Sleep impairment in patients with social phobia

Patient reports of sleep difficulty and sleep quality were systematically assessed in 30 nondepressed, untreated patients with the generalized subtype of social phobia and 30 sex-matched and age-comparable healthy control subjects. Sleep characteristics of the preceding month were assessed using a standardized, validated instrument: the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Patients with generalized social phobia reported significantly poorer sleep quality, longer sleep latency, more frequent sleep disturbance, and more severe daytime dysfunction. Global PSQI scores did not differ significantly among social phobia with or without a lifetime history of major depression (48%), comorbid dysthymia (15%), or comorbid avoidant personality disorder (64%). These findings, which are reminiscent of those in other anxiety syndromes such as panic disorder, suggest that disturbed sleep may be a feature of the generalized subtype of social phobia that deserves further clinical and research attention.