Sleep Apnea Is Tied to Depression?

Sleep Apnea Is Tied to Depression

The first study to show arelationship between depression and sleep apnea found thatindividuals with depression are 5 times more likelyto have a breathing-related sleep disorder, compared withnon-depressed people. The association between the2 conditions remained strong even aftercontrolling for obesity and hypertension. These findings werepublished in theJournal of Clinical Psychiatry (November2003).

To investigate the impact ofdepression and sleep apnea in the general population, theresearchers conducted a telephone survey of >18,000adults in 5 European countries. The participants answeredquestions on sleep quality and schedules,breathing-related sleep disorders, mental disorders, andmedical conditions. The results showed that 2.1% of therespondents had sleep apnea and 2.5% had anothertype of breathing-related sleep disorder. Participants whowere experiencing a depressive disorder (18%, or 4% ofall the participants) also had a breathing-related sleepdisorder, compared with 3.8% of non-depressedparticipants.