[Antidepressive therapy by modifying sleep]

Depressive symptoms are unspecific and occur in several psychiatric disorders. Sleep disturbances are also frequently present in depressed patients. As a consequence, it has been established that a number of modulations of the sleep-wake cycle can have an antidepressive effect. Total sleep deprivation or deprivation in the second half of the night have proven successful. The main limitation of the otherwise well tolerated treatment is the short duration of the antidepressive effect, which is mostly reversed in nearly all patients after the following night's sleep. New approaches are to shift the timing of sleep to earlier to ensure a possible longer-lasting effect. In clinical praxis the following manipulations should not be used: sleep deprivation in the first half of the night (not successful), REM-sleep deprivation (experimental setting), induced sleep prolongation (negative risk-benefit-ratio). In addition to patients with affective disorders sleep deprivation has proved relevant in patients with schizophrenia (depressed and/or with predominantly negative symptoms) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Very few side effects have been reported. Although many hypotheses have been tested, the mechanism of action underlying the antidepressive effect of sleep deprivation is still unknown.