Sleep Apnea and a Shift in My Mental Health

I am constantly working on my mental health throughout my daily life. This has been a long journey for me, and I am happy to say that I have made a lot of progress. However, things have been very difficult for me. Especially during these unknown and chaotic times that we are all living through!

One of the major aspects that has helped me with my mental health is gaining my sleep apnea diagnosis and starting the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment.

I thought everyone felt this fatigued

I went throughout my daily life for years, not understanding that the lack of sleep that I was experiencing was not normal. I thought that most people felt extreme fatigue throughout the day but struggled to stay asleep throughout the night.

I felt down; I had little energy to do much else after I made it through my required tasks of the day and all those other symptoms that we hear about when we talk about obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Better sleep came my way

Once I finally made the realization that this was not normal and I should seek medical advice, I began to realize that there was an option to improve my sleep! What a world of difference this made for me.

I still felt tired (and still do to this day), but it is such an amazing difference for me. I had energy to make it through the day-to-day activities and engage in something with my friends afterward! It had truly been so long since I had been able to do that.

I don't miss my old exhaustion

If I was dragged out (pre-CPAP therapy) with my friends, I would fall asleep EVERYWHERE we went. I wish I was exaggerating. I significantly remember falling asleep leaning against the speakers when we were out one night.

No, I was not passed out because of anything I consumed. It was just pure exhaustion and the fact that my body was still moving at 8 PM, and it could no longer stay awake.

Sleep and mental health

I feel so much better in my daily life now. I have more energy. I am in a better mood. I am more productive, less fatigued, and just happier in all aspects. Who knew this was possible?

It is so ironic that I was studying psychology at the time in college, and yet I had not made the connection to my own life of how important sleep is for your mood and your mental health!

I feel so lucky

Since my diagnosis and prescription of the CPAP machine, I have felt such a great shift in my mental health. Of course, there is more work that I need to do within myself to increase my overall mental health. But, the fact that I am sleeping better each night has been truly amazing.

I am so lucky that I had family and friends who urged me to seek medical advice when my fatigue was so excessive it was impeding my daily life. I also feel so lucky to have my CPAP machine in order to get better rest to continue improving my life and being able to live to my fullest potential.

Can treating sleep apnea improve mental health?

Has anyone else had experiences like this where they felt a great mood shift after starting their CPAP therapy? Please join our community if you haven’t already and comment below! I would love to hear from you.