True. And as a feedback loop, lack of sleep causes people to be more anxious because the calming part of the brain is too tired to function well.
Good sleep is also needed for the brain to process emotional situations to work through them. Sometimes the situation is so much that we wake up from that. The book on sleep by Matthew Walker has a section on treating PTSD and veterans awaking from bad dreams that they ultimately needed to get through to process their fears.
That book also has some suggestions for getting more and better sleep -- many of which have been mentioned in replies to your post.
They include things like:
* go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
* avoid caffeine from any sources after 2 pm (or depending on your metabolism, earlier or maybe even at all)
* avoid alcohol as it interferes with good sleep
* avoid electronic screens before bedtime
* especially avoid blue LEDs before bedtime (use something like Flux on laptops)
* have the bedroom be cooler at night
* don't stay awake in bed -- get up and go back to bed when you are sleepy to associate bed with sleeping
* avoid exercise or heavy eating for at least a couple of hours before going to sleep
He even suggests setting an alarm as a reminder to tell you when to go to sleep.
Of course, it is all easier said than done when you are depressed. Sometimes one small positive step can lead to another though. It helps a lot if you have a supportive community.
Good luck!
P.S. If you decide to change jobs, consider looking at idealist.org and also reading "Disciplined Minds" by Schmidt and "The Three Boxes of Life" by Bolles.
Good sleep is also needed for the brain to process emotional situations to work through them. Sometimes the situation is so much that we wake up from that. The book on sleep by Matthew Walker has a section on treating PTSD and veterans awaking from bad dreams that they ultimately needed to get through to process their fears.
That book also has some suggestions for getting more and better sleep -- many of which have been mentioned in replies to your post.
They include things like:
* go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
* avoid caffeine from any sources after 2 pm (or depending on your metabolism, earlier or maybe even at all)
* avoid alcohol as it interferes with good sleep
* avoid electronic screens before bedtime
* especially avoid blue LEDs before bedtime (use something like Flux on laptops)
* have the bedroom be cooler at night
* don't stay awake in bed -- get up and go back to bed when you are sleepy to associate bed with sleeping
* avoid exercise or heavy eating for at least a couple of hours before going to sleep
He even suggests setting an alarm as a reminder to tell you when to go to sleep.
Here are some other ideas I collected for moving from depression onto an upward spiral of improvement: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15455259
Of course, it is all easier said than done when you are depressed. Sometimes one small positive step can lead to another though. It helps a lot if you have a supportive community.
Good luck!
P.S. If you decide to change jobs, consider looking at idealist.org and also reading "Disciplined Minds" by Schmidt and "The Three Boxes of Life" by Bolles.