Sleep

One of the things the depression affected the most was my sleep routine. Since February/March I've been noticing that I wasn't sleeping as well as I used to. I always slept a lot. Well at least at the weekends and holidays! Normally during the week I used to sleep only between 5 and 6 hours and then at the weekends I would sleep sometimes up to 12 hours (not very healthy I know!). And I liked it this way because I always worked better at night and that way I could work a little at night and during the day and then at the weekends I would work during the night. But since the beginning of the year I've been having difficulty in falling asleep, my sleep is not deep, I wake up at the middle of the night and I can't sleep more and I can't sleep as much as I used to. I though it was just a phase but in August I spent the whole month at home, in my bedroom and even then I couldn't sleep. I was sleeping not more than 4 hours per nigh and I couldn't sleep during the day either. And I had dreams, Very vivid dreams that would make me wake up in the middle of the night crying and feeling desperate. 

When I started being followed by the psychologist he gave me tips to sleep better and to create a sleep routine. I had to stop watching tv to fall asleep (something I started doing two years ago), try to read before sleeping (because I wanted to start reading again and because read helps your brain calm down) and drink tea. If I couldn't fall asleep in the first 15 minutes after turning the light off I should read a little again and drink a little bit of tea and try again until I fell asleep. And always wake up at the same time. Even if you only slept 4 hours. All of this to create a sleep routine because this routine is important. I have to say that this was very hard for me and I started to sleep more but not better. I continued to have dreams and to wake up at the middle of the night. And I had the feeling that, even though I had slept a lot, it wasn't a restful sleep. 

After going to the psychiatrist he prescribed me with one antidepressant and after waiting for it to start having some effect I started sleeping a lot better. I've been sleeping at least 7 hours per night and it's a deep sleep and I wake up feeling like I had a great night of sleep!