Sleep Disturbance in Depressive Syndromes

The authors compare their laboratory measurements of the sleep of 21 depressed patients and 15 control subjects with similar data reported by others. All studies indicate less sleep and more wakefulness in depressed patients than in controls. The clinical impression of early morning awakening as a distinguishing feature of different types of depression is not borne out; it is not as definite a phenomenon as is generally suggested. The most consistent finding is a lack of Stage IV sleep among depressed patients.