Women: Have you been diagnosed with depression...because you are tired and have low energy during the day?
If so, you may want to consider the possibility that you have a sleeping disorder, and that this may be the cause of your tiredness—not the depression.
People with sleep disorders often are misdiagnosed as depressed, because they present to doctors with similar complaints...tiredness, lack of motivation, decreased interest in social events, decreased libido, irritability and declining short term memory. Women, though, are especially prone to mis-diagnosis—for two reasons.
First, breathing disorders during sleep typically are less obvious in women than in men. He raises the rafters with his snoring at night (an obvious indicator of difficulty breathing) while she tosses and turns gently in her bed. Both people may have the same level of breathing disorder—but hers is much more subtle—and therefore apt to be overlooked. Secondly, because women have more complex neuroendocrine systems than men, physicians expect women to suffer from depression more than men.
Next time you visit your doctor for care of your depression, make sure you ask her or him about the possibility of a sleep disorder causing your daytime symptoms. If your doctor is not familiar with sleep disorders, ask for a referral to a sleep specialist, or book the appointment yourself. To locate a sleep disorder center in your area, click here!
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