The Relationship Between Sleep Deprivation and Unwanted Thoughts

It isn’t uncommon for anyone to have an unwanted thought pop into their head now and again. For the majority of people, these thoughts disappear quickly. However, if you’ve noticed these thoughts becoming repetitive, uncontrollable, and distressing, you could have another issue going on. A factor that could be contributing to intrusive thoughts is sleep deprivation, often caused by sleep apnea. Read on to learn more about unwanted thoughts and how sleep apnea treatment may help to reduce them.

How Are Unwanted Thoughts and Sleep Deprivation Related?

Unwanted thoughts occur from time to time for pretty much everyone. However, the ability to suppress them can vary a lot between different people. Many different factors play a role, and we are learning more about them as the years pass. In a sleep study published by Clinical Psychological Science, it appears that sleep loss has a considerable impact on the ability to keep away unwanted thoughts.

In the study, a group of 60 healthy individuals was split into two separate groups. One group was assigned as a sleep group and the other was assigned as the sleep deprivation group. After a night, the participants were shown photos of faces and asked to try to suppress the associations that the faces provoked. Those who had a sufficient amount of sleep were more easily able to suppress unwelcome thoughts and report that it became easier over time. Those who were sleep-deprived reported a 50% increase in unwanted thoughts.

How Can Treating Sleep Apnea Improve Your Sleep?

Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that causes the sufferer to stop breathing multiple times throughout the night. This can lead to numerous serious complications, like excessive daytime sleepiness, insomnia, nightmares, sleep deprivation, loud snoring, and mood changes. Sleep apnea treatments work by preventing these ceases in breathing from occurring throughout the night, allowing them to achieve uninterrupted, quality sleep.

How is Sleep Apnea Treated?

There are multiple different treatment options out there for addressing sleep apnea. For mild cases, lifestyle changes, including losing excess weight and getting plenty of exercise, could be enough to reduce symptoms. For those with severe sleep apnea, a CPAP machine could be necessary. This treatment involves wearing a mask that covers the nose and mouth as they sleep. The mask is attached to a machine that pushes air into the airway to keep it open while the person sleeps. The issue is that many people find CPAP machines loud and uncomfortable, so they are less likely to be compliant with treatment.

Oral appliance therapy is an alternative sleep apnea treatment. It involves the patient wearing a custom appliance in their mouth as they sleep. This oral appliance shifts the jaw forward, making the airway less likely to collapse. This option is comfortable and convenient, allowing for more quality sleep.

Unwanted thoughts can take a toll on your mood and morale. If you’ve noticed a surplus of unwanted thoughts, you may want to consider being tested for sleep apnea. By receiving treatment, you can get the quality sleep you need at night to feel like your best self during the day!

About the Practice

At Mable Dental McKinney, Dr. Zack Hegazin and Dr. Muna Koro work together to serve the McKinney community. With their combined experience and expertise, patients can get pretty much anything they need under one roof. They provide oral appliance therapy to help those with sleep apnea get sufficient rest. To learn more about sleep apnea treatment or to schedule an appointment, visit their website or call (214) 592-0441.