A define relationship is seen between health and the rhythmicity of depressed people. Altered biochemical rhythms, diurnal (daytime) mood swings, and altered sleep cycles have been noted. Although the exact relationship between mental health and sleep cycles is not known, the arrhythmicity of sleep in these persons is being studied.
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Depressed persons usually experience insomnia or periods of predawn wakefulness. Their sleep cycles are shortened and fragmented, and they are easily disturbed by environmental changes. Successful treatment frequently comes in the form of antidepressant drugs that lengthen the sleep cycle.
Various mental functions and the emotion, behaviors, and autonomic responses associated with them depend on certain chemicals secreted at the synapses of the neurons in specific pathways of the brain. Several brain neurotransmitters (norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and acetycholine) undergo cyclic changes in amount of chemical present. These fluctuations are thought to be be related to factors concerned with periodicity and emotion.
References :
Stephens, Gwen, “Periodicity in Mood, Affect, and Instinctual Behavior”, Nursing Clinics of North America, 11 : No. 4, 1976.
Murray, RB and Zentner JP., Nursing Concepts for Health Promotion, Second Edtion, Prentice-Hall, Inc, Englewood Cliffs, N.J, 1979.
