Sleep Disturbances and Depression: a review

Sleep disturbances are frequently a symptom of depression. Patients with mood disorders were found to have more robust changes across more sleep parameters than did patients with other disorders or healthy controls. The association between depression and disturbed sleep has been well documented in both clinical and epidemiologic studies. Adequately addressing sleep disturbance is particular relevant for these patients, as there is some evidence that the presence of sleep complaint is associated with greater severity of patient's primary condition. There is both objective and subjective evidence that sleep is disturbed in depressed patients. Subjective assessments of sleep in patients with depression tend to confirm objective measures (polysomnographic recordings). Interesting findings derive from the study of sleep microstructure and in particular cyclic alternating pattern. It's also important to consider that many medications used to treat depression may disturb sleep. Given a clear association between sleep disturbances and depression, a number of important clinical issues remain to be elucidated in order to improve diagnosis, allow for better treatment decisions and aid in the development of new therapies.