Sleep and Depression Risk

Eurekalert has this news item on a new study  of lifestyle and depression risk in nearly 300 000 people.  A sample of the study's main findings:

…the team was able to identify seven healthy lifestyle factors linked with a lower risk of depression. These were:

• moderate alcohol consumption
• healthy diet
• regular physical activity
• healthy sleep
• never smoking
• low-to-moderate sedentary behaviour
• frequent social connection

Of all of these factors, having a good night’s sleep – between seven and nine hours a night – made the biggest difference, reducing the risk of depression, including single depressive episodes and treatment-resistant depression, by 22%.

Frequent social connection, which in general reduced the risk of depression by 18%, was the most protective against recurrent depressive disorder.

Cheers, 

Colin