Sleep Apnea and Your Mental Health

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Sleep apnea is a serious medical condition that threatens your health. If left untreated, it can lead to strokes, heart attacks, and other hazardous medical conditions.

 

What many people don’t realize is that sleep apnea can also impact your mental health. In fact, there’s now a body of research linking sleep apnea to depression as well as anxiety disorders including PTSD, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.

 

The type of sleep you’re getting is closely related to your mental health. It can be difficult to get the right diagnosis for your sleep disorder because many psychological conditions share common symptoms with sleep apnea.

Conditions That Are Linked to Sleep Apnea

Comorbidity is the situation where a patient suffers from two or more conditions occurring at the same time. When two conditions are comorbid, it can intensify the symptoms of both conditions.

Sleep apnea is known to be comorbid with the following psychological issues:

 

• • Depression -- Research indicates that there’s a “strong correlation between depression and the prevalent disorder of sleep apnea.” It’s very common for patients with depression to report having sleep problems.

 

It’s essential to find out if your symptoms are the result of depression, sleep apnea, or both because “sleep apnea may be causing or contributing to your depression.”

 

• • Anxiety and PTSD -- According to Harvard Health Publishing, sleep problems frequently occur in patients who suffer from several types of anxiety disorders, including “50% of adult patients with generalized anxiety disorder” and “it’s also common in those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and may occur in panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias.”

 

The good news is that treating a patient’s sleep apnea will help relieve their symptoms, making other conditions easier to manage. It’s been noted that “the co-occurrence of sleep apnea and anxiety has also been found to markedly diminish as it is managed through medical treatment.”

 

• • Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are also comorbid with sleep apnea. Excessive daytime sleepiness is a common symptom of schizophrenia and the drugs used to treat the condition can also make patients drowsy. Medications prescribed for bipolar disorder can also disrupt the patient’s sleep schedule.

Getting the Right Diagnosis

If you or the people around you notice signs of sleep apnea such as heavy snoring and daytime fatigue, call Dr. Christopher Henninger right away at West Coast Snore and Sleep Apnea Solutions in Vista.

 

Dr. Henninger is an experienced sleep dentist. He’s a member of both the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine and the California Sleep Society. He’ll make sure you get the right diagnosis and treatment for your sleep apnea and snoring issues.

 

Call our office in Vista at (760) 666-6554 today to schedule your consultation with Dr. Henninger. You don’t have to suffer from the adverse effects of sleep apnea any longer. We’ll provide you with the treatment you need.

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