Have you ever felt that sadness weighs on your heart at night? Have you ever wondered why negative thoughts come to you when the weather is dark, and you cannot eliminate them? Nocturnal depression is one of the common problems in modern societies. In this article, we examine the causes of nocturnal depression, tell about its difference from clinical depression, and provide solutions to deal with this problem. Stay with us until the end of the article.
Symptoms of clinical depression and its difference from nocturnal depression
Clinical depression has severe symptoms, changes mood, and disrupts a person’s daily activities. Feeling sad at night is not always a symptom of clinical depression, but it may be one of the symptoms of this disease. Clinical depression has other symptoms besides feeling depressed at night. If you have had some or all of these symptoms all day and almost all days of the last two weeks and have not gotten better, you need to see a psychologist or psychiatrist. Symptoms of clinical depression include:
- Sleep problems such as sleeping more than usual or difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep;
- eating less or more than usual;
- weight loss or gain;
- Losing interest in activities that you used to enjoy;
- lack of energy and constant fatigue;
- Not being able to do everyday tasks such as brushing and showering;
- headache, stomach ache, and other pains that do not have a clear cause and for which treatment solutions are useless;
- high irritability;
- constant feeling of sadness;
- feeling intense anxiety ;
- feeling hopeless ;
- excessive crying;
- restlessness;
- feeling alone and isolated;
- feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and helplessness ;
- difficulty concentrating;
- Suicidal thoughts or attempts.
Causes of nocturnal depression
Knowing this disease and its causes makes you better deal with it. In the first place, you should try to curb nighttime depression by making changes in your lifestyle, but if you fail, it is better to see a mental health specialist. If the specialist diagnoses you with depression, he will design a treatment plan that fits your condition. In the following, we have examined the leading causes of night depression.
1. body clock
The body clock tells the body when to be alert and rest. The hypothalamus of the brain regulates this clock. Most people’s body clock considers 2 to 4 in the morning as midnight and 1 to 3 in the afternoon. You have the least energy and need to sleep during these two times.
When your body clock is disrupted, your sleeping and waking times change, and the quality of your sleep decreases. As a result, you feel sad.
Factors such as light and darkness affect the body clock. To solve this problem, you must have a specific sleep routine and practice sleeping and waking up at a particular time so that your body clock is adjusted again.
2. Rumination
Most people with depression ruminate about past events. They review past events for hours in their minds and try to understand the events or imagine what could have been a different result if the circumstances had changed. Depression makes you focus on adverse events, and therefore, rumination exacerbates depression.
Rumination is an essential symptom of nocturnal depression. When you are alone and unemployed, rumination starts, so it is natural to have it at night. If you meditate before bed, take it seriously. Rumination is a sign of your dissatisfaction with life and will have psychological effects in the long run. For example, some people have problems in their work environment. They dread getting up in the morning, going to work, and meditating before bed.
3. Being exposed to light
Researchers have conducted several studies to understand the relationship between ambient light and depression. According to one of these studies, exposure to artificial light aggravates the symptoms of depression in older people. According to this research, it is likely that this factor is not the only cause of night depression, but it plays a role in its occurrence.
The risk of exposure to artificial light is more severe for younger people because their eyes are more sensitive, and even a tiny amount of light during the night can disrupt their sleep cycle. Disruption of the sleep cycle changes your mood and worsens symptoms of depression at night.
To solve this problem, it is better to be less exposed to artificial light at night. If you live in a busy city, use thick curtains for your windows and rest your eyes before sleeping. During this time, put away your TV and mobile phone and do not look at the screens. According to research, blue light from screens reduces melatonin in the body and disrupts sleep.
4. Sleep personality type
Do you consider yourself a morning owl or a night owl? The amount of sleep, time, and wakefulness are partly related to the personality type of sleep. Much research has been done on the sleep personality type of people and its effect on depression. In the study, the condition of more than 32,000 women with an average age of 55 years who had never experienced depression and their sleep time was different was investigated. In this research, women were divided into three groups: People who slept early and were early risers, those who had average sleep hours, and women who were nocturnal and woke up late in the morning.
This research lasted for four years, and during this period, about 2500 participants suffered from depression. According to this research, the probability of depression in women who get up early was 12% less than women who sleep later. Nocturnal people were 6% more prone to depression than others.
The result of the research was not that nightlife causes depression, but it showed a relationship between sleep personality type and depression. This relationship should be investigated according to genetics and environmental conditions.
