Lack of sleep could trigger psychiatric problems

Scientists say that a lack of sleep can lead to psychiatric disorders and disruptions in the immune system. In fact, sleep can also control and alter your weight.

The study, lead by teams from Harvard Medical School and the University of California at Berkely, suggests that people without sleep causes the brain to revert back to a more primitive pattern of activity.

Volunteers who participated in the research stayed awake for 35 hours and found huge increases in brain activity when shown images designed to make them angry or sad. Each image provoked an emotional response with bigger reactions compared to volunteers with normal sleep.

Researcher Mathew Walker said that clinical evidence has shown that some form of sleep disruption is present in almost all psychiatric disorders.

The difference when comparing someone with proper sleep to one that is sleep deprived is overreaction. For example, people with mental illness might not be aware that they are over-reacting or behaving irrationally, whereas someone with sleep deprivation would be more aware of this overreaction.

Some researchers argue that not all psychiatric disorders have a relation to lack of sleep. Illnesses such as depression can be beneficial in moderation by reducing the amount of rest. Other researchers find the study interesting linking sleep deprivation to an emotional response in the brain.

Lack of sleep could trigger psychiatric problems

Scientists link sleep disorders with psychiatric problems such as depression.