Sleep and Depression

Abstract

WE recently studied the sleep patterns of 21 depressed patients shortly after their admission to the hospital, and compared the results with the sleep patterns of 15 control subjects.^1,2 These comparisons were based on the second night spent by each subject in the sleep laboratory. The significant differences between the two groups are summarized in Table 1. We were able to study the sleep of 13 of the original 21 depressed patients after "significant clinical improvement" had occurred, just prior to their discharge from the hospital. They were studied a mean of 47.1 days (range, 15 to 69) after the second night in the sleep laboratory on the initial study. Method The subjects were studied in an air-conditioned, sound attenuated, electrically shielded room. A 16-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) was used, with tracings from the occipital and frontal regions referred to the vertex. Electromyographic (EMG) monitoring