Regularly sleeping less than 5 hours puts you at increased risk of depression, scientists warn

GOOD sleep is key to warding off the blues, scientists say.

A University College London study found that regularly sleeping less than five hours a night can raise the risk of depression.

Experts thought bad sleep was a symptom of poor mental health but say the opposite is also true.

Dr Odessa Hamilton said: “We determined that short sleep likely precedes depressive symptoms, rather than the other way around.”

It’s thought that a third of Brits will experience sleep issues in their lifetime, while one in four will experience mental health problems like depression, according to charity .

UCL researchers used genetic and health data from 7,146 people in England and pinpointed genetic variants showing if participants were prone to depression or short sleep.

People who snoozed less because of their genes were more likely to feel down or lonely over the next four to 12 years.

But people at higher risk of depression weren’t more likely to sleep less.

Participants who didn’t have a tendency for short kip because of their genes were still more than twice as likely to get depression if they often slept five hours or less each night.

Meanwhile, those with depression were a third more likely to get little sleep.

Published in , the study also found a link between sleeping too long and feeling blue.

People slumbering longer than nine hours were 1.5 times more likely to have depression than those getting seven hours of sleep.

Study participants – who had an average age of 65 – got about seven hours’ sleep a night. The NHS recommends having between seven and nine.

About 10 per cent snoozed less than five hours nightly at the start of the research, rising to 15 per cent by the end.

Those suffering from depression rose from 8.75 to 11.5 per cent.
Professor Andrew Steptoe said: “Poor sleep and depression increase with age, and with the population ageing worldwide there is a growing need to better understand the connection between depression and a lack of sleep.”

Earlier research has shown that sleep duration and depression are both partly passed down from one generation to the next.

It’s suggested depression is about 35 per cent inherited, while genes account for 40 per cent of the variance in sleep duration.

How can I tell if I’m depressed?

Symptoms of depression can vary from person to person, according to mental health charity Mind, as can how intense they are and how long they last.

You might feel:

• Down, upset or tearful
• Restless, agitated or irritable
• Guilty, worthless and down on yourself
• Empty and numb
• Isolated and unable to relate to other people
• Finding no pleasure in life or things you usually enjoy
• Angry or frustrated over minor things
• A sense of unreality
• No self-confidence or self-esteem
• Hopeless and despairing
• Feeling tired all the time

Feeling this way can also make you start acting differently or withdrawing from things that usually bring you pleasure.

You might:

• Avoid social events and activities you usually enjoy
• Have suicidal thoughts and self harm
• have difficulty speaking, thinking clearly or making decisions
• Lose interest in sex
• Have difficulty remembering or concentrating on things
• Use more tobacco, alcohol or other drugs than usual
• Have trouble sleeping, or sleep too much
• Have no appetite and lose weight, or eat more than usual and gain weight
• Experience physical aches and pains with no obvious physical cause
• Feel restless and agitated

If you think you might be depressed, it’s worth speaking to someone you trust about how you’re feeling.

But if you don’t feel like you can open up to someone close to you, you can call a helpline and speak to someone confidentially.

You can call  any time on 116 123.

has an online forum where you can read about other people’s experiences with depression or write about your own.

Or  has a penfriend scheme for members.

You can also visit the Mind website for information about