Posted by Ritch on June 17, 2002, at 22:08:11
In reply to Sleep Deprivation Depression, posted by Peter S. on June 17, 2002, at 19:28:53
> Hi All,
>
> There are studies that have shown that a certain percentage of depressed people respond to sleep deprivation, as a matter of fact it has been known to induce mania.
>
> Throughout my life I have noticed that if I don't get enough sleep (1-5 hours) this eliminates depression- of course I pay the price when I next get a decent night sleep. Anti-depressants have generally been a failure for me because they "work" for a couple of days and then cycle on and off. I've also had kind of hypo manic responses to some anti-depressants.
>
> The only thing that has worked consistently up to now has been Lamictal. I've been wondering if sleep deprivation induced mood improvement might be indicative of someone being more in the bipolar spectrum. This would certainly have implications for treatment
>
> Any ideas or references people know about?
>
> Thanks!
>
> PeterUnipolar or bipolar depression is a neuroendocrine dysfunction it seems to me. Sleep is wired into that in a very fundamental way. I think a lot of antidepressants happen to treat that dysfunction in an indirect manner by tinkering with neurotransmitters. Sleep quality is nearly a perfect mirror to my mood status. It seems that doing whatever is necessary to obtain normal sleep architecture happens to solve the affective issues. Sleep deprivation was the most widely used and most effective means of obtaining false confessions for political crimes during the Stalinist era in the Soviet Union.
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:110175
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020617/msgs/110181.html