Will Depression Make You Sleepy?

Features of Depression

There are several symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder. These can include a change in appetite, sleeping less (insomnia) or much more (hypersomnia), a feeling of hopelessness, low self-esteem, and thoughts of suicide. If you have been experiencing any suicidal thoughts, reach out for help immediately. You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

It is also very common for someone experiencing depression to notice reduced motivation. For those with more severe depression, the individual may not want to get out of bed and may not tend to obligations or hygiene. Some people who feel “sleepy” when depressed may sleep throughout the day, or the person, despite feeling “sleepy” and having low energy and low ambition, may actually not sleep much at all.

The Cycle of Depression

Depression can follow unfortunate situations in a person’s life, such as a loss (losing a relationship, losing a job, a death), etc. Still, for others, depressive episodes seem to occur more randomly. Regardless, it can be challenging to lift oneself out of a depressive episode. The primary challenge is depression indeed does often make people feel “sleepy.” Because the individual has low motivation, low energy, and a sense of hopelessness, they may isolate. He may be irritable and want to be left alone, pushing support away or not reaching out for help. This is all problematic because we know that having strong social support, exercise, eating healthy foods, praying or participating in other spiritual activities, working on accomplishing goals, and being active in doing activities that we enjoy can help end the depressive episode. Instead of choosing these positive activities, someone experiencing a depressive episode may be tempted to engage in behaviors that can further perpetuate the depression, such as self-harming, abusing substances, cutting off relationships, staying indoors (so not getting sunlight), breaking exercise routines, and overeating. You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What to Do

When feeling depressed, you may feel that you need more sleep, and that is fine. However, it is important to compel yourself to try to do some of the abovementioned strategies for taking care of yourself, even when it is not easy. Reach out for support even when you want to be left alone, tell your support people to check on you, and encourage support people to hold you accountable to participate in helpful activities and take care of yourself. Set short-term, easily accomplishable goals. Reach out to a therapist even when you may not feel like it. Depressive episodes are temporary, and you can lift yourself out.