How does lack of sleep affect your psychological state?

 How does lack of sleep affect your psychological state?

A new British study has proven that lack of sleep may cause people to suffer from depression.

Previous studies have linked too little or too much sleep with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, but they were unable to determine which comes first, as some researchers believed that lack of sleep might be a side effect of depression and anxiety and not the other way around.

According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, the new study was conducted by researchers from University College London, and included more than 7,000 Britons, with an average age of 65 years. Their sleep habits were tracked and they were subjected to tests related to their mental health.

The team found that sleeping for 5 hours or less increases the risk of depression by about 2.5 times.

Researchers determined the ideal sleep duration to be 5 to 9 hours.

“In our study, we found that lack of sleep causes people to become depressed, not the other way around,” said study author Odessa Hamilton.

Meanwhile, the researchers concluded that people with a genetic predisposition to depression were not more likely to sleep less.

The study also said that “there is no association” between depression and “long sleep,” as those who sleep more than 9 hours are not more likely to suffer from depression than those who sleep within the ideal amount of time.