By chance, we were able to record for five consecutive nights the sleep of a 61-year-old woman before each of two successive depressive episodes. In this patient, marked changes in EEG sleep (notably a decline in “sleep efficiency”) preceded both episodes. These changes are considered to be of predictive, but not of etiological, significance.
References
1.
BeckA.T., WardC.H., MendelsonM., MockJ., ErbaughJ.: An inventory for measuring depression.Arch Gen Psychiatry, 4: 561–571, 1961.
2.
HamiltonM.: A rating scale for depression.J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 23: 56–62, 1960.
3.
HamiltonM.: Development of a rating scale for primary depressive illness.Br J Soc Clin Psychol, 6: 278–296, 1967.
4.
KnowlesJ., WaldronJ., CairnsJ.: Sleep preceding the onset of a manic episode.Biol Psychiatry, 14: 671–675, 1979.
5.
KupferD.J., FosterF.G.: “EEG Sleep and Depression”, in WilliamsR.L., and KaracanI. (eds), Sleep Disorders: Diagnosis and Treatment.New York: Wiley, 1978.
6.
MendelsJ., ChernikD.A.: “Sleep Changes and Affective Illness” in FlachF.F., and DraghiS.C. (eds), The Nature and Treatment of Depression.New York: Wiley, 1975.
7.
PflugB.: The effect of sleep deprivation on depressed patients.Acta Psvchiatr Scand, 53: 148–158, 1976.
8.
RechtschaffenA., KalesA.: A Manual of Standardized Terminology, Techniques and Scoring System for Sleep Stages of Human Subjects.Washington D.C.: Brain Information Service, 1968.
9.
WilliamsR.L., KaracanI., HurschC.J.: Electroencephalograhpy (EEG) of Human Sleep: Clinical Applications.New York: Wiley, 1974.