and mental health
Insomnia doubles the likelihood of developing depression, and treatment for insomnia also reduces onset of depression. There was a very high failure rate in the study, which was about 50 percent. Only 18 percent of participants from the treatment group participated in all six CBT meetings. Despite these failures, a kind of pattern was nevertheless recognizable, explains author Freeman. The results of the study show that there is a link between sleep and mental health. In addition, mental illness affects our sleep habits, if only to a lesser extent.

Insomnia can be treated successfully
While most participants did not have clinically diagnosed mental disorders, scientists believe that insomnia is also a factor in severe mental health problems. The results of the study show that CBT programs against insomnia can do much more than improve people's sleep. Insomnia can be treated successfully and it also improves their psychological health, the author explains. (As)