Effective Treatment Approaches for Depression-Induced Insomnia- Strategies for Better Sleep

Effective Treatment Approaches for Depression-Induced Insomnia- Strategies for Better Sleep

Insomnia is characterized by difficulty initiating and maintaining night sleep. It has been implicated in functional disability and poor quality of life. Insomnia is a core symptom of major depressive disorder. Depression-induced insomnia is secondary to depressive disorders (Xu et al., 2022). It compounds depressive manifestations, and has been associated with more severe symptoms of depression, and is likely to have poor clinical outcomes Riemann et al., (2019), which warrants its address.

Comprehensive management of depression-induced insomnia focuses on addressing the underlying disease along with therapy for insomnia. In this case, aggressive management of depressive episodes is necessary. Before initiating therapy, the patients should be evaluated for the medication they have been taking, their compliance with antidepressant medication, and for any other condition that may be causing insomnia other than depression.

Following this, behavioral interventions are the best approach to managing insomnia secondary to depression. This therapeutic modality will address both the underlying disorders as well as manage the primary manifestations of insomnia. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a therapeutic modality that can be used in this respect. It helps in addressing depressive symptoms but is also effective in improving sleep onset latency, total sleep time, and wakefulness after sleep onset(Blom et al., 2024). CBT is effective in the long term and is superior to pharmacotherapy in lessening insomnia. Their tolerability also gives the patient an edge in managing this condition. Aggressive management of the underlying depression through pharmacotherapy is also necessary (Morin et al., 2023). Antidepressant medications such as SSRIs are effective in lessening depressive episodes and are likely to lessen insomnia episodes. Further, hypnotic medications are warranted when behavioral interventions fail to address the problem. Hypnotic medications, such as zolpidem, suvorexant, and benzodiazepines, are also effective in inducing and maintaining sleep and can thus be used to manage depression-induced insomnia.

References

Blom, K., Forsell, E., Hellberg, M., Svanborg, C., Jernelöv, S., & Kaldo, V. (2024). Psychological treatment of comorbid insomnia and depression: A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 1–1. https://doi.org/10.1159/000536063

Morin, C. M., Bertisch, S. M., Pelayo, R., Watson, N. F., Winkelman, J. W., Zee, P. C., & Krystal, A. D. (2023). What should be the focus of treatment when insomnia disorder is comorbid with depression or anxiety disorder? Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(5), 1975. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12051975

Riemann, D., Krone, L. B., Wulff, K., & Nissen, C. (2019). Sleep, insomnia, and Depression. Neuropsychopharmacology, 45(1), 74–89. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-019-0411-y

Xu, G., Li, X., Xu, C., Xie, G., & Liang, J. (2022). Effect of insomnia in the major depressive disorder. BMC Neurology, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-022-02869-x

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How to treat depression Insomnia where the patient is unable to fall asleep and stay asleep

Effective Treatment Approaches for Depression-Induced Insomnia- Strategies for Better Sleep