Psychiatric Disorders and Sleep

Abstract

Abstract Psychiatric disorders are common in patients with sleep complaints, particularly those with insomnia. About one-third of insomniacs evaluated at sleep centers have a primary psychiatric diagnosis and an other 40% have a secondary psychiatric diagnosis. According to community-based surveys, as many as 40% of those who complain of insomnia have a psychiatric illness, usually a mood disorder or an anxiety disorder. 2, In addition, mood disorders subsequently develop in many patients who initially present with insomnia, suggesting that insomnia can be an initial symptom of depression or that the irritability, anxiety, and dysphoria that often accompany insomnia increase the likelihood that depression will develop., Whether treatment of insomnia can pre vent depression is uncertain.