Insomnia
While insomnia is a common symptom of depression, antidepressants are effective for treating sleep problems whether or not they are associated with depression. While all antidepressants help regulate sleep, some antidepressants such as amitriptyline, doxepin, mirtazapine, and trazodone can have an immediate sedative effect, and are prescribed to treat insomnia. Amitriptyline and doxepin both have antihistaminergic, anticholinergic, and antiadrenergic properties, which contribute to both their therapeutic effects and side effect profiles, while mirtazapine's side effects are primarily antihistaminergic, and trazodone's side-effects are primarily antiadrenergic. Mirtazapine is known to decrease sleep latency (i.e., the time it takes to fall asleep), promoting sleep efficiency and increasing the total amount of sleeping time in people with both depression and insomnia.
Insomnia
Sleep hygiene is a common term for all of the behaviors which relate to the promotion of good sleep. These behaviors are used as the basis of sleep interventions and are the primary focus of sleep education programs. Behaviors include reducing caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol consumption, maximizing the regularity and efficiency of sleep episodes, minimizing medication usage and daytime napping, the promotion of regular exercise, and the facilitation of a positive sleep environment. Exercise can be helpful when establishing a routine for sleep but should not be done close to the time that you are planning on going to sleep. The creation of a positive sleep environment may also be helpful in reducing the symptoms of insomnia. In order to create a positive sleep environment one should remove objects that can cause worry or distressful thoughts from view.