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A recent study from researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine suggests that individuals with depressive disorders are 5 times more likely to have a breathing-related sleep disorder when compared to non-depressed people. Several previous studies have suggested that sleep apnea is associated with a higher rate of depression and that treating sleep apnea could help control depression in patients. No previous study had explored this association and its risk factors in the general population.
To assess the impact of the two disorders in the general population, Maurice Ohayon, MD, PhD conducted a telephone survey with adults in five countries (United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain). Over 18,000 people were chosen as a representative sample of 206 million Europeans. The participants answered questions pertaining to sleep quality and schedules, breathing-related sleep disorders, mental disorders and medical conditions.
Results suggested that 2.1 percent of the people surveyed had sleep apnea and 2.5 percent had another type of breathing-related sleep disorder. Eighteen percent of respondents who were experiencing a depressive disorder (4 percent of all respondents) also had a breathing-related sleep disorder, compared with 3.8 percent of non-depressed respondents. That represents a five-times increased likelihood of breathing-related sleep disorders among depressed people.
Which came first, the depression or the sleep apnea remains unclear. The next step is to explore the extent to which sleep apnea contributes to the maintenance or aggravation of depression. The overall goal of the study was to highlight the problem and the need to ask depressed patients more in depth questions about sleep.
A couple of recent studies on apnea and depression.
Sleep Med. 2003 Jul;4(4):343-5
CNS Spectr. 2003 Feb;8(2):120-34
Info from the American Sleep Apnea Association
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