A group of scientists from Switzerland came to the conclusion that insomnia can overcome depression. So, researchers from the University of Zurich conducted an experiment with therapeutic wakefulness, during which it became clear that changes in the daily routine lead to improved mood. It turns out that if a person suffering from depression goes to bed in the evening, followed by a forced awakening in the second half of the night, then he can forget about depression. According to experts, due to conscious interruption of sleep, reorganization of certain areas of the brain occurs. The results testifying to this fact are presented in one of the American publications.
“After repeating the experiment with therapeutic wakefulness 3-4 times, 40-60% of volunteers felt an improvement in mood,” Swiss experts officially said.
“During depression, deregulation of emotional and cognitive functions occurs. The appearance of such symptoms is due to the overactivity of the connecting node in the brain. The team of scientists managed to prove that by suppressing self-pity and voluntarily interrupting sleep, the patient can independently relieve stress from this node without any medications and interventions, ”the publication said.
From an earlier study of the same group of scientists, it became known that antidepressants with a short duration of action similarly affected this brain node, weakening its activity. However, experts warned that after about 3 days, in many cases, depression returns, dispersing the positive results.
“This discovery is very relevant, since 1 out of 6 Swiss suffers from this disease,” the TribunedeGenève reported. And every year the Swiss take 10 billion francs to treat the disease.