Depression Related To Lack of Sleep

In a study conducted by scientists at Columbia University, it was discovered that teenagers who slept less, were more likely to be depressed. Despite generations of parents urging their children to go bed on time, it seems that a lot of them chose to ignore their parent’s pleas, and by their own fault, have increased their chance of having to deal with depression related issues. Teenagers, who are allowed to sleep later, are usually the ones who are also sleeping less, because despite their bedtime, they still have to wake up at the same time, if they are attending school. Studies showed that depression was 24% more likely to occur in teens that went to sleep at ten, then teens that went to sleep at ten. Association was higher between depression issues and teens that went to sleep later, before experts controlled out the parent’s marital issues, and the poverty of the family in question. In a related study conducted at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the University of California, Berkeley, scientists attempted to find the correlation between lack of sleep and depression. During brain scans, a group of sleep-deprived, but otherwise healthy people were shown to have increased activity in the brain’s emotional center (the amygdala) and decreased activity in the area of the brain that makes us rational (prefrontal cortex), the same changes that occur in people who are affected by depression related issues.

This is related to biological concepts because the brain is a vital part of human biology. The way the brain is affected by lack of sleep, and the possible side effects that occur due to that lack of sleep are also significant. The way different parts of the brain work and the changes in the amount of activity that occur in the brain are also interrelated with the biological concepts of it all.

We should care because now that we have this information, we can utilize it. As teenagers, I’m sure that a lot of us have suffered from depression related issues, and maybe these issues can start to be resolved if we get a healthier amount of sleep. The truth is, as we grow older, we continue to disregard the rules that have been preset for our safety and health, and we have to realize there are consequences to our actions. Depression is a huge issue, especially in teenagers, and if we’re not careful, the problem could escalate.

Source: Lite, Jordan. “Less Sleep Linked to Blues in Teens.” Scientific American Mind. July 2010.

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