Severe Male Depression and Nightmares: Is There a Connect?

Depression isn’t just a string of troubling emotions (such as loneliness or sadness); it’s often accompanied by permanent changes in the brain as well. Patients diagnosed with a major depressive disorder are reported to dream thrice as many times as people who aren’t. Constant dreaming also disrupts sleeping patterns, causing depressed people to feel fatigued. In addition, the changing sleep patterns frequently result in nightmares.

What are Nightmares?

Nightmares can look and feel real and vivid. These evoke emotions of terror, fear, and anxiety, which makes it impossible to fall back asleep. Because nightmares are seen as a threat to security and survival, they also contribute to increased stress levels.

The Connection between Male Depression and Nightmares

Unfortunately, 28 percent of people diagnosed with a major depressive disorder are known to experience nightmares frequently. Despite dreaming more than the average person, depressed individuals are less likely to recall their dreams. Repetitive nightmares can also cause impairment in occupational and social functioning.

If you can relate to what has been said about nightmares, it may just be time for you to seek help for your depression. Untreated clinical depression can increase the chances of risky behaviors such as drug abuse and alcohol addiction. It can also affect your mood, thoughts, and body permanently. For this reason, it’s important to seek help for depression.

Get the Help You Need for Male Depression Treatment

You can regain your strength despite battling a major depressive disorder. You, too, can overcome isolation, gain confidence, engage socially, increase emotional capacity and reconnect with the ones you loved with the right kind of treatment. At Silicon Valley Marriage Counseling, we enable men to express their personalities freely before introducing them to new perspectives.

Azizeh E. Rezaiyan of Silicon Valley Marriage Counseling is a qualified Farsi-speaking family therapist, physiologist, and marriage counselor who has been serving in the Bay Area of Palo Alto, California, for over 20 years. This is a relationship counseling center that offers couples counseling, cross-cultural marriage counseling, premarital counseling, sexuality for couples, infidelity, same-sex couples counseling, male depression therapy palo alto, anxiety counseling, and family mediation.