Sleep and the Pathogenesis of PTSD

Abstract

(from the introduction) One of the prime symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is difficulty in sleep. Trauma survivors most often complain about insomnia and traumatic nightmares. This chapter provides a summary of studies of sleep in PTSD. It is argued that sleep has been one of the easier symptoms to study because it can be easily quantified by objective and relatively non-intrusive measures. However, contrasting with apparently ubiquitous clinical complaints of sleep disturbances, empirical observations have failed to observe a consistent pattern of sleep abnormalities in PTSD. The author suggests that it may be that the laboratory condition inadvertently provides a therapeutic and safe environment that lacks the normal cues that trigger disturbed sleep. Nonetheless, it is argued that the gains made in this area have direct relevance to the clinical treatment of sleep disorders associated with PTSD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2000 APA, all rights reserved) Record 182 of 814 in PsycINFO 1999-2001/12