Sleep apnea’s psychological effects on the brain can range from motor skill and learning impairment to even more serious mental health consequences. Many people don’t realize that they have this dangerous condition until it has already taken a significant toll on their lives. For those wondering what sleep apnea can do to their brain, we’ve created this go-to resource for just that purpose.

The Consequences of a Lack of Treatment

The biggest battle to quelling the wide-spread issue of sleep apnea, is diagnosis. Most people who suffer from symptoms write them off as “something else.” This excuse might seem tempting at first, not confronting illness can grant you a while longer without facing reality. Eventually though, those consequences from a lack of treatment can become unavoidable. 

Without the adequate oxygen intake that most sleep apnea treatment plans focus on, people suffering simply don’t get enough air at night. They wake up choking and therefore don’t sleep well either. And that right there leads to sleep deprivation which hosts a wide range of other problems. 

Suffering Mental Health

Long-term sleep deprivation from sleep apnea isn’t like other kinds of sleep deprivation. In other cases getting to bed sooner or eliminating external disruptions can help make the problem go away. Obstructive apnea though, is internal and you can’t escape from it unless you get the treatment you need. Without proper treatment, patients can experience:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Suicidal ideation
• Serious psychological distress

In terms of depression, one study published by the National Institutes of Health found that those suffering from sleep apnea had increased odds of experiencing depression by as much as three times compared to those without sleep apnea. Researchers found that the statistics for anxiety, suicidal ideation, and serious psychological distress yielded 3.68, 2.75, and 2.88 times more prevalence in sleep apnea sufferers, respectively. 

Information Retention and Motor Skill Performance

Sleep apnea can also affect one’s ability to retain information, especially overnight. One study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine assigned participants to complete a sequential finger-tapping task (SFTT), a motor skill learning task, both before and after polysomnographic recorded sleep. 

Sleep apnea sufferers, who performed similarly to the control group before sleep, fared far worse than the control group after sleep. Participants were also slower in completing the SFTT after sleep, suggesting that sleep apnea can negatively affect motor skills learning.

Sleep Apnea Treatment 

To schedule a consultation with Dr. Buck and the call our offices at 425-361-7499.