Depression and Insomnia in Adolescents

Dr. Ginari G. Price leverages more than a decade of clinical experience to serve as medical director of Psycare, a psychiatric treatment agency in Fayetteville, Georgia. Dr. Ginari G. Price also completed a fellowship in sleep medicine, a field which she has researched extensively.

The link between depression and insomnia is broadly documented across multiple populations. For instance, clinical evidence shows that those diagnosed with insomnia are 10 times more likely to develop depression than those who experience regular sleep, while those with depression are prone to develop sleep disturbances. 

For teenagers with insomnia, this dual diagnosis presents both mental and physical health risks. Recent studies reveal that children with co-morbid sleep disorders have more severe and longer-term depression symptoms, as well as a risk of impaired movement, weight loss, and the inability to experience feelings of pleasure.

Co-morbid depression and anxiety may also lead to increased risk-taking behaviors, such as substance abuse. Fortunately, clinical data also reveals that early treatment of insomnia can reduce depression risk by as much as 47 percent. Such treatment often involves the implementation of good sleep hygiene practices, which include eliminating screen time before bed and establishing a regular bedtime routine. However, because of the potential severity of adolescent insomnia and its side effects, experts recommend professional assessment for teenagers who show signs of sleep disturbances.

Sleep and the Circadian Rhythm

The medical director of Psycare, LLC, in Fayetteville, Georgia, psychiatrist Dr. Ginari G. Price is double board certified in general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry. A member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Dr. Ginari G. Price is eligible to take the sleep medicine board examination. 

Physicians working in the field of sleep medicine are educated in a wide variety of related topics, including sleep issues such as parasomnias (sleepwalking) and insomnia, sleep-related breathing and movement, and circadian rhythms.

A circadian rhythm is a natural 24-hour cycle present in all living beings, from plants and fungi to humans and animals. A person’s circadian rhythm dictates when he or she wants or requires sleep and nourishment.

The circadian rhythm is largely an endogenic process, which means it is controlled by forces within the body. However, the human biological clock that controls the circadian rhythm does not span an exact 24 hours. Rather, estimates place the actual time between 24.2 and 25.5 hours. Because of this, outside variables such as patterns of daylight and darkness also affect one’s circadian rhythm. 

Circadian rhythms are responsible for more than just determining when a person needs sleep and food. They also play a role in hormone release and body temperature, and abnormal rhythms can even affect weight gain and emotional health.

The Mental Health Reform Act of 2016 Senate Bill

 

Dr. Ginari G. Price has served as the medical director of Psycare, LLC, in Fayetteville, Georgia, since 2008. A psychiatrist with more than a decade of experience, Dr. Ginari G. Price holds membership with numerous professional organizations, including the American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists (AACAP).

Established as its current incarnation in 1988, AACAP strives “to promote the healthy development of children, adolescents, and families” and offers support and assistance to professionals in related fields. AACAP also organizes and supports advocacy initiatives.

Currently, there are three legislative advocacy campaigns underway, one of which is focused on comprehensive mental health reform. The senate bill S.2680, entitled the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016, is requesting numerous alterations to government processes, including the following changes to syntax:

- Renaming the Centers for Disease Control. The bill advocates for the new title, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

- Striking “substance abuse” from administrative terminology, and replacing it with “mental and/or substance use disorders.”

- Reordering the term “treatment and prevention” so that it reads “prevention and treatment.”

This bill is under the jurisdiction of the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar in April 2016.

5 Health Risks of Sleep Deprivation

Sleep is one of the basic things we need to stay healthy. Here are some health risks of not getting enough sleep.

• It can lead to depression

Sleep deprivation can be a contributing factor to depression. The most widely recognized sleeping disorder, insomnia, has the most grounded connection to depression. In a 2007 investigation of 10,000 individuals, it was discovered that insomnia is often the first symptoms of depression.

• Sleep deprivation accelerates aging

The vast majority have encountered wrinkled skin and puffy eyes following a couple of evenings of sleep loss. Chronic sleep deprivation can prompt dreary skin, and dark circles under the eyes. Sleep deprivation also retards growth especially in teenagers.

• Sleep deprivation can lead to obesity

Sleep deprivation is by all accounts identified with an increment in craving and hunger, and potentially leads to obesity. Not just does sleep deprivation stimulates appetites; it also fortifies desires for high-fat, and high-starch diets.

• Sleep deprivation can affect the immune system

The immune system produces protective cytokines and infection-fighting antibodies and cells when we are asleep. These are used as tools to battle off outside substances like microscopic organisms and infections. These cytokines and other defensive substances additionally help you sleep, giving the immune system more vitality to guard against disease.

• Sleep deprivation can cause serious damage to the respiratory system

Since lack of sleep can affect your immunity, you’re more defenseless against respiratory infections like flu. If you have a chronic respiratory disease, sleep deprivation can make it worse.

Ginari Gibb Price has been a physician for over ten years; she has completed a general psychiatry residency and two fellowship programs. She is presently a member of American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Ginari Gibb Price – Narcolepsy In the Elderly

Ginari Gibb Price is a psychiatrist who practices in Atlanta, Georgia. She has conducted much research during her career and has presented papers on various topics, including a paper called “Narcolepsy in the Elderly.”

As she knows, narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that is manifested in daytime sleepiness and sporadic and uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep in the daylight hours. It is not a fatal condition, but it can be very debilitating and can have a serious negative impact on the quality of life for the sufferer.

Narcolepsy, as Ginari Gibb Price knows, most often affects people between the ages of fifteen and thirty and is seldom reported in people after the age of fifty-five. But she says that cases of narcolepsy have been reported in people older than seventy. In common with cases in younger patients, narcolepsy in the elderly typically begins with daytime sleepiness and disrupted sleeping patterns at night. It is often accompanied by weakness in the muscles, known as cataplexy, which can be brought on by emotional events like laughter. Diagnoses of narcolepsy must be made in a sleep lab so that other causes of sleepiness can be ruled out. Other tests follow.

If a diagnosis of narcolepsy is confirmed, then Ginari Gibb Price says that treatment is important in order to alleviate mental and social impairments. Narcolepsy in older patients, however, does not always have to be as aggressive as it needs to be in younger patients because in most cases they do not have the same occupational or parental responsibilities.

Lost In The Ivy Group Interview with Ginari Price (95), Jackie Lapardo (96), and Nyree Ramsey (97)

Lost in the Ivy is research project that details the history of African-Americans at Vanderbilt University. In addition to historical fact telling, the project also examines key issues involving racial identity and racial interactions at the university. The primary method of data collection is oral histories recorded from current students, alumni, faculty, and staff. This file features a short preview of a group interview with Ginari Price (VU 1995), Jacqueline Lapardo (VU 1996), and Nyree Ramsey (VU 1997) in Nashville, TN on October 13, 2007.

Ginari Gibb Price: Ten Years in Practice