Bipolar sleep

The bipolar sleep connection is confirmed by a substantial body of research.

Sleep loss can trigger mania AND is also a strong predictor of impending mania. Too much sleep is a frequent symptom in bipolar depression. People with bipolar disorder can greatly benefit from monitoring their sleep and making an effort to make sure they stay in a regular sleep routine. Sleep disturbances are a key symptom of both mania and depression, AND an excellent early warning system of a mood change. This is why sleep is one of the things that should ALWAYS be included on your bipolar mood chart.

People with bipolar disorder usually have extremely sensitive circadian systems (body clocks). This makes it much more difficult for them to recover if their sleep or other aspects of their daily routine are disrupted. Most people without bipolar disorder tend to make a far quicker recovery from a bad night's sleep or other change in routine that messes with their body clock. Read more about Stable Sleep, Regular Routines and Bipolar Disorder.

Bright light therapy can ease bipolar depression in some patients, according to a study published in the journal Bipolar Disorders.

New research shows a definite connection between the body clock and certain psychological responses, including the capacity to trigger relapses in patients with bipolar disorder. Mood disorders such as bipolar disorder have long been linked with sleep problems, suggesting that the circadian system plays a role in these conditions: Bipolar relapse linked to sleep troubles.

bp Magazine, an important source of support and information for the bipolar community, recently ran a comprehensive article on bipolar sleep issues. This article explained:

“We are living in the middle of history’s greatest experiment in sleep deprivation and we are all part of that experiment,” says Robert Stickgold, PhD, a sleep research specialist and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Stickgold makes this dramatic assertion in a recent Harvard Magazine article that also cites some startling statistics.

"Americans today sleep far less than people did 100 or even 50 years ago. Moreover, a 2005 poll by the National Sleep Foundation revealed that adult Americans sleep an average of 6.8 hours on weeknights. That’s more than an hour less than they need according to most sleep experts. Indeed, says Dr. Stickgold, “it’s not inconceivable…that we will discover that there are major social, economic, and health consequences to that experiment. Sleep deprivation doesn’t have any good side effects.” See The Quest for Sleep.

Disrupted sleep is also linked to obesity and a range of ther health problems, including higher smoking rates, less physical activity and more alcohol use. (Many readers will not be surprised by this given how long we have known that substance abuse and weight issues have a high co-morbidity with bipolar.) A recent US government study has strongly tied irregular sleep to obesity and depression.

The most authoritative and trustworthy source of scientific research on bipolar sleep is the textbook Manic-Depresive Illness: Bipolar Disorders and Recurrent Depression by Frederick Goodwin and Kay Redfield Jamison. Their Appendix to Chapter 16 about bipolar sleep is available online.

In summary: bipolar disorder sleep problems are very common, and often related to other health issues as well. If you or a loved one are bipolar, closely monitor sleep patterns and take action in case of:
1. Over-sleeping (more than 8-9 hours per night).
2. Insomnia.
3. Poor quality/disrupted sleep.
4. Sudden decrease in the need for sleep.

Talk to your medical advisor immediately as improving your sleep will promote stable moods as well.

Can Binaural Audios Help You To Sleep Better?

Have you ever heard of binaural audios before?

They are a great tool for manipulating your brain waves (a process called "brainwave entrainment") and thus helping to prevent bipolar mood episodes. They are especially useful for managing bipolar sleep.

It is scientifically proven that these special type of audios can be used to influence your brain into specific 'states'. For example they can be used to...

And so much more.

Without getting into the technical details of how these audios work, let me give you a brief description:

Your brain functions on primary frequencies based on the speed of your brain waves. Specific states have specific frequencies... for example if your brain is functioning at a specific frequency of between 13 - 40 Hz this is called 'Beta' waves and it is when your brain is active, busy or anxious thinking and active concentration, arousal, cognition.

But if you are sleeping your brain has a frequency of between 4 - 7 Hz or 'Theta' waves and this is when you are dreaming are in deep meditation or have, REM sleep.

So if you are feeling tired... then you have a particular low brain wave frequency at that time. The power of binaural audios is that it can lift those brain wave frequencies and within 5 minutes make you more alert and active, all by just listening to an audio with a set of stereo headphones.

Or if you are restless and cannot sleep, and are risking a sleep into mania, the audios can be used to induce the optimum brainwaves to improve bipolar sleep problems.

Check it out at... Binaural Beats to Help Bipolar Sleep

It is highly recommended.

You should also review this informative article on bipolar insomnia.

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