My Sleep is Broken: Help for Depression & Sleep Problems
- ✓I either can't sleep at all or I sleep for 12 hours and still feel dead inside
- ✓My depression feels worse at 3am when I'm staring at the ceiling
- ✓I've called in sick because I literally couldn't get out of bed
You're not broken — your sleep and mood are stuck in a loop that therapy can untangle.
Roughly 75% of people with depression struggle with sleep—whether it's insomnia, early waking, or sleeping too much. According to the APA, sleep disruption is one of depression's most reliable predictors, and also one of its most treatable pieces.
Sleep problems and depression create a vicious cycle: poor sleep worsens mood, and low mood makes restorative sleep harder to find. This isn't just 'bad sleep hygiene'—it's a biological pattern where depression disrupts your body's ability to regulate rest. If you're also dealing with [fatigue that sleep doesn't fix](/topics/depression/depression-fatigue/), you're experiencing how deeply these systems are connected.
Why Depression Breaks Your Sleep (And Vice Versa)
Depression often feels like caring has stopped working — the things that used to matter don't pull you forward, and even simple tasks can feel impossibly heavy. This emotional shutdown directly impacts your sleep-wake cycle. Research shows depression disrupts circadian rhythm and triggers hyperarousal states that keep your brain 'on' when it should rest (APA, 2019). When your system is stuck in this loop, [motivation doesn't just dip—it vanishes](/topics/depression/depression-and-motivation/) because the same brain regions that regulate drive also control sleep pressure.
Signs Depression and Sleep Are Locked Together
- •**You Can't Fall or Stay Asleep:** Your mind races with rumination, or you wake at 4am and can't get back to sleep.
- •**You Sleep Too Much But Never Feel Rested:** 10-12 hours leaves you groggy, heavy, and more depressed.
- •**Your Mood Predicts Your Night:** Bad day equals guaranteed bad sleep, and you dread bedtime.
- •**The Shame of Being 'Lazy':** You beat yourself up for sleeping through alarms, calling in sick, or needing naps just to function.
Something to try
The Fixed Wake-Time Rule (CBT-I Core Skill)
Set one consistent wake-up time — even on weekends. Get up at that time regardless of how poorly you slept. This stabilizes your circadian rhythm, which research shows can improve both sleep and depressive symptoms within 2-3 weeks. It feels brutal at first, but it retrains your brain's sleep signals.
This is a reset button — it helps regulate the system, but untangling depression's grip on sleep requires therapy that addresses the underlying patterns.
What to expect in therapy
Therapy for depression-related sleep issues often combines CBT for Insomnia (CBT-I) with depression-focused work like Behavioral Activation or Interpersonal Therapy (IPT). You'll learn to calm hyperarousal at night while rebuilding daytime structure that supports both mood and rest.
You can wake up feeling like yourself again — not because you forced better sleep, but because therapy unwound what was keeping both your mood and rest stuck.
Ready for support that actually fits?
If you've tried sleep apps, supplements, or 'just going to bed earlier' without lasting change, it's not your fault. Depression and sleep require an approach that treats both, not just one. Our matching identifies clinicians who specialize in this exact loop — so you don't waste time on generic fixes.