Sleep personality type is a biological trait that we cannot easily change. As you get older, your sleep personality type may change, which depends on your genetics. To deal with this problem, it is better to know your sleep personality type, accept it, and try to maintain your health by following it. Regular daily exercise and exposure to the sun in the early hours of the day improve sleep and reduce the possibility of depression at night.
5. Loneliness
Feeling lonely causes sadness at night. If your social relationships are limited and you don’t have friends outside of work or school, you will feel more lonely at night. Loneliness is one of the underlying severe factors of depression. People with depression isolate themselves, and this increases the feeling of loneliness. As a result, their depression increases.
6. severe fatigue
Daily physical activity can make you very tired. This fatigue makes some people sleep more quickly, but in others, it increases the symptoms of depression. To solve this problem, it is better to eat healthy snacks during the day and take a short rest between your physical activities so that your body is not too tired.
If you feel that you are always tired and never feel refreshed, it is better to discuss this with your doctor to ensure you do not have a specific disease such as chronic fatigue syndrome.
The relationship between sleep and depression
Insomnia is one of the underlying factors of depression. Those who sleep hard are more prone to depression. People who have insomnia and depression are more likely to suffer from clinical depression, and it is more difficult to treat their depression.
Sleep problems affect mood and make a person feel more sad. Insomnia can make you feel painful even when you’re not depressed.
Dealing with nocturnal depression
1. Create positive thoughts
You can fill your mind with positive thoughts by doing enjoyable hobbies, so there is no room for negative thoughts. Writing, playing an instrument, drawing and painting, meditation, and prayer create positive feelings in your brain, and there is no more space left for negative thoughts to crawl.
2. Overcoming negative thoughts and solving problems
People who have ruminations constantly review past events in their minds. In addition, they engage in thoughts that make them feel helpless. They always think about why things happen and think, “Why did this happen to me?” or “What’s wrong with me that I can’t deal with?”
Experts say it is better to take steps to overcome your problems in this situation. Instead of letting your mind repeat the past, try to think straight and identify the best solution. For this, you can call a friend and ask him for help. Getting ideas from others and hearing their opinions will help you regain strength and make you feel less helpless.
3. Increase self-esteem
Think of ways to boost your self-worth. What are you good at? What do you enjoy? Try new things and find your passion. Learning a new sport or instrument or participating in an online workshop that appeals to you will make you contemplate less. These activities increase your self-esteem and help you deal with nighttime depression.
4. Sleep hygiene practice
To deal with insomnia and depression, you must observe sleep hygiene. By practicing and repeating small tasks, create a correct night routine for yourself so that you think less about adverse events and your problems. For this, do not go to bed until you are exhausted. If you can’t sleep, read a book or magazine in another environment and go to bed when you feel sleepy.
According to research, it is better to keep your room completely dark so that ambient lights do not disturb your sleep. Choose thick curtains for the bedroom and don’t leave the TV on at night. In addition, it is better not to be exposed to screens before sleep. At least 2 hours before bedtime, turn off your TV, mobile phone, and electronic devices. The blue light emitted from the screen reduces sleep quality and disturbs sleep.
Treatment of nocturnal depression
There are different ways to treat nocturnal depression. It would be best to find a combination of these solutions that suits you and your lifestyle. In the first step, seeing a mental health specialist is better. The expert will determine a comprehensive solution for you, with the help of which you can overcome this problem.
1. Psychotherapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a popular treatment for depression. In this method, the expert therapist helps you to solve the problem of rumination and negative thoughts with self-help strategies and provides you with practical solutions to treat depression, rumination, anxiety, and other mental health problems. During therapy sessions, the therapist will help you deal with your nighttime depression by solving your old mental challenges.
2. drug therapy
If your specialist diagnoses you with depression, he may prescribe medication along with psychotherapy sessions. Common drugs for the treatment of depression are from the family of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. By increasing serotonin in the brain, these drugs improve your mood and treat insomnia and depression.
3. changing lifestyle
By making changes in your lifestyle and daily schedule, you can reduce the feeling of sadness at night. These changes also improve the quality of night sleep; For example, regular exercise enhances the feeling of happiness and reduces anxiety. In addition, a balanced diet is also helpful in relieving symptoms of depression.
last word
If you feel depressed at night, know that you are not alone. Today, many people struggle with nighttime depression. You can deal with this problem by understanding the causes of nighttime sadness and making changes in your lifestyle or seeing a professional therapist to help you control nighttime depression.
If you also feel depressed at night, write us about your experience and share this article with your friends.
Warning! This article is only for educational purposes;d to use it, it is necessary to consult a doctor or specialist.
