Sleep deprivation as treatment for endogenous depression

Twenty-six depressed patients, 19 of whom suffered from an endogenous depression, were sleep-deprived for one night, and eight of these were additionally sleep-deprived for three to nine nights with two sleep deprivations per week. While the sleep deprivation was being carried through, none of the patients were treated with tricyclic antidepressants. The patients were rated before and after the sleep deprivation(s). Sleep deprivation appeared to be effective for both unipolar and bipolar depressions. According to the rating scale an improvement was registered especially when the clinical picture was characterized by depressed mood, psycho-motor retardation and anxiety. As sleep deprivation cured 25% of the patients and further incidentally improved another 20% of the patients, it can be concluded that sleep deprivation seems to be a valuable treatment, especially in retarded endogenous depressions.