Life Changes

Life is full of changes that can have a big impact upon how you sleep. Some changes you expect, but others catch you by surprise. Negative changes will tend to disturb your sleep the most.

But positive changes can affect you too. Along with excitement, good changes bring new duties and stress that can keep you up at night.

Examples of these kinds of changes include the following:

* Getting married
* Having a baby
* Starting a new job
* Moving

Examples of the negative changes that can greatly affect your sleep include the following:

* Losing a loved one
* Losing a job
* Getting divorced
* Being in an auto accident
* Having a major illness
* Being involved in a lawsuit
* Making a bad investment

These changes can cause you to have feelings of depression. For many men, it begins so slowly that they never become aware that they are depressed. Over time, it can progress to the point where despair is just a normal part of their lives.

Depression can greatly disrupt the quality of your sleep. You might lie in bed tossing and turning late into the night. You also might sleep for a long time with no motivation to get out of bed.

As poor sleep progresses, men stop taking care of their bodies in other ways. They stop eating and exercising regularly. They abuse alcohol and drugs. Overall, they may lose their usual interest and pleasure in the normal activities of daily life.

Men are more likely to keep these feelings of depression trapped inside. They don’t often deal with them openly. In some cases, these feelings one day explode in a violent outburst.

Depressed men often turn this violence on themselves. Statistics show that men are four times as likely as women to kill themselves.

Many men resist seeking help from a counselor. They fear that people will think something is “wrong” with them. They need to understand that these feelings are perfectly normal. But while they are normal, they can also be hazardous to their health.

If you are struggling with feelings of depression, then at least start by talking to a spouse, friend, doctor or minister. Any of them can help you decide if you need to see a counselor. Don’t fight this battle alone.