Sleep disorder

About: Sleep disorder is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 19380 publications have been published within this topic receiving 884281 citations. The topic is also known as: somnipathy & non-organic sleep disorder.

Daytime Sleepiness and Insomnia as Correlates of Depression

Abstract: Insomnia and daytime sleepiness are often associated with depression. The possible relationships between sleep difficulties and depression are numerous. Insomnia and other sleep disturbances can be precursors to the onset of major depressive disorder, so they may act as risk factors for or predictors of depression. The symptomatology of depression also prominently includes insomnia, and sleep disturbances may be residual symptoms after response to antidepressant treatment. Insomnia and the resultant daytime sleepiness may be short-term or long-term side effects of antidepressant treatment as well. Whether insomnia is a precursor, symptom, residual symptom, or side effect of depression or its treatment, clinicians must give serious attention to and attempt to resolve sleep disturbances because of the risk of depression onset, worsening of depressive symptoms, and relapse of depression after response to antidepressant treatment. Remission of depression cannot be fully achieved until the associated insomnia and daytime sleepiness are resolved. This article describes the relationships between insomnia and depression and discusses the effects of various antidepressants on sleep. Finally, several different treatment options, including antidepressant monotherapy and augmentation of antidepressants with other medications, are explored.

Sleep disturbances and suicidal behavior in patients with major depression.

Abstract: Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between sleep disturbances and suicidal behavior in patients with major depression (N = 113). Method: The sleep symptomatology of each patient was ascertained from the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS) questions concerning sleep in the section on major depression. The patients were retrospectively classified as having hypersomnia (N = 20), insomnia (N = 69), and no sleep disturbance (N = 24). The SADS suicide subscale was used to rate the severity of active suicidality. Results: The patients with hypersomnia and insomnia had significantly (p <.05 ) higher scores on the SADS suicide subscale than those without sleep disturbance. We also found that the patients with insomnia and hypersomnia were significantly (p <.001) more likely to become suicidal than the others. Conclusion: These data demonstrate that both insomnia and hypersomnia are associated with suicidal behavior in patients with major depression.

Serotonergic antidepressants are associated with REM sleep without atonia.

Abstract: STUDY OBJECTIVES Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is generally observed in older men and in individuals with specific neurologic diseases. There are case reports of RBD in individuals taking serotonergic antidepressants. Our objective was to assess electromyogram (EMG) activity during REM sleep in individuals taking serotonergic antidepressants and in a matched control group not on such medication. DESIGN Chart review of clinical and polysomnographic data. SETTING Sleep laboratory affiliated with a general hospital. PARTICIPANTS 15 subjects taking a serotonergic antidepressant and 15 age-matched individuals not on such medication. MEASUREMENTS Submental and anterior tibialis tonic and phasic EMG activity during REM sleep, REM latency, time in REM, apnea-hypopnea index, periodic leg movements of sleep index, and sleep-architecture measures. RESULTS Tonic, but not phasic, submental EMG activity during REM sleep was significantly more common in the antidepressant-treated group than in the control group (P < .02). Tonic REM submental EMG activity correlated with REM latency (r = .42, P = .02) and inversely with REM time (r = -.36, P = .05). Subject age correlated with tonic REM submental EMG activity (r = .58, P = .02) in the antidepressant group There were also trends for more phasic activity in the anterior tibialis (P = .09) and submental (P = .07) EMG in REM sleep in the antidepressant group than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS Subjects taking serotonergic antidepressants had more EMG activity in the submental lead during REM sleep than did controls. This correlated with measures of REM suppression and age. Individuals taking such medications may be at increased risk of developing REM sleep behavior disorder, particularly with increasing age.

Parental perception of sleep problems in children of normal intelligence with pervasive developmental disorders: prevalence, severity, and pattern.

Abstract: Objective This study compares parents' perceptions of the prevalence, severity, and pattern of sleep problems in children of normal intelligence with pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) with a normative comparison group of children Method A survey including the Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire was mailed to a sample of parents of children (age range 5-12 years) with PDDs (diagnosed by the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised) obtained by chart review of the past 7 years and to parents of comparison children matched on age, gender, and postal code Results The response rate in the PDD group was 822% (37/45) and 558% (43/77) in the comparison group By individually matching, 23 pairs were obtained The prevalence of sleep problems in the PDD group was reported by parents as being significantly higher than in the comparison group (78% and 26%, respectively; p p Conclusions Parents report that sleep problems are significantly more prevalent and severe in children of normal intelligence with PDDs compared with normally developing children, and the pattern appears diverse Sleep problems in children with PDDs require further research and clinical attention