Sleep apnea is one of the sleep disorders that seriously affects health. During sleep, the patient repeatedly stops breathing for a short time and then restarts breathing.
This sleep disorder is often accompanied by symptoms such as insomnia, fatigue, and headaches, which have a far greater impact on daily life than people imagine. In addition, anxiety is often accompanied by sleep apnea, adding a lot of trouble to patients.
The study revealed an astonishing fact: the deposition rate of β-amyloid protein (a key marker of Alzheimer’s disease) in OSAHS patients is 2.7 times faster than that of normal people. This means that every nighttime hypoxia caused by apnea may accelerate the damage to the brain without knowing it. What is more worrying is the psychological problems, such as cognitive decline, depression, and anxiety, caused by “nocturnal hypoxia”.
How Does Sleep Apnea Cause Anxiety?
Many studies in recent years have shown that there is indeed a significant correlation between depression and OSAHS. OSAHS patients experience repeated apnea and hypoxia at night, which induces increased micro-awakenings, shortened or missing stages 3 and 4 of non-rapid eye movement sleep, and reduced rapid eye movement sleep, leading to sleep fragmentation and disrupted sleep structure, causing patients to experience excessive daytime sleepiness.
Sleep apnea can not only cause anxiety, but also make existing anxiety symptoms worse. Anxiety is the body’s response to stress. The characteristic manifestations of anxiety are worry and nervousness, and a sense of foreboding that is inexplicable and erratic. In addition to these characteristic manifestations, anxiety can also manifest as:
Excessive sweating;
Fatigue;
Headache;
Mood changes;
Temperature loss;
Poor concentration;
Memory loss;
Panic attacks;
Hyperventilation;
Rapid heartbeat;
Feeling of suffocation;
Chest pain;
Disturbed sleep;
Increased blood pressure.
When breathing stops, the brain receives a signal to wake the body up to resume breathing. This is a self-protection mechanism of the body to prevent OSA patients from suffocating during sleep.
The cessation and restart of breathing seriously disrupts the continuity of sleep, significantly reducing the duration and quality of sleep, thus leading to lack of sleep.
Lack of sleep makes it more difficult for the brain to cope with stressful events (such as job loss, breakup, etc.). When sleep is repeatedly disturbed, it not only directly affects brain activity but also alters the neurochemical balance in the brain.
When neurochemicals are affected, they further impair a person’s thinking and emotions, causing anxiety. The more sleep disturbances people experience, the greater the impact on thinking patterns, emotions, and anxiety.
Can Anxiety Cause Sleep Apnea?
Although sleep apnea is a common cause of anxiety and panic attacks, it is difficult to say that anxiety causes sleep apnea. Anxiety and sleep apnea often occur together, but there is not necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship between the two.
However, anxiety can prevent patients from getting a good night’s sleep, which can worsen sleep apnea over time. Anxiety can also negatively impact sleep apnea treatment.
The study found that excessive daytime sleepiness in OSAHS patients is an independent risk factor for depressive disorders, and OSAHS daytime sleepiness and nocturnal hypoxia are associated with depression and cognitive impairment.
OSAHS patients have obvious symptoms of depression and anxiety. After CPAP treatment, their depression and anxiety symptoms are significantly improved. OSAHS is a risk factor for negative psychology, and CPAP treatment can relieve related symptoms.
How To Treat Sleep Apnea With Anxiety?
If you have both sleep apnea and anxiety symptoms, you should see a doctor promptly for appropriate examinations and professional treatment. Once a diagnosis is made, treatment should begin without delay.
The good news is that proper treatment can have a synergistic effect. That is, improvement in sleep apnea can lead to improvement in anxiety. Improvement in anxiety can also help with the treatment of sleep apnea.
There are a variety of treatments for sleep apnea with anxiety. It is important to have a treatment plan developed by your doctor or specialist.
Before treatment, a full night of polysomnography (EEG) should be performed to obtain data on sleep status, heart rate, eye movements, airflow, muscle activity, blood oxygen levels, and other functions, and a diagnosis can be made based on these data.
Treatment options include:
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. During CPAP therapy, a mask is placed over the patient’s nose/mouth, and the machine gently pumps air from outside the body into the patient’s airway to help keep the airway open and prevent apnea.
Some patients have difficulty wearing a CPAP mask due to anxiety. In this case, other treatments such as oral appliances are appropriate. Oral appliances adjust and control the position of the tongue and jaw to reduce airway resistance and increase airflow into the lungs.
In special cases, some patients may require surgery or hypoglossal nerve stimulation for treatment.
