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

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Lack of sleep may cause depression in teenagers, according to Dr. Allison Harvey, a psychologist at the University of California. Previously, most experts believed that depression caused lack of sleep.

• Dr. Harvey noted that one in five teenagers experiences depression -- and of that group, one in three will not respond to treatment.
• She and her colleagues are studying 60 middle and high school students at the UC Sleep and Psychological Disorders Laboratory.
• If their theories are correct, sleep could become a treatment option for depressed teenagers.

Studies show that very few teenagers get the recommended nine hours of sleep per night; in fact, the average is seven hours of nightly shuteye.

Labels: depression, mental_health, sleep

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People who call themselves video game addicts are more likely to be sleepy during the day, according to a new study from the University of Arkansas.

Dr. Amanda Woolems and her colleagues studied 137 students, of whom 12 percent classified themselves as being addicted to playing games on computers or consoles.

"Our statistics revealed that those who admitted addiction scored higher on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale," Dr. Woolems said during her presentation at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. "It surprised us, however, that of the people who admitted being addicted to gaming, only about a third of them recognized it as an interference with sleep."

Failure to get adequate amounts of sleep and spending excessive amounts of time playing video games have both been associated with a number of unhealthy outcomes among adolescents and teenagers.

Labels: video_games, sleep, teens

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Teens that don't get enough sleep on a regular basis are at greater risk of having suicidal thoughts and attempting suicide, according to recent studies. Dr. Zianchen Liu of Arizona State University's Prevention Research Center analyzed survey results from 1,362 junior and senior high school students. The surveys questioned the teens about their sleep patterns and their suicidal behavior.

"The students generally reported getting about 7.6 hours of sleep each night. And, study findings show, the less sleep the adolescents had, the more likely they were to report having attempted suicide. Those who slept less than eight hours each night were about three times more likely to attempt suicide than those who slept a minimum of nine hours."

Nightmares also increased the likelihood that teens would have suicidal thoughts - they were twice as likely to consider suicide than teens that didn't experience nightmares. Ideally, adolescents should get nine hours of sleep each night. Parents who know their teens aren't getting enough sleep should watch for signs of depression or anxiety. A parent that notices suicidal warning signs - like a teen giving away prized possessions - should contact a psychologist or psychiatrist right away.

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Labels: suicide, sleep, teens

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One in every three children or teenagers undergoing psychiatric care has trouble sleeping, according to a new study from Hasbro Children's Hospital in Rhode Island. Their doctors are very likely to recommend sleeping pills.

• Dr. Judith Owens and her colleagues surveyed 1,273 doctors who belong to the American Academy of Child And Adolescent Psychiatry.
• While the vast majority expressed concern about prescribing medications or recommending over-the-counter drugs for insomnia to children, such treatment was the most common clinical practice.
• The doctors in the survey were less likely to tell pediatric patients to use nondrug approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy, relaxation techniques, and sleep restriction.

"The most important rationale for the use of sleep medication among child psychiatrists is to manage the effects of sleep disruption on daytime functioning. It is important to note that concerns about side effects and the lack of evidence regarding their effectiveness were cited as significant barriers to their use," said Dr. Owens.

The study appears in the journal Sleep Medicine.
 

Labels: sleep, sleep problems

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