A new Columbia University study published in the journal Sleep demonstrated that teens who don't get a full nine hours of sleep are more likely to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts.  Study participants whose parents set bedtimes of midnight or later were 24 percent more likely to suffer from depression and 20 percent more apt to have thoughts of suicide, compared to those with bedtimes . . .

 of 10 p.M. or earlier. Those teens who got five hours of sleep or less per night were 71 percent more likely to report being depressed and 40 percent more likely to think of suicide. "The study points out how important it is to get adequate amounts of sleep. We are always trying to accomplish more and, in doing so, get less sleep. But studies in the past have shown that focus is down when you haven't gotten enough sleep. So, when you get less sleep you might actually be less productive. We all must put higher priority on sleeping. We feel like we can just eat into our sleep time, but we pay for it in many different ways." Ganswisch believes that a paucity of sleep affects how our brain responds to aversive stimuli and hinders our ability to cope with daily stress. It could also affect judgment, concentration and impulse control." He says, “Parents should try as much as possible to sell teenagers on the importance of getting enough sleep, even if it seems they don't need as much as younger children. Parents should be working with the adolescent on how much sleep they should be getting. It should be an open discussion ... how important sleep is. even if they try for a few nights to get more sleep and they see how much better they feel. Research shows that adolescents still need (those) nine hours of sleep a night to be at their best."

Identify the reason and take steps towards a resolution

While stress is counted as the major factor which may lead the child to a stage of acute depression, it is better to identify the reasons first and take steps towards to resolving them. Stress in a adolescent's life may be due to various factors such as academics, relationship, increasing parental aspirations, obsessive preoccupation with looks mainly due to peer pressure. All these lead to depressions, mood swings and also suicidal thoughts. Depression results in weight loss, nutritional deficiency and insufficient sleep. Those who went to bed early, before 10:00 p.m., were said to sleep around 8 hours each night, compared to those who went to bed after midnight, many of them sleeping 6 hours or less.