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It seems to imply a reversal of the cause-effect relationship that some people may experience: I don't doubt that poor sleep habits can contribute to depressio
by ineedasername 5y ago
It seems to imply a reversal of the cause-effect relationship that some people may experience:
I don't doubt that poor sleep habits can contribute to depression and help bring on a bout of it all on its own. However, my experience is the opposite. Depression severely reduces my ability to sleep. What sleep I get is restless and filled with intrusive thoughts. In the internet age, it does not surprise me that many people in this situation would turn to internet usage in this situation to occupy their minds rather than lay miserably in the dark drifting in & out. With or without that internet activity, this becomes a downward spiral:
--depressed ∴ can't sleep.
--Sleep deprivation ∴ worsened depression
--worse depression ∴ worse sleep
I'm sure the often toxic nature of social media only makes this worse, and also that the short-term relief from inner ruminations through internet distractions also just makes the sleep deprivation worse as well if it leads to even less sleep.
When depression ∴ can't sleep (rather than the inverse, which also happens) is the causal chain, treating the symptoms of poor sleep or late-night internet usage won't help quite so much with the underlying cause: depression itself. But this article unfortunately seems to focus on that line of treatment, e.g., with CBT. However I do not mean to discount the information in this study: It demonstrates some very useful knowledge as well. I would simply have liked them to have explored the topic of whether late-night activity preceded depression or not. Although early warning signs can progress slowly & subtly to the point where it may not always be clear.
- whatshisface 5y agoDepression has a lot of other negative reinforcement loops. A few examples: Pessimism about other people's thoughts about you -> Expressed cynicism and negativity towards friends about themselves -> Actual, provoked negative thoughts -> Reinforcement for pessimism. Feeling like effort is pointless -> reduced effort -> fewer examples of effort succeeding -> reinforcement that effort is pointless. Feeling unhealthy -> lacking energy -> insufficient self-care -> becoming less healthy. I think people will come to see depression as a pit in the vast, multidimensional state space of the psyche, that can be approached from an infinite number of directions, and whose mechanism is the random overlapping of thousands of reinforcement cycles, which happen to reinforce the same thing at that one specific point.
- dillondoyle 5y agoFor me, the opposite reinforcement cycle holds true too and is just as important as meds. Exercise -> eat better -> more energy to repeat the cycle and level up
- agumonkey 5y agoI concur. And it seems depression is also an incarnation of the less of balancing mechanisms. You tilt and tilt .. more and more toward negativity, and every reflex idea goes further in this direction. That's why I don't listen to myself much when I'm down. I aim at staying in the middle, doing the simple regular things .. because I want to avoid kicking the feedback loops (staying awake longer, bad hygiene, bad diet, isolation etc). ps: in a way I think social-ness is a balancing mechanism in itself, others can serve as stabilizer quite often, breaking your bias and avoiding loops.
- wickoff 5y agoThis is accurate. Browsing is an anaesthetic.
- selfhifive 5y agoEverything in depression ultimately is a self sustaining loop. That's why outside intervention is often needed. I wouldn't leave my bed to get food when I was depressed. No showering. No work. Stayed in bed all day. Got dinner then repeat. Anyone can tell you why that's a bad idea and how it feeds the depression but that's the nature of the beast.