4 Troubled Teens Blog

Teenagers who go to bed after midnight are 24 percent more likely to become depressed, according to a new study from Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

• The researchers also found that teenagers who sleep five hours or less are 70 percent more likely to be depressed and 50 percent more likely to attempt suicide.
• Dr. James Gangwisch used data on 15,659 adolescents enrolled in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
  
• The average teenager sleeps seven hours 53 minutes per night, about one hour less than the nine recommended by physicians.
  

Insomnia can be a symptom of depression, Dr. Gangwisch noted. Inadequate sleep is also linked to a higher rate of accidents, lower productivity, and increased daytime fatigue.

Labels: depression, mental_health, sleep

Posted By: Aspen/CRC