An article in The Conversation asks the question, which comes first: sleep deprivation or depression and anxiety?

The majority of evidence suggests the relationship between sleep problems and anxiety and depression is strong and goes both ways.

This means sleep problems can lead to anxiety and depression, and vice versa. For example, worrying and feeling tense during bedtime can make it difficult to fall asleep, but having trouble falling asleep, and in turn not getting enough sleep, can also result in more anxiety.

Sleep disturbance, particularly insomnia, has been shown to follow anxiety and precede depression in some people, but it is also a common symptom of both disorders.

Trying to tease apart which problem comes first, in whom, and under what circumstances, is difficult. It may depend on when in life the problems occur. Emerging evidence shows sleep problems in adolescence might predict depression (and not the other way around). However, this pattern is not as strong in adults.

Get the whole story at www.theconversation.com