Antidepressants may help the depression, but they may also perpetuate poor sleeping patterns. A new study being conducted at the University of Connecticut Health Center will look at two different anti-depressants as they relate to the quality of sleep and daytime performance. What makes this study unique, said its principal investigator Andrew Winokur, M.D., Ph.D., senior neuropsychopharmacologist and professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the Health Center, is that it will not only monitor the quality of sleep but also next-day alertness. Sleep disturbances among patients with depressive disorders often contribute to the physical, psychological, social, emotional and vocational impairment of patients even when they are not diagnosed with a sleep disorder.
Brain chemistry regulates sleep and different drugs affect sleep in different ways.
Clinicians will then have more information about the drug they are prescribing and can better judge the best treatment for individual patients. According to Dr. Winokur sleep disturbances disappear in most patients when the depressive symptoms have been resolved. However, poor sleep patterns may worsen the depressive symptoms and vice versa. Also, said Dr. Winokur, by not treating sleep problems, depression is likely to worsen or relapses may occur. Depressed patients often experience more fatigue affecting their ability to function.