Can CPAP cause depression/anxiety?

[Heart Jumping]

Den:
Plus a million.
Self pity only makes you feel even worse,
and really alienates everyone who has it worse than you!
Which is easily half the planet. Yep.

Have you ever considered that one reason why the depression rates are so high is we don't allow people to experience "unacceptable" emotions and that maybe encouraging this would shorten the duration and enable people to get into problem solving mode?

No matter how minor or severe a problem someone has, there will always be someone who has it worse. But it doesn't mean that issue isn't legitimate.

While I might not put it quite that way, I think I agree with your core idea. Judging and critiquing and minimizing when people are fighting depression is probably the worse thing you can do if you want to help them. That said, we all tend to do it to some extent, when we judge their complaints "silly", but I try to remind myself not to do that. Heck, I try to remind myself every day, just yesterday I was SMH reading people here talking about how sleep studies felt like a violation, and I'm thinking to myself "being raped is violation, laying in a hospital bed for a month is violation". Then I reminded myself it's not a competition and if some people felt that way why should I consider their feelings illegitimate?

Another of my huge pet peeves is when people refer to suicide as a selfish act, there is truly nothing a person could say that is more out to lunch and reveals they don't have a clue, and is ironically the very type of attitude that makes it more difficult for people that are experiencing that level of depression and mental illness.

I'll bet many people here have dealt with years of criticism due to mental health issues related to apnea as well as poor sleep habits.

Anyhow, this cartoon sums up it up how we often deal with people struggling with mental illness. Before someone misinterprets, of course I'm not saying people don't also need to search out help to get better, just that the way we approach people is often counter productive.

[BlackSpinner]

However there is a fine line between enabling and supporting.

[Lucyhere]

[@ChunkyFrog and @Wulfman... while you two have some pretty strong, dismissive opinions when it comes to depression and anxiety. I don't think those kind of comments are helpful or relevant to healthy living or using a CPAP effectively. I understand you don't have depression or anxiety issues, which might mean you don't really have a reason to comment on them to others that do. - Kind regards, Getting Better]

Very insightful. Also, thank you to 49er and Heart Jumping for your excellent posts, and the brilliant way you express yourselves!

[Char1ieJ]

I think it is possible for someone to be depressed, initially, when starting cpap therapy.

After all, it is a major life adjustment and this, like most many life adjustments, can often cause some depression. You are not yet getting the full benefit from the therapy.

You say you have dealt with depression in the past. You need to see if this passes as you adjust to using the cpap and sleeping in this manner. If the depression doesn't pass and you are feeling more rested,then you should see someone who deals with depression.

It may be that this depression will lift as you become accustomed to cpap and begin to feel more rested but it is certainly something to keep an watch on.

Many people get angry when they are diagnosed with what is a major health issue that can not be cured only treated. They go through all the stages of grieve and denial.

Added to that you are making mental adjustments to deal with this - for years your mind has been keeping you alive by waking you up to breathe - now it has to let go of that. You are also dreaming now and going through rem sleep - another change.

+1 for both of these. I wholeheartedly agree. I was initially more depressed than ever when I started CPAP. It was yet another diagnosis, another treatment...and, when I started and failed due to mask issues, ANOTHER pain in the rear of my life. Hang in there! Seek counseling if it doesn't get better soon. I wish you the best!

[GettingBetter]

However there is a fine line between enabling and supporting.

And then there's just being obnoxious. Let's not dress up poor behavior as something noble or helpful because it doesn't "enable". Depression and anxiety are not choices a person makes for themselves. There isn't any enabling.

[BlackSpinner]

However there is a fine line between enabling and supporting.

And then there's just being obnoxious. Let's not dress up poor behavior as something noble or helpful because it doesn't "enable". Depression and anxiety are not choices a person makes for themselves. There isn't any enabling.

Not choosing it, but choosing to do something about it. There have been lots of studies that show that both will be helped by physical activity, not be staying in bed. Patting people on the head and encouraging them into behaviour that is guaranteed to make it worse is enabling. The human mind/body is powerful in its ability to change, not helping someone do that is tragic. It is the same as saying "no you don't need to use cpap if it upsets you. Don't try to change your way of living" And the people who support this attitude are those that have a vested interest in you staying depressed/anxious/sick. Your friends and family like things the way they are. They don't want to make the effort to relate to you in a different way. They WILL sabotage your attempts to get healthier.

