Children with sleeping problems may face mental health issues later

If your children aren’t able to get a deep and peaceful sleep, then there’s a great risk that they might develop mental health problems in the future, reports the Daily Mail. A study found that disturbed sleep in children could be a sign of several problems like anxiety, depression or schizophrenia and even autism.

The study carried out by researchers from Goldsmiths, University of London and Tel Aviv University involved reviewing several scientific studies and concludes that sleep may be vital to understand how people develop mental illnesses. Conditions like insomnia, disturbed sleep and nightmares are often linked with a greater likelihood of developing mental health problems either in later childhood or adulthood.

The study authors discovered that nightmares and ‘night terrors’ in children may be associated with the later development of psychotic episodes like schizophrenia. They also found that children who have been diagnosed with mania or bi-polar disorder also have irregular sleeping patterns and shorter hours of sleep.