HOW DEPRESSION AFFECTS SLEEP AND APPETITE?

INTRODUCTION 

                    After knowing what are the causes of depression, one can get more aware of their mental health status. After some eye-opener moments in your life, there are lots of changes arrived in your life. According to some health websites and researches, mental illness affects your casual routine, your social interaction, and also your behavior towards your close ones!

CHANGE IN APETITE

                      I remember at the time of the lockdown, I was feeling very disturbed mentally. I also felt the changes I mentioned above in my routine. One of the most common and major changes was a change in appetite. People who are mentally ill, cannot maintain the timetable of eating. I remember I couldn't eat well. Either I used to eat more than I required or I used to eat less. I always have been attached to food my whole life. And suddenly something happened and I lost interest in it. I stopped paying attention to things I used to love, including my necessities! So one feels loss in appetite or excessive hunger during the depression!

CHANGE IN SLEEP ROUTINE

                     Along with the food habit, one more one of the most important things that get affected is "sleep"! Sleep plays an important role in your mental health balance. We heard this thing lots of times that people are not able to sleep well which is right! I also couldn't sleep at night. I used to stay awake till midnight, kept thinking about some silly consequences. Then in the early morning, I used to feel sleepy and tired, so I used to sleep late in the morning. Due to this, I couldn't feel fresh in the morning. Due to late night overthinking, I was waking up with fear and insecurity. Worry was the first thing that used to come to mind in the morning. Then I used to keep continuing that late-night thought the whole day. Again, when I used to get tired of that overthinking, just to get rid of them I used to sleep in the morning, the whole day! This is how I messed my sleep routine completely. I used to feel no energy, no enthusiasm at my work, at my home, in my life!

                    Here, it is not about the casual refreshments that we all take in our lives. Sometimes, eating more what you like, or sleeping more if you are feeling tired, don't make you depressed. We all do it to feel better, to have a break, which is fine, that is a kind of energization. The difference is the refreshments we choose to have, and also feel good after them, feels like boosting! The " change in routine" we are talking about, people don't choose it. To get rid of something, one just gets into it! So eating habits and sleeping habits are the two main physical changes one feels. So that's why people generally gain weight or lose weight during mental illness.

CHANGE IN BEHAVIOR

                     The most important change would be a change in social behavior. One gets very private or suddenly turns to less interactive. During facing some mental illness, people generally hide their feelings, their problems, their suffering from others! They lose interest in expression and communication. I was very interactive too, with the people I was close to. After hitting by mental illness, I even couldn't message my close people. My hands used to shake like anything. A lot of time I typed 'HI' and backspaced it all! I even couldn't greet people formally, which we all generally do daily spontaneously! I turned very shattered. I was scared of people. I always used to feel someone is talking bad about me, someone is having an eye on me, someone is controlling my every action! I used to worried that something embarrassing will happen, people will laugh at me, and so on! So because of that I never tried to step into something new. That made me feel lonely and helpless! After a certain time, I realized that I am not doing anything and losing opportunities in my life. I felt I need to get onto the flow. So during that, I pushed myself a lot. To feel energized, I pressurized myself, and tried to work ten times harder than before! I was just hustling my life, due to which I lost the spontaneity of doing it! And some so many people live in that way, where they are trying hard but still don't feel satisfied or enthusiastic at all! That is because of insecurity in one's mind. At that time I felt that insecurities took control over me, but today I can see it was all just in my head! So this is how mental illness also ruins one's social life!

PATTERN IN HABITS

(1) Eating habits

(2) Sleeping habits

(3) social interaction

                     So these are the three main daily life habits one feels changed during mental illness. If you see it carefully, you can see a pattern in it. During mental illness, one changes or behaves in extremely opposite manners, like sleeping more or being unable to sleep. That is because of confusion in one's mind. In depression, one cannot understand and control thoughts running in their mind, so one just tries various options to get rid of it. That's why one who is suffering from mental illness, feels such swings in their behavior! 

CONCLUSION

                   But as I always say, these can be cured by sharing with someone who can understand. Speak out, let's get out of it. Find your own ways to express. Realize the power of expression! This is how one can be more aware of your mental health status. And we all have to be conscious about our mental health as much as we are conscious about our physical health! Our mind is an integral part of our health. So take care of your mind, take care of your body, take care of yourself! Let's take a step towards self-mental health awareness, let's take a step towards peace, together! It's just depression, give it a way to get out of your head. Have faith, have patience. This shall too pass! 

EXPRESS | ENCOURAGE | EMPOWER