From Wikipedia....  

A 2001 study at Chicago Medical Institute suggested that sleep deprivation may be linked to more serious diseases, such as heart disease and mental illnesses, such as psychosis and bipolar disorder.^[13] 

The link between sleep deprivation and psychosis (psychiatric disorders) was further documented in 2007 through a study at Harvard Medical School and the University of California at Berkeley. The study revealed, using MRI scans, that lack of sleep causes the brain to become incapable of putting an emotional event into the proper perspective and incapable of making a controlled, suitable response to the event.

A 2002 University of California animal study indicated that REM sleep was necessary for turning offneurotransmitters and allowing their receptors to "rest" and regain sensitivity which allows monoamines (norepinephrine, serotonin and histamine) to be effective at naturally produced levels. This leads to improved regulation of mood and increased learning ability. The study also found that REM sleep deprivation can alleviate clinical depression because it mimics selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI).

This is because the natural decrease in monoamines during REM is not allowed to occur, which causes the concentration of neurotransmitters in the brain, that are depleted in clinically depressed persons, to increase.

Sleep outside of the REM phase may allow enzymes to repair brain cell damage caused by free radicals. High metabolic activity while awake damages the enzymes themselves preventing efficient repair. This study observed the first evidence of brain damage in rats as a direct result of sleep deprivation

Something to think about while I'm still up......

Interesting, Mel, that REM sleep has an effect similar to SSRIs. Has me wondering if the increased sleep needs of those in severe depression (at times, I slept for 12-14 hours in my darkest days) is partially a natural compensation for depression. Fascinating concept.

Thanks for this topic, Mel. I have been really, really diligent about my sleep hygiene this summer ... going to bed within a half hour of 9:30 every night, and getting up 5:30 to 6 every morning, and I really see a big difference. I think I was sleeping too much last year. I thought I needed it, but, just as the research says, too much sleep can really bring you down. Thanks again. t

You guys might vaguely remember my sleep issues over the winter while I was depressed...being the dorky science geek that I am, I read a lot on the subject. Also, it turned out that in his former life as a university researcher, my therapist had participated in a number of studies on sleep and mental illness. A happy coincidence :)

Studies show that sleep deprivation in the short term helps with mild depression. Since many (but not all) people with depression are sleeping too much, waking them up early helps and also gets them back on a schedule. This is often the case with inpatient programs.

Even though people with depression MIGHT sleep too much, they often have disrupted REM sleep. REM is necessary to properly process and file away the day's activites and events. Not getting enough REM sleep, even if your total hours are ok, can cause problems. See first paragraph in Mel's post.

Other studies I read talked about sleep disturbances being a VERY early warning sign of depression relapse. If those disturbances are recognized and dealt with, the relapse might be able to be avoided. Of course, this involves dealing with the stressors too, if any.

In short, sleep is really complex. It's necessary. And it affects people with depression differently.

Me? I could always fall asleep, and sleep for 3 hours, but the sleep was never good and I never felt rested. I was a zombie by the time they put me on sleep meds. I'm on something that doesn't disturb sleep structure, which I find helpful. No grogginess or weirdness like when I tried the hypnotics. (ambien, lunesta, etc.)

I stopped for a while because I was doing so well. Just recently, I started to notice lots of negative thoughts and disturbed sleep. I went back on the sleep meds and increased my self-care a bit (I'd been slacking). After a few days I felt so much better and able to cope.

Ok, I'm done with the soapbox. Who's next?

OK, I've got it now. I missed the key words before. It's DEPRIVATION of REM sleep that has the SSRI-like effect, not REM sleep itself.

During the time I was sleeping so much, I don't know whether more or less sleep would have been better. In addition to the tendency to sleep (or hide out in bed) because of depression, I was also recouping a massive sleep deficit from the immediate previous years where I had been on the go so much between work, the abuse from my now-ex (which often kept us up at night arguing) and the years I'd had with undiagnosed and untreated obstructive sleep apnea. BTW, it has been documented that when we lose "x" number of hours of sleep, our bodies are not quite right until we have made them up. I have no idea of how many hundreds or even thousands of hours' of sleep deficit I had at that time.

Lynne, you've got a valid point as far as applying this idea of REM sleep deprivation to mental health and the particular kind of brain chemistry we may have. Mel, did the article have anything specific to say as far as the type of brain chemistry ("normal", unipolar depression, bipolar disorder on the depressive side) that the subjects had? That would be an interesting thing to know.