Sleep is a state in which all bodily activity is dormant. It can also be thought of as a state in which only the minimal activities necessary to sustain life, such as pulse and breathing, remain. As the saying goes, “sleep is medicine,” and it’s important to get enough of it so you can recover from the day’s physical and mental fatigue. Prolonged sleep deprivation can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, stroke, and even depression.
Despite the emphasis on the importance of sleep, a new study shows that Korean adults are suffering from depression due to sleep deprivation, and the level of depression has increased recently compared to 10 years ago, according to Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. According to their analysis, the prevalence of depression among Korean adults in 2018 was twice as high as in 2009, while the total number of hours of sleep decreased by about 20 percent메이저놀이터. In particular, those who slept less than five hours a day had up to four times the risk of developing depression than those who slept seven to eight hours.
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According to Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Yoon Chang-ho, a professor of neurology, and Yoon Ji-eun, a professor of neurology at Sunchon Hyang University Cheonan Hospital, set out to determine the association between sleep characteristics and depression in Korean adults. To do so, they selected 2836 adults aged 19 and older randomly selected in 2009 and 2658 in 2018, and examined their wake-up time, bedtime, total sleep time, subjective experience of sleep deprivation, sleep quality, and depression. This is the first study to analyze the relationship between sleep characteristics and depression in the Korean population.
According to the researchers, the prevalence of depression among Korean adults has more than doubled from 4.6% in 2009 to 8.4% in 2018. In contrast, total sleep duration decreased by nearly 20 minutes, from 7 hours and 27 minutes in 2009 to 7 hours and 8 minutes in 2018, and the percentage of people who self-identified as getting insufficient sleep increased from 30.4% to 44.3%. The time it took to fall asleep increased from 7 minutes to 15 minutes on weekdays and from 9 minutes to 16 minutes on weekends. This indicates a decrease in sleep efficiency. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a measure of sleep quality, also increased from 3.6 to 3.8. A PSQI above 5 indicates sleep deprivation.
The team also found that people who got seven to eight hours of sleep had the lowest prevalence of depression in both 2009 and 2018. Those who slept less than five hours were three to four times more likely to be depressed than those who got the right amount of sleep. However, too much sleep also increases the risk of depression, the researchers explained. For those who slept more than nine hours, the prevalence of depression was twice as high as for those who got adequate sleep.
“In addition to depression, insufficient sleep duration and poor sleep quality can lead to stroke and cardiovascular disease,” said Professor Changho Yoon. “In particular, sleeping less than five hours or more than nine hours is associated with an increased risk of depression, so it is important to ensure adequate sleep duration.”
“Most indicators such as average sleep duration and sleep quality among adults in Korea are worse than they were a decade ago,” said Dr. Yoon, adding, “We need to educate people about the importance of good sleep to prevent various diseases and maintain a healthy life.”