Insomnia may precede and prolong major depression

By John M Grohol PsyD
June 21, 2005

Two new studies show that insomnia, far from being a symptom or side effect of depression, may instead precede it, making some patients more likely to become and remain mentally ill. One paper was presented today at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS) in Denver, and the other will be published shortly in the Journal of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

In recent years, researchers established that insomnia and depression are linked, but struggled to determine which came first. Many experts believed that depression caused insomnia until new drugs arrived that improved depression, but not insomnia. The idea that insomnia could be a contributor to, or predictor of, depression gained credence.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues, and the intersection of technology and psychology since 1992.

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One Comment to
“Insomnia may precede and prolong major depression”

Sam at 4:51 am on April 4th, 2007

I am currently legally disabled due to nearly life-long recurring clinical depression which has tended (as is often the case) to get worse with each major recurrence, and finally became functionally debilitating several years ago [I am 52]. My body reacts atypically to most anti-deps, and only Nardil, an old MAOI rarely prescribed today, has proven to be reliably useful.

I have also had atypical (and frequently shifting) sleep patterns all of my life. I wouldn’t call it “insomnia”, exactly–but my system seems completely divorced from the “normal” diurnal cycle. What’s more, it has often been remarked upon–by my psychological caseworker and others–that I tend to have a much better emotional affect on the days when I’ve been up all night, than on the days when I’ve gotten the “normal” amount of sleep.

As far as I know, I am unique in this. Does anyone know if similar cases have been documented and studied? I would love to know as much as possible about such cases, if so.

Thank you.