For years now, we’ve known that chronic
sleep deprivation can trigger a litany of other health risks, from diabetes
and obesity to heart and memory problems. This is true for adults and children.
But now there’s a
new study has linked sleep problems among children as a trigger for manic
depression.
I know, seeing a headline that says chronic sleep problems can trigger manic depression in your
children is frightening for any parent, especially if you’ve tried everything
to protect them from the ills of the world and one of your hardest tasks is
getting your kids to bed on time.
Manic depression, sometimes referred to as bipolar disorder,
is one of those illnesses that develops over time and typically gets diagnosed
later in life as a teenager or adult, although signs of it can crop up early on
in youth. It’s classified as a psychiatric
condition characterized by strong mood swings and periods of mania. These
are often accompanied by vicious cycles of restless nights and days. On the
bright side, some manic depressives are highly creative and productive; many of
our legendary artists and entrepreneurs owe their talents to the unique
capabilities of their manic minds.
This latest study indicates that a gene which disrupts the
body’s natural internal clock is linked to manic depression. Our internal
clock is what dictates our sleep-wake cycle.
Which leads to these questions:
- Does the gene get turned on by the sleepproblems?
- Or do the sleep problems result from the genebeing already on?
Future studies will have to look for these answers. There’s
a lot we don’t know about manic depression,
about the brain’s inner workings, and about the genes that are affected by
sleep, or lack thereof. Manic depression likely has a genetic component to it,
but it may also have some environmental components as well, where sleep habits
come into play. The good news is the more knowledge we can gather, the better equipped
we can be for managing a condition like manic depression, as well as the
associated sleep problems.
If you’re a parent, don’t
panic - now is the time to instill good
sleep habits in your family. A healthy sleep life makes for a healthy life
in general, regardless of the risk for any single illness or condition.
Sweet Dreams,
Michael Breus, Ph.D.
www.thesleepdoctor.com
This article on children and sleep is also available at Dr. Breus's official blog, The Insomnia Blog.