Psychiatric disorders

Abstract

Sleep disturbances and psychiatric disorders are inextricably linked. Virtually all psychiatric patients complain of insomnia, daytime sleepiness, or both. On the contrary, several patients with sleep disorders complain of mood and anxiety symptoms. Moreover, the treatment of psychiatric disorders often improves sleep and vice versa. The weak relationship between EDS and anxiety disorders may be related to the hyperarousal state that may characterize anxiety disorders. Sleep disturbances are reported by approximately 75 % of adults, children, and adolescents with major depression. Similarly, patients with bipolar disorder also often report insomnia or hypersomnia when they are depressed, but they are more likely to exhibit hypersomnia than unipolar patients. Somnolence in schizophrenic patients can be a side effect of antipsychotic treatment, or it may be symptomatic of a sleep disorder such as a sleep-related breathing disorder enhanced by, or induced by, antipsychotic treatment