Sleep and Sleep Deprivation Studies in Patients with Premenstrual Depression

Abstract

Thus in this sample of women with premenstrual depression we did not find sleep EEG alterations similar to those reported in some patients with major depressive disorder. The absence of marked changes with the menstrual cycle may be a function of Type II error and the large individual variability seen in a sample of this size. Eight of ten women with premenstrual depression responded to one night's total sleep deprivation and maintained their improvement after a night of recovery sleep. (see fig l) In responders, subsequent late-night partial sleep deprivation (PSD) was more effective than early-night PSD.