ABSTRACT
Sleep deprivation therapy referred to as “wake therapy,” is a robust, rapid-acting, noninvasive antidepressant treatment. Concomitant treatment with medications and post-sleep deprivation chronotherapies such as bright light therapy and sleep phase advance can lengthen the maintenance of improvement from weeks to months. Accumulating data support depression as a circadian-related illness, as evidenced by abnormalities in sleep, mood, hormonal secretions, and/or temperature in a subgroup of depressed patients. An estimated 70%–80% of depressed patients complain of sleep disturbances, including insomnia, -morning awakening, and difficulty in initiating sleep. Studies of the mechanisms of action of sleep deprivation may provide potentially important clues as to the switch process. Sleep deprivation in animals has a wide range of physiological and cognitive effects. Relatively little is understood about the interaction between sleep and depression and why sleep patterns frequently normalize with improvement in symptoms.