[Wulfman...]

However there is a fine line between enabling and supporting.

And then there's just being obnoxious. Let's not dress up poor behavior as something noble or helpful because it doesn't "enable". Depression and anxiety are not choices a person makes for themselves. There isn't any enabling.

Maybe.......maybe not.

It's been extensively reported on these forum pages that Sleep Apnea contributes to one or the other. Many people who should have been on CPAP therapy were "medicated".......until either the psychiatrist or some other doctor recognized the problem and got them to a sleep study. Good, oxygenated sleep helps resolve lots of physical and mental issues.

Both are mental issues.
Whatever happened to "The Power of Positive Thinking", "Be all you can be.", "if you can think it, you can do it."

I choose to believe that the individual has the power to control what they think.......or, they can control their own mind.

http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/man ... -and-depre

After you've been here for some length of time, you'll (probably) get tired of all the "woe is me" posters. That's where many of us who have been here for lengthy periods are.
For lots of us, it was a relief finding out what was wrong with us and how simple the therapy was going to be. I know I was.

You also need to be able to recognize which of the posters are in need of a little sympathy and which ones need a kick in their backsides.


Den

.

[cmmarti3]

I just wanted to come on here and chime in. I always felt sad (pre-CPAP). Once I was diagnosed and then went on the CPAP, I suffered severe insomnia. I started CBT therapy which seems to have made the insomnia worse. I was told if I couldn't sleep, to get out of bed. Well, I have now realized that I don't know the difference between being awake and N1 sleep. During my sleep study I argued vehemently with the tech that I'd been awake all night when in reality I had slept for 2 hours. I was certain I'd been looking at the time on my phone every 5 minutes all night. She had my brain waves to prove otherwise.

Pre-CPAP, I got no N3 sleep at all. That would make anyone depressed. I have now learned to sleep with the CPAP. It's been about 2 months since I was put on it and it was the toughest 2 months of my life. I had to see a psychiatrist and be treated for anxiety in order to sleep. He's put me on Gabapentin. I've read that Gabapentin increases slow wave sleep. I don't always sleep well (but probably better than I ever did pre-CPAP!) but I do sleep every night at least 4 - 5 hours and many nights 7 - 9 hours. I may still be catching up on sleep from the many years of having an AHI of 42 plus the four nights before I saw the pyshiatrist when I did not sleep at all (by my estimation, which as I know may not always be totally accurate).

I felt like a zombie when I went to see him. Now I feel tired and anxious and jittery, but I no longer feel like a zombie. I should also mention that my mental illness runs in my family. My point is, and I agree with previous posters, that a medical diagnosis that can only be controlled and not cured can be scary. I didn't think much of it at the time, but I think once it really set in my mind, it really scared me. Then I got scared to sleep without my CPAP. Now I don't feel afraid of anything, because I sleep every night with the mask all night. I've stopped pulling it off my face in my sleep and have found a way to sleep in the same positions as before with the Airfit P10 (I'm a stomach sleeper, probably because I couldn't breathe on my back pre-CPAP).

I have started exercising daily, watching what I eat and following good sleep hygiene. But I still feel anxious. Some people probably need additional help (medicine) at some point in their lives. I know my sleep breathing is healthy now and I feel proud to have made progress over the past two weeks. But I couldn't have done without the psychiatrist. I could not go on the way I was. I tried everything prior to seeing the shrink. I do think certain things in our lives affect us.

Anyway, just my two cents. I am glad to be on the road to recovery, getting healthy sleep (AHIs not perfect but at least under 5 every night now, a big improvement from 42) and my mental wellness is being monitored.

[ChicagoGranny]

Some of the regulars here have taken the latest bump of this old thread to a point where it should not have gone.

I have been using a CPAP for three years and I do believe it is very possible to become depressed or at least bummed out that you have to be tethered to a machine while sleeping for the rest of your life. Of course you berate yourself for whatever is going on in your body that caused this in the first place be that facial shape or advancing age--anything is possible. I also wonder how it impacts romance. If you ask the CPAP companies they tell you things that seem to be glossing over the issues. One major thing to me that bothers me is traveling. I have not yet tried to fly with the machine but even auto trips are a problem as you have to haul distilled water to use in the humidifier and then you need special water to clean the mask parts. I have contact the maker but get the same thing that all of this is part of the process. So, why wouldn't you get bummed about about the whole situation? Makes sense to me.

Guest CM25 is not describing depression (major depressive disorder). He's just expressing aggravation that the gold standard treatment for our condition is damn inconvenient. And it is damn inconvenient.

Praying for a novel, highly effective, convenient treatment. In the meantime, I will hold tight to CPAP.

[GettingBetter]

However there is a fine line between enabling and supporting.

And then there's just being obnoxious. Let's not dress up poor behavior as something noble or helpful because it doesn't "enable". Depression and anxiety are not choices a person makes for themselves. There isn't any enabling.

Maybe.......maybe not.

It's been extensively reported on these forum pages that Sleep Apnea contributes to one or the other. Many people who should have been on CPAP therapy were "medicated".......until either the psychiatrist or some other doctor recognized the problem and got them to a sleep study. Good, oxygenated sleep helps resolve lots of physical and mental issues.

Both are mental issues.
Whatever happened to "The Power of Positive Thinking", "Be all you can be.", "if you can think it, you can do it."

I choose to believe that the individual has the power to control what they think.......or, they can control their own mind.

http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/man ... -and-depre

After you've been here for some length of time, you'll (probably) get tired of all the "woe is me" posters. That's where many of us who have been here for lengthy periods are.
For lots of us, it was a relief finding out what was wrong with us and how simple the therapy was going to be. I know I was.

You also need to be able to recognize which of the posters are in need of a little sympathy and which ones need a kick in their backsides.


Den

.

So since you've a) been on the forum for a long time b) are annoyed by people that you judge as complainers and c) seem to be crowned King when it comes to determining what kind of help a person might need with some special insight you have into what a person has tried or not tried to help anxiety and depression. Not only that - but you can predict my reaction to these "woe is me" posters and provide guidance on how I should handle them with a kick in the backside. Huh, well aren't you just it and all.

Look, I've lurked for some time and You and Black Spinner and ChunkyFrog do provide some very helpful equipment information, probably half the time. The other half of the time you're somewhat rude as heck. I really haven't asked a lot of questions and trust me I still have some, because I've read too many inquiries get shut down with "that was discussed in other threads" or some other dismissive snarky comment. I think you can provide some helpful information on the equipment, but when it comes to people I can't really endorse what amounts to geriatric bullying shined up as support because you believe they need your brand of snarky rhetoric.

I'm sorry you are annoyed by people that need a "kick in the backside", but in the words of someone that has been on this forum a lot longer than I have -

"Garbage!
You POOOOOOR thing........ Suck it up! You ain't got nothing to complain about.
Here's a quote (attributed to Helen Keller where I found it) for you to ponder........
“I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet” ― Helen Keller

Den

[Goofproof]

However there is a fine line between enabling and supporting.

And then there's just being obnoxious. Let's not dress up poor behavior as something noble or helpful because it doesn't "enable". Depression and anxiety are not choices a person makes for themselves. There isn't any enabling.

Maybe.......maybe not.

It's been extensively reported on these forum pages that Sleep Apnea contributes to one or the other. Many people who should have been on CPAP therapy were "medicated".......until either the psychiatrist or some other doctor recognized the problem and got them to a sleep study. Good, oxygenated sleep helps resolve lots of physical and mental issues.

Both are mental issues.
Whatever happened to "The Power of Positive Thinking", "Be all you can be.", "if you can think it, you can do it."

I choose to believe that the individual has the power to control what they think.......or, they can control their own mind.

http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/man ... -and-depre

After you've been here for some length of time, you'll (probably) get tired of all the "woe is me" posters. That's where many of us who have been here for lengthy periods are.
For lots of us, it was a relief finding out what was wrong with us and how simple the therapy was going to be. I know I was.

You also need to be able to recognize which of the posters are in need of a little sympathy and which ones need a kick in their backsides.


Den

.

So since you've a) been on the forum for a long time b) are annoyed by people that you judge as complainers and c) seem to be crowned King when it comes to determining what kind of help a person might need with some special insight you have into what a person has tried or not tried to help anxiety and depression. Not only that - but you can predict my reaction to these "woe is me" posters and provide guidance on how I should handle them with a kick in the backside. Huh, well aren't you just it and all.

Look, I've lurked for some time and You and Black Spinner and ChunkyFrog do provide some very helpful equipment information, probably half the time. The other half of the time you're somewhat rude as heck. I really haven't asked a lot of questions and trust me I still have some, because I've read too many inquiries get shut down with "that was discussed in other threads" or some other dismissive snarky comment. I think you can provide some helpful information on the equipment, but when it comes to people I can't really endorse what amounts to geriatric bullying shined up as support because you believe they need your brand of snarky rhetoric.

I'm sorry you are annoyed by people that need a "kick in the backside", but in the words of someone that has been on this forum a lot longer than I have -

"Garbage!
You POOOOOOR thing........ Suck it up! You ain't got nothing to complain about.
Here's a quote (attributed to Helen Keller where I found it) for you to ponder........
“I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet” ― Helen Keller

Den

And here we were thinking you didn't get it, glad to see you are coming around to our thinking! Jim

[GettingBetter]

Okay, I'm taking a break.

[Wulfman...]

However there is a fine line between enabling and supporting.

And then there's just being obnoxious. Let's not dress up poor behavior as something noble or helpful because it doesn't "enable". Depression and anxiety are not choices a person makes for themselves. There isn't any enabling.

Maybe.......maybe not.

It's been extensively reported on these forum pages that Sleep Apnea contributes to one or the other. Many people who should have been on CPAP therapy were "medicated".......until either the psychiatrist or some other doctor recognized the problem and got them to a sleep study. Good, oxygenated sleep helps resolve lots of physical and mental issues.

Both are mental issues.
Whatever happened to "The Power of Positive Thinking", "Be all you can be.", "if you can think it, you can do it."

I choose to believe that the individual has the power to control what they think.......or, they can control their own mind.

http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/man ... -and-depre

After you've been here for some length of time, you'll (probably) get tired of all the "woe is me" posters. That's where many of us who have been here for lengthy periods are.
For lots of us, it was a relief finding out what was wrong with us and how simple the therapy was going to be. I know I was.

You also need to be able to recognize which of the posters are in need of a little sympathy and which ones need a kick in their backsides.


Den

.

So since you've a) been on the forum for a long time b) are annoyed by people that you judge as complainers and c) seem to be crowned King when it comes to determining what kind of help a person might need with some special insight you have into what a person has tried or not tried to help anxiety and depression. Not only that - but you can predict my reaction to these "woe is me" posters and provide guidance on how I should handle them with a kick in the backside. Huh, well aren't you just it and all.

Look, I've lurked for some time and You and Black Spinner and ChunkyFrog do provide some very helpful equipment information, probably half the time. The other half of the time you're somewhat rude as heck. I really haven't asked a lot of questions and trust me I still have some, because I've read too many inquiries get shut down with "that was discussed in other threads" or some other dismissive snarky comment. I think you can provide some helpful information on the equipment, but when it comes to people I can't really endorse what amounts to geriatric bullying shined up as support because you believe they need your brand of snarky rhetoric.

I'm sorry you are annoyed by people that need a "kick in the backside", but in the words of someone that has been on this forum a lot longer than I have -

"Garbage!
You POOOOOOR thing........ Suck it up! You ain't got nothing to complain about.
Here's a quote (attributed to Helen Keller where I found it) for you to ponder........
“I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet” ― Helen Keller

Den

As far as I know, the vast majority of folks posting on this forum are (supposed to be) "adults".
Whiners and moaners need to suck it up and grow up. They need to recognize "straight talk" when it's dished out.
Treating them like little kids is more than most people would tolerate. I can't imagine parents treating their children like little babies all their lives...... Oh, wait.......that's why we have some of the pathetic generations we have now......their parents DID treat them like little babies all their lives. And, then they grew up to be pathetic adults who have an "entitled" mentality.


Den

.

[Wulfman...]

Too many forum members missed the "Snoredog" era with his form of wisdom and tough love.


Den

.

[Lucyhere]

Too many forum members missed the "Snoredog" era with his form of wisdom and tough love.


Den

.

I didn't. His way with words may have worked for some people; they didn't work for me no matter how well intentioned.