Tired of feeling low: exploring the link between insomnia and depression

If you’ve ever had a bad night’s sleep, you’ll know how grotty you feel the next day.

It’s common for people not to sleep well during times of worry or change, but as long as that period doesn’t last too long, you can usually move forward without much harm done.  

For most people, a few days without sleep will be more annoying than anything else, you may notice subtle changes in your mood or concentration (people may describe you as grumpy or forgetful) but once you’ve recouped your sleep, you’ll probably feel fine.

When it comes to poor mental health, insomnia – essentially trouble falling asleep or staying asleep – is a common symptom, but it may even be the cause. This then becomes a vicious cycle, we can’t sleep so it affects our mood, and our mood affects our sleep. Going without sleep can also affect our memory and our immune system; and again this can have an impact on your mental health, especially if you’re always feeling run down or persistently coming down with coughs and colds.

You may have had problems sleeping for years but this has gone without treatment or attention; you may have only just started to recognise that periods of insomnia run parallel to your low mood.  

What Causes Poor Sleep?

I talk about this at length in my book Answers In The Dark, because for me there are many reasons, many of them rooted in bereavement and loss. I explain that grief doesn’t just belong to death, we can grieve for anything that mattered to us that’s no longer there.

So lack of sleep could be caused by:

• A bereavement or loss of something important like a job or relationship;
• Financial pressures
• Physical illness or injury;
• Medication
• Trauma that happened to you or someone close;
• A belief  that sleep is “bad”, a sign of laziness or something to control (so we keep it to the bare minimum).

You’ll notice in the list above I haven’t yet mentioned caffeine, this is where many people talk about Sleep Hygiene (you might like my video on this below). Sleep Hygiene is essentially habits we have during the day that can impact our sleep at night. This can also include our environment, lifestyle or routine. But one of the things I explain in Answers In The Dark is that people who have recurring problems sleeping have tried everything to help them sleep better – and do all the right things (like drinking less coffee) – and still can’t sleep. This is why it can be so helpful to look not so much what you’re doing during the day that’s stopping you sleeping, but what’s happening to you.

So we know that lack of sleep affects our mood, and ironically our mood affects our quality of sleep. It make sense to prioritise managing this, and look at practical things that can help (like not eating or exercising close to bedtime) but also consider some solution focused ideas to manage the difficulties you may be having that might be showing up in your sleep or dreams at night. Always speak to your doctor if you’re worried about your well-being or how lack of sleep is affecting your health.

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Delphi is the author of Answers In The Dark: Grief, Sleep and How Dreams Can Help You Heal, out now on Amazon and Hive.  The Dreams Maven™ is part of the Helping You Sparkle™ portfolio.  You might also like Monday Mojo™.

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© Delphi Ellis, updated 2023 – please note this content may also appear elsewhere as promotional material for Answers In The Dark.