Questions:

Hi there – I was wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom or could relate at all. I’m not sure that my husband and I are dysthymic, but we certainly are hit with low moods regularly, and while it doesn’t fit DSM-IV criteria, I don’t believe that it should be discounted. I actually am a licensed counselor, so it’s somewhat embarrassing, my struggle over comprehending all of this, but, oh well.

Let me start with my husband: what worries me is his excessive sleepiness and need to nap regularly. It used to be worse when he was on a different antidepressant, but typically, he needs to nap for an extended period of time after not having been awake that long. For instance, this past Saturday, after having slept about 10.5 hours, he needed a 2 hour nap after having only been awake for 2.5 hours.

Also, yesterday, we took our nephew to the zoo, and had only gotten about 7 hours of sleep. We didn’t nap all day, but of course, my husband felt this intense need to. He was extremely sleepy after lunch and wanted to nap at 6 when we got home. Luckily, I talked him out of it since I said we could go to bed early, but usually, the need to sleep is generally too overpowering to warrant any discussion. Of course, he calls me up this morning saying he feels really depressed about his job and his future. Usually he says that after waking up in the morning and after naps, he never feels rested. A few years ago, he went into the sleep lab, but they found nothing. Does anyone else have these symptoms?

Also, is there some kind of correlation between napping and depression? Most adults I know never really nap…why are my husband and I so afflicted with this need?

Now me: I know I have either cyclothymia or dysthymia, but I guess my concern or at least curiosity is that I have always been a napper. I know I’m an introvert and would probably prefer staying home to watch tv than going to a party, but I’ve always found it interesting that my sisters never liked napping, but for as long as I can remember, I simply adore it…and again, I won’t do a power 20 min. nap…my naps usually have to be at least 1.5 to 2 hours. And I know many lament of the sleep inertia they encounter after a nap, but that isn’t enough to deter me. In fact, I would take that sleep inertia any day to that experience early in the morning when my alarm sounds. I guess I’m just wondering if needing a long nap has to do with a mood disorder or one’s personality or laziness? I don’t feel it’s laziness, especially when I can see how much of a struggle it can be for my husband to stay awake.

Finally, no matter how much sleep I get, I always feel like crap in the morning…I experience that “sleep inertia” regardless of how much sleep I get. I got 8 hours last night and still I felt I needed to stay in bed. Could this be related to depression too, or could it have to do more with the fact that I tend to be a night owl and mornings will always stink?

My last concern (sorry for the last post) is about becoming parents. My husband and I are thinking of trying for a baby soon, but I fear how this napping tendency and general malaise we feel about work and life will affect our child. When I talk to other parents and how they deal with the lack of napping, they don’t seem to mind. How can one be a good parent if napping seems to be more important? Also, when we left the zoo yesterday, I guess it was nice that we were able to drop him off at his parents…but we wondered, what if he was our kid? My husband asked what would we do when we got home? Would we have to play with him? Would we be able to relax? I have to admit that that concerned me as well.

Thanks for reading this long post and I’m eager to hear any comments anyone has.