Does Sleep Deprivation Increase the Risk of Depression and Suicidal Thinking in Adolescents?

Mental health professionals have long debated about the relationship between sleep deprivation and adolescent mental health. An article published in Medical News Today June 11, 2009, “Link Between Depression, Suicidal Thoughts and Later Parental-Mandated Bedtimes For Teens,” examines this issue. The article reports on a research abstract presented at SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. The researchers studied 15,659 adolescents. The results were very concerning. “A total of 1,143 teens (7.3 percent) suffered from depression and 2,038 (13 percent) had suicidal thoughts. Adolescents with parental-mandated bedtimes at midnight or later were 25 percent more likely to suffer from depression and 20 percent more likely to have suicidal ideation compared with adolescents who had parental-mandated bedtimes of 10 p.m. or earlier…..Adolescents with later parental-mandated bedtimes went to bed later, got less sleep, and were less likely to get enough sleep. Short sleep duration explained the relationship between parental-mandated bedtimes and depression, functioning as a risk factor for depression and suicidal ideation." There are several important implications of this study. First, bedtimes matter for adolescents. Parents of adolescents must mandate earlier bedtimes for their children or risk the development depression and suicidal thinking. Second, mental health professionals who treat adolescents who are depressed and suicidal must screen these patients for sleep deprivation. Third, school professionals should mandate a later start time for school for adolescents. Fourth, public health professionals should increase their efforts to educate parents of adolescents about the dangers of sleep deprivation. The authors conclude, “…It is a common perception and societal expectation that adolescents do not need as much sleep as preadolescents, yet studies suggests that adolescents may actually require more sleep…Studies have found that adolescents do not go to bed early enough to compensate for earlier school start times, and transitions to earlier school start times have been shown to be associated with significant sleep deprivation."

The Bottom Line: The results of this study strongly suggest that sleep deprivation can cause depression and suicidal thinking in adolescents.

Reference: Original article

Additional Sources of Information:

Check out The Parent's Guide to Understanding Adolescent Depression authored by Dr. Jeff and Dr. Tanya and now available in a great informational website hosted by Squidoo.com. Below is a sneak preview of the website's Table of Contents:

• The Definition of Adolescence
• The Definition of Depression
• What Increases the Risk of Depression in Adolescents and Young Adults?
• Does Using Placebos Harm Adolescents with Depression?
• Are Anxious and Depressed Teens and Adults the Same or Different?
• Frequently asked questions about the treatment of children and adolescents with depression and other psychiatric disorders
• Great Youtube Video on Understanding Adolescent Depression
• Great Youtube Video on What Adolescent Depression Looks Like
• Great Youtube Video on the Causes of Adolescent Depression
• Great Youtube Video on Understanding Adolescent Depression and Suicide
• Five Great Books on Adolescent Depression
• Add to Amazon's List of Great Books on Adolescent Depression
• Great Flickr Photos on Serenity for Adolescent Mental Health and Wellness
• MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Adolescent depression
• Great Blogposts on Adolescent Depression from Google
• Great Google Feeds on Adolescent Depression
• Twitter Search on Adolescent Depression
• Great Links on Adolescent Depression
• Links to Dr. Jeff's and Dr. Tanya"s Best Blogposts on Adolescent Mental Disorders
• The Best Parent Resource Guide on Teen Mental Health
• Great Articles Authored by Dr. Jeffrey Speller and Dr. Tanya Korkosz about Adolescent Depression and other Mental Disorders
• More Informative Articles by Dr. Jeffrey Speller and Dr. Tanya Korkosz about Adolescent Depression and Other Disorders
• Dr. Jeff's and Dr. Tanya's Weblog on Adolescent Depression and Other Disorders
• Follow Dr. Speller on Twitter
• The Best from The New York Times on Mental Health and Psychiatric Disorders
• Scientific American 60 Second Psychiatry
• The Latest Clinical Psychiatric News
• Dr. Jeffrey Speller's Bio
• Dr. Tanya Korkosz's Bio
• Other Great Lenses by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz
• About Psychopharmacology Associates of New England
• Location of Psychopharmacology Associates of New England
• Dr. Jeff''s and Dr. Tanya's Favorite New England Scenes
• Reader Feedback

Great Youtube Videos on Tips on How To Maintain Your Mental Health and Adolescent Depression:

Great Informational Websites Created by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz:

• Stress and the Human Brain
• Early Life Stress and the Immune System
• The Facts About Major Depressive Disorder
• The Parent's Guide to Understanding Adolescent Depression

Sources: See blogposts in Psychiatric Disorders: General and Psychiatric Disorders: Depression, Youtube

Additional Resources:

• For related articles on the Web, click on: “Sphere: Related Content” located at the bottom of this blog post.
• For related books or blog posts with related content in Dr. Jeff’s and Dr. Tanya’s Blog type in the keywords into “Google Search” located in the sidebar.
• For more books with related content, type in the keywords into “Amazon Search” on the Amazon banner located in the side bar.

Dr. Jeffrey Speller

Dr. Tanya Korkosz

Psychopharmacology Associates of New England

www.psychopharmassociates.